The Wisdom of Grief, Fear and Despair
By Miriam Greenspan
We are all touched at some point by the dark emotions of grief, fear, or despair. In an age of global threat, these emotions have become widespread and overwhelming. While conventional wisdom warns us of the harmful effects of "negative" emotions, this revolutionary book offers a more hopeful view: there is a redemptive power in our worst feelings. Seasoned psychotherapist Miriam Greenspan argues that it's the avoidance and denial of the dark emotions that results in the escalating psychological disorders of our time: depression, anxiety, addiction, psychic numbing, and irrational violence. And she shows us how to trust the wisdom of the dark emotions to guide, heal, and transform our lives and our world.
Drawing on inspiring stories from her psychotherapy practice and personal life, and including a complete set of emotional exercises, Greenspan teaches the art of emotional alchemy by which grief turns to gratitude, fear opens the door to joy, and despair becomes the ground of a more resilient faith in life.
Paperback, 336 pages
"Greenspan writes intensely and compassionately. This is a committed, serious look at the emotions most of us would rather sweep under the rug." —Publishers Weekly
"The gold standard of books on difficult emotions. This book has the power to heal and change your life and the way you live it." —Christiane Northrup, M.D., author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom
"A crucial book that teaches us to alter fundamentally our fearful relationship to deep feelings." —Kim Chernin, Los Angeles Times
"A book of remarkable depth. The author is a brilliant thinker and a natural storyteller. I've read countless books about the difficult emotions. None is as helpful and riveting as this one—or offers as much hope for our personal suffering and turbulent times." —Harriet Lerner, Ph.D., author of The Dance of Anger
"A modern day alchemist, Greenspan teaches us to turn our pain into wisdom and our fear and sorrow into energy to improve the world. She offers us a clear and profound analysis of what we must do as individuals and as a species to survive these troubled times." —Mary Pipher, Ph.D., author of Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls
"This remarkable book has taught me a whole new way of thinking." —Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People
"A beautiful piece of work destined to become a perennial classic." —Martha Beck, author of Expecting Adam and The Joy Diet