When the Past Is Present: Healing the Emotional Wounds That Sabotage Our Relationships

by David Richo

Book Overview

The popular author of How to Be an Adult in Relationships reveals how past trauma can negatively impact our present-day relationships--and offers guidance on what to do about it

We all have a tendency to transfer potent feelings, needs, expectations, and beliefs from childhood or from former relationships onto the people in our daily lives, whether they are our intimate partners, friends, or acquaintances. When the Past Is...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 159030571X
• ISBN13: 9781590305713
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: Shambhala
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Making Peace with the Past

I've found this book to be enlightening. It has shown me how my past shows up in most all of my current relationships and reactions to events. And it makes the point that it is not all bad to have this happen. It can be an occasion to look at those reactions and heal them so that we are not being ruled by former events. I'm enjoying the book greatly.

Wow!

I wish I had read this before my last relationship. My eyes are definitely open to a new way of looking at things. I see myself and others in the pages of this book. I began meditation just before I read this book and it was a great complement to my practice.

Amazing Insights

As great as Richo's How to be an Adult. Richo's a poet. He gives unparalleled insight to why we act/react the way we do. If you are practicing mindfulness and a Twelve Step program, this book is for you. Both of Richo's books I've mentioned have increased my personal work and deepened my husband's and my relationship.

Very Helpful Book for Everyday Struggles

In this book, David Richo gives very helpful and practical information about how we can turn the relationship challenges of everyday life into resources for personal and spiritual growth. His compassionate understanding of the struggles we have and his clear directions for working with them provide a warm welcome to taking on the demanding and rewarding task of making changes for our own good and others around us. This is a potent resource for self development and transformation.

One of the best books I have ever read

"When the Past Is Present" is one of the best books I have ever read. In this beautifully written work Dr. Richo explains psychological terminology in a manner that is easy to understand. This aspect of the book refreshing, clear and illuminating. Yet it is also a very spiritual book that speaks to one's heart. The material provides a profound and useful way for us to examine relationships so that we can move away from and let go of the past. I believe that anyone who reads this book will be positively and deeply affected by it.