The Normal Personality: A New Way of Thinking about People

by Steven Reiss

Book Overview

In The Normal Personality, Steven Reiss argues that human beings are naturally intolerant of people who express values significantly different from their own. Because of this intolerance, psychologists and psychiatrists sometimes confuse individuality with abnormality and thus over-diagnose disorders. Reiss shows how normal motives - not anxiety or traumatic childhood experiences - underlie many personality and relationship problems, such as divorce,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521707447
• ISBN13: 9780521707442
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 212 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

a breakthrough in (positive)-psychological findings

From the first moment I began reading DR. Reiss first book "WHO AM I" I got fascinated in his theory of motivational-profiles. I have a academic degree in "adult-education" and am a professional trainer since 2000. I have implemented DR. Reiss findings within my training-program. People open up and feel comfortable when you help them understand their profile and why their behaviour is characterized in their peculiar manner. The second book "the normal personality" has given me more assurance as to why my "methods" are based on reliable assumptions; from my own research viewpoint. Both books are part of my background-documents. They need to be studied over and over again so to sharpen my own approach with the people I help.

We took this book as a basis for our depression remedy approach...

I can unfortunately say that I have experience in the 'conventional' psychiatric ways of thinking. I did a serious suicide attempt a half year ago, after being diagnosed depressive (and about six other 'illnesses' in a six month period). Already at the beginning of the therapy, I had the feeling that my situation and the things the therapist tried, did not match. Would not lead to relief. The book of Reiss gives a clear insight in the reason why. I strongly believe that not understanding or describing my character in a sound manner, in combination with a wrong remedy approach (talk-pills), forced me into committing suicide. How can a depression remedy process work, when already at the beginning there was no proper modeling and understanding of the main character? My case stands not on its own, sadly. Yesterday's news: more ten people killed in German by a youngster who was `treated' for depression. Off course we cannot say that this happened due to a improper method, but we feel there are too many cases pointing in the same direction: treatment for depression does often not work, and sometimes even lead to more destruction. I joined a group of 'free thinking people' who want to turn their painful experience into good things. We therefore started to create a depression diagnosis and curing method. And we took the Reiss' method as a basis instrument for the analysis phase. There are mainly two reasons for this: 1. Reiss' starting point is that people 'in trouble' are mostly not ill or disturbed (instead of assuming an illness with a certain curing method attached, mainly based on chemicals). 2. The idea that everybody has a specific character, which form the key to way they got stuck, and form the key on how to resolve the depressive situation. You are invited to read more on the 'Reiss-HumanSound Depression Remedy Approach' at our website: [...], or Google at 'spirilogic Reiss and humansound'. We are looking for people in the field of mental health who want to help further developing and implementing a sounding cure for depressive people... So: read the book and put it in practice! Iwanjka, SpiriLogic Foundation PS: The link to the depression remedy approach, based on Reiss book (copy it into your browser): [...]