Review
Bob Johnson's radical work gives the key to unlocking your emotional well-being --Oliver James
The next paradigm shift in psychiatry --Oliver James
The next paradigm shift in psychiatry --Oliver James
Product Description
Emotions are the single most vital ingredient in all human affairs. Yet neither my medical school nor my Cambridge University psychology degree taught me anything useful about them. The tabloid media runs riot with them, politics and commerce stir them whenever they can – it's called marketing – but too many psychiatrists, psychologists and scientists remain convinced that emotions are defunct. Not a single human transaction, from falling in love to nuclear war, can possibly occur without them – yet our academic institutions insist on treating emotions as anathema.
Emotions have been banished to the periphery for too long – time to put them back at the very heart of our human lives where they belong. Human relations come in a wide range – intimate, institutional, industrial, international – each one has at its heart an emotional component. When this blossoms, its warmth can be a joy to behold – when it turns sour, catastrophe looms. The emotions which make the difference, are not difficult to appreciate – fear, rage and revenge are readily apparent to any who care to look. We must stop treating emotions as if they were some sort of pariah. We need to understand them more clearly – where they come from, how they work. Emotional Health means us controlling them – rather than the other way around.
If you have ever come across a psychiatrist or other doctor who ignored your feelings, or been interviewed by a scientist whose white coat turned them into unemotional aliens – then you need to know that the fault is theirs, not yours. They have been taught that emotions don’t matter. Their training is supervised by institutions where discussion of emotion is taboo – defying this ban can hazard your career.
Frozen emotions are the most intriguing. Sometimes childhood memories are too deeply painful to be easily explored – they fester away at the back of the mind. Special measures are called for, as discussed below. Yet even in the most unpromising surroundings, such as Parkhurst Prison, these ‘frozen terrors’ can still be brought under control – and what works in a maximum security prison can work anywhere. Charlie Bronson’s views of my prison work, and Alice Miller’s views of this book, are described in their letters, included in the appendix (pages 275 and 277).
Emotions have been banished to the periphery for too long – time to put them back at the very heart of our human lives where they belong. Human relations come in a wide range – intimate, institutional, industrial, international – each one has at its heart an emotional component. When this blossoms, its warmth can be a joy to behold – when it turns sour, catastrophe looms. The emotions which make the difference, are not difficult to appreciate – fear, rage and revenge are readily apparent to any who care to look. We must stop treating emotions as if they were some sort of pariah. We need to understand them more clearly – where they come from, how they work. Emotional Health means us controlling them – rather than the other way around.
If you have ever come across a psychiatrist or other doctor who ignored your feelings, or been interviewed by a scientist whose white coat turned them into unemotional aliens – then you need to know that the fault is theirs, not yours. They have been taught that emotions don’t matter. Their training is supervised by institutions where discussion of emotion is taboo – defying this ban can hazard your career.
Frozen emotions are the most intriguing. Sometimes childhood memories are too deeply painful to be easily explored – they fester away at the back of the mind. Special measures are called for, as discussed below. Yet even in the most unpromising surroundings, such as Parkhurst Prison, these ‘frozen terrors’ can still be brought under control – and what works in a maximum security prison can work anywhere. Charlie Bronson’s views of my prison work, and Alice Miller’s views of this book, are described in their letters, included in the appendix (pages 275 and 277).
