Psyched Up: The Deep Knowledge that Liberates the Self

Depth psychology offers us powerful knowledge. Yet this knowledge has to be well-communicated if it's going to help us. Psyched Up is a work of artful communication that makes profound and vital self-knowledge comprehensible and easy to assimilate.Though we might be smart and well-educated, often all we encounter when we look inward is a fuzzy obscure uncertainty. It can seem we hardly know ourselves. Such lack of insight can significantly limit our ability to flourish.This book zeroes in on the essence of human nature. It explains the deeper dynamics at the heart of emotional and behavioral difficulties. We learn, for instance, why we can quickly become angry, depressed, or discouraged when facing life's challenges. Why do we fail to be at our best when a stellar effort is needed? Why are we easily hurt and offended by someone's indifference or inattention? Why do we experience so much of life in a negative rather than in a positive way?These topics and many others are addressed in detail as they apply to specific emotional and behavioral problems, including chronic anger, depression, anxiety, loneliness, codependency, addictions, shame, stress, chronic guilt, feelings of helplessness, excessive worry, and difficulty in fulfilling one's goals or aspirations. This vital psychological knowledge is also applied to eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, bipolar disorder, clinical depression, panic attacks, fear of intimacy, marital and relationship strife, cynicism, incompetence, violent impulses, and suicidal thoughts.Above all, this comprehensive 366-page book reveals a new language of self-understanding. Jargon-free, it makes liberating insight available to all. It helps us to be really smart about what's vitally important to know.The author, Peter Michaelson, is a former journalist and science writer who has been a psychotherapist for 30 years. He applies all his skills as a writer and communicator, and his experience as an effective and successful therapist, to present--with humor, precision, and literary flair--the most beneficial knowledge from the field of psychology.