Self-Coaching: The Powerful Program to Beat Anxiety and Depression, 2nd Edition, Completely Revised and Updated Paperback – Illustrated, October 31, 2006

I have just finished reading "Self-Coaching: The Powerful Program to Beat Anxiety and Depression," by Joseph J. Luciani, Ph.D. I found this book insightful, powerful and practical at the same time. I highly recommend it.In this book, you will learn something that may seem surprising at first--anxiety and depression are habits of control that we develop and use to insulate ourselves from deep feelings of insecurity. The more insecure a person is, the more likely they are to worry, and to be come anxious and depressed.Our insecurity leads to habitual ways of trying to gain more control, which we believe will alleviate us from our insecurity. However, ironically, it is the controlling habits themselves that bring on the feelings of anxiety and depression. The good news is that learned habits can be unlearned, and anxiety and depression can be effectively managed. This is where Self-Coaching can really help.A few of the many things that you will learn from Dr. Luciani's Self-Coaching method include how to recognize and separate fact from fiction (and deal only with the facts), how to develop self-trust and life-trust, how to notice "time travel" (time travel is when you ruminate on the past or try to anticipate everything in the future rather than living spontaneously in the present), and so much more. The Seven Principles of Self-Coached Healing (Chapter 2) and the Three Steps of Self-Talk (Chapter 9) cover the basics, which are well fleshed out throughout the book.I do a lot of pastoral care and counseling in my work as an Episcopal priest, and I am often asked to recommend helpful resources for people dealing with negative emotions and personal problems, and I feel that Dr. Luciani's Self-Coaching method is so user-friendly and so effective that I can strongly recommend it to anyone dealing with anxiety and depression, as well as any other negative emotion. Also, his book "The Power of Self-Coaching," is amazing, and I highly recommend it as well. 5 stars!

There are some insightful points made in this book. Firstly it is hard to deny that thoughts precede emotions. Secondly, a lot of thinking patterns which might be considered 'good' in today's society, such as constant planning and controlling are pointed out as flaws and sources of possible meltdown. I thought, however, that he trivialised aspects of anxiety and depression. Perhaps anxiety and depression are the result of a 'child reflex' type of thinking but I'm not so sure that we have total control over anxiety and depression just through simply re-framing thoughts. For example, why do you get more depressed at certain times of the day etc? There is likely more going on than just poor cognitive judgement and I also think it's highly likely we inherit some of these traits. Overall, however, it appears to be a good stab at a 'fix yourself' book, hopefully the suggestions, if followed through correctly, will bring some respite.

For me, this book along with the author's other book "The Power of Self-Coaching: The Five Essential Steps to Creating the Life You Want" have truly been life altering.I am not at all surprised that many of the negative reviews complain that the author states that depression and anxiety are habits and that depression is not a disease! A bold statement for sure! However, the author does address and advocate the use of medication to treat depression when appropriate.Having said that, this author's books have opened my eyes to the fact that depression and anxiety are indeed and have always been - FOR ME - habits - and not caused by disease.Anxiety and depression, I learned from these books, became habits after I learned inappropriate coping strategies during childhood as a way to feel safe. Now, in adulthood I use these inappropriate coping methods as a way to try to control the world, to control others, and to continue to try to feel safe. Of course, as the author states over and over in both books, you cannot control life - life is uncontrollable. And THAT - the inability to control life through the use of ineffective coping methods - fueled by underlying insecurity - is why I have been habitually anxious my entire life and suffered from depression. My anxiety and depression are due to my coping strategies having failed me time and time again which has caused me untold levels of anxiety as well as emotional and mental exhaustion in the form of depression.If you find yourself plagued by anxiety and depression but - like me - have never felt that disease (such as a brain chemical imbalance) are the underlying cause - yet you've never been able to get to the root of the issue - I highly recommend this author's work.