What You Can Change and What You Can't: The Complete Guide to Successful Self-Improvement Learning to Accept Who You Are

by Martin E.P. Seligman

Book Overview

Wise, direct, and very useful, a science-based book that can help anyone make long-lasting change. In the climate of self-improvement that pervades our culture, there is an overwhelming amount of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0449909719
• ISBN13: 9780449909713
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A Balanced Approach to Self-Improvement

Seligman is one of the most distinguished psychologists in America, and this attempt to have a rigorous look at the suggestions of the pioneers of self-help is very welcome. Many people are not aware of the size and the quality of a lot of the research into personal change and personal development, and this book summarizes a fair bit of it. Nobody is going to agree with everything written by ANY author, and he is overly pessimistic about the chances for helping people with weight problems and addictions. But with that caveat this book is highly recommended to anyone who wants to improve themselves and the world around them.

This book is insightful, and practical

I work with "at risk youth", kids in the foster care system, socially disadvantaged and many who have suffered abuse. I have often wondered how to help kids who suffer from depression, anxiety, Post Traumatic Stress, etc. This book is very helpful because it describes the world view that will give kids resiliency skills, and help them overcome the emotional difficulties they have. It also describes what can't be changed, and how to deal with those aspects of emotional disturbance, clinically. This book offers validity to what I have observed professionally. Mostly, it offers a practical means of knowing how to address the problems I encounter with the kids I work with, and how to teach the kids how to help themselves. Seligman offers a perspective that is based on science and Biological Psychiatry. It's about time psychology moved in this direction.

Extraordinary - Do yourself a favor - Order this book - NOW

This is a book that everyone should own. In this book, Dr. Seligman wades through the swamp of self-help, psycho-babble,new-age gurus, common-sense ideas that "everyone" knows , medical thought, etc, etc in order to discover- WHAT REALLY WORKS. Not what we wish would work, not what seems like it should work, not what common wisdom believes works but what in clinical trials of real people has been demonstrated to work. What percentage has been helped, what are the side-effects and has this help been long-term or transitory. It is extremely readable, instructive and down to earth. He addresses the current state of treatment for: Anxiety, panic attacks, phobias, obsessions, depression, anger, post-traumatic stress, sex, dieting, alcohol. For most of these topics I learned more in his one chapter than in the several books which I have read on them. If you are on a diet, about to begin a diet, or considering professional help in one of the areas above - please read the chapter in this book first. You will save yourself an incredible amount of time, money and heartbreak in the long run. It will also give you the best chance of actually solving the problem since you will be directed towards the most effective treatment right from the beginning of treatment rather than (hopefully) eventually finding it by trial and error. I only hope that Dr Seligman writes an updated version of this book sometime in the near future in order to keep up with new research findings.

The Must-Have Guide for Self-Helpers

As a navel-gazing self-help junkie, I was surprised and a little annoyed when I discovered this book -- after all, I thought to myself, who can tell me what I can or cannot do? Never mind that I was overwhelmed with boatloads of conflicting information -- I didn't think ANYONE had the answers, and that it was necessary to try everything once. Well, thank God for Dr. Seligman. The book is a brilliantly simple yet deep exploration of the research available on treatments for various conditions -- and it turns out that there ARE answers available regarding what works and what doesn't. (And what you shouldn't even bother trying.) This book is a valuable resource for anyone trying to make sense of the self-help and treatment industries.

We only have so much time.

It pays to focus your attention and effort on what changes will give you the biggest gain for the smallest effort. Martin Seligman tells you exactly that in this book. Seligman is the reining president of the American Psychological Association, a thorough researcher, and a damn good writer. He not only tells you what is easier and harder to change, based on the research, but gives you short, to-the-point suggestions (also based on the research) on HOW you can change those things. I'm the author of the book, Self-Help Stuff That Works, and I'm an expert on the subject, and I can tell you Seligman has written a very practical book. It is definitely worth reading and re-reading.