Amazon.com
In the capable hands of psychologists Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatté, resilience is not a Band-Aid or a buzzword. It is a habit of mind.
The Resilience Factor is a practical roadmap for navigating unexpected challenges, surprises, and setbacks at work and home. Their premise--that your thinking style determines your resilience--underlies the books promise: you can boost resilience by changing the way you think about adversity.
The authors synthesize decades of research in cognitive psychology, particularly the work of Aaron Beck and Martin Seligman, to create seven practical strategies for bouncing back. Each strategy demonstrates how "thinking styles" affect emotions and behavior. "The secret is accurate thinking, not positive thinking," they explain. After completing a "Resilience Questionnaire," readers learn to turn off negative thoughts, avoid thinking traps, detect "icebergs"--the basic beliefs that cause us to overreact--and restore perspective. Each strategy is illustrated with vivid examples, including acting-out teenagers, battle-torn marriages, downsized workplaces, and the loss of loved ones. This insightful book offers clear descriptions of resilient thinking and workable tools for changing our minds. --Barbara Mackoff
From Publishers Weekly
Reivich and Shatté's book is reminiscent of the bestselling Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, not just in the number of skills it discusses, but in the approach the authors take, too. They focus on the thinking rather than feeling side of the human psyche, but their intent is to ultimately affect readers' emotional reactions through helping them reprogram their thoughts. University of Pennsylvania professors Shatté and Reivich argue that feelings are a result of thinking; therefore, by changing the way one thinks, one can control one's emotional reactions to stressful situations. They promote an "ABC" system: "A" stands for adversity ("what pushes your buttons"), "B" is your inherent belief about life, which triggers your responding actions and feelings, or "C" ("consequences"). The A's are bound to keep hitting us, but if we analyze and revamp our B's, our C's will improve, resulting in greater peace and happiness. Although skeptics may not be convinced that changing one's thoughts can change one's life, the book could be of help to those who feel powerless over their emotions. Agent, Richard Pine.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
