The Stories We Tell Ourselves: Stop Jumping to Conclusions. Free Yourself from Anxiety. Transform Your Relationships. - Softcover

Gornto, R. Scott

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0990719103 ISBN 13: 9780990719106

Publisher: Auxano Publishing, 2014

Synopsis

Change the story. Change your life.

From imagined catastrophes to play-by-play interpretations of others’ behavior, we are expert storytellers, quick to fill in the blanks. Unfortunately, all too often our behavior is determined by baseless suspicions, which trigger needless pain. Real life passes us by as we fall for powerful fantasies of our own creation.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

In The Stories We Tell Ourselves, author and therapist Scott Gornto shows us how to break the cycle of false assumptions that lead to unnecessary anxiety. By taking control of our reactions to the people around us, we can learn how to be truly present in our lives as we nurture the relationships that matter most.

Based on more than 20 years of research and experience, Gornto demonstrates how family narratives, media, and past experiences shape compelling story lines that blind us to reality and wreak havoc on our relationships. Through persuasive examples, he models fresh, life-enhancing approaches to engaging with friends, business associates, and loved ones alike.

Don’t waste your life making up stories.

The Stories We Tell Ourselves is a wake-up call and a compassionate, accessible guide to transforming your relationships—and your life.

About this title

About the Author

R. SCOTT GORNTO MDIV, LMFT, CST, is a therapist, speaker, and author based in Dallas, Texas. He’s the creator of the Auxano Approach® to relationships, The Truth About Marriage® workshops and intensives for couples, and the RQ Relational Intelligence program for C-level executives and leaders. He’s an abstract artist (gorntoart.com) and enjoys golf, tennis, scuba diving, and spending time with his wife, Crystal, and their two boys. Connect online at rscottgornto.com.

Review

“There might be no more essential ingredient to happiness than the narratives Scott talks about in this engaging book.”
--Seth Godin, Author of The Icarus Deception

“Wonderful book. I could hardly put it down. Thanks for bringing this powerful “story” to the world.... Like fish discovering water, Scott Gornto helps us all discover ourselves as unconscious storytellers swimming in stories we unknowingly make up that tend to feed our anxiety about events that have not happened, and may not happen, but thinking they are descriptions of reality. Thus we are not present to our own experience or to that of others who usually are our main characters. He does not leave us there but offers a process to move from the nightmare of our imagination to reality; a way to be present to others with curiosity and without judgment. This book is for everyone because it is about everyone.”
-- Harville Hendrix, Ph. D. and Helen Lakelly Hunt, Ph. D. co-authors Making Marriage Simple and Getting the Love You Want

“Stories are central to our universal psyches. The Greeks gave us mythology, Jesus told parables, Grimm created fairytales, Lucas penned Star Wars, and Schultz composed the legacy of Charlie Brown. Leave it to Scott Gornto to bring “the stories we tell ourselves” to the human experience! Down-to-earth, insightful, contemporary, and refreshing, Scott leaves us with a practical psychological blueprint that can add meaning and health to our relationships and lives.”
--Hal Barkley, Ph.D., LMFT-S, LPC-S, Certified Sex Therapist (AASECT) and Clinical Associate Professor and Department Chair, Dispute Resolution and Counseling at Southern Methodist University (SMU)

“What do healthy lives have to do with healthy relationships? How does our thinking and talking about each other affect our well-being? Therapist Scott Gornto shows us how storytelling shapes our lives and measures our wholeness.”
--J. Randall O’Brien, President of Carson-Newman University

“I have known Scott Gornto for 40 years. His words about being a good listener instead of making assumptions is paramount in personal and professional relationships.”
--Nolan Ryan, former Major League Baseball pitcher and chief executive officer of the Texas Rangers.

“In ‘The Stories We Tell Ourselves’, Scott Gornto shares the powerful ways we lie to ourselves and how those lies, which are often created in our heads, affect our feelings towards the people in our lives. This book walks us through the journey of awakening to those truths and growing beyond the stories we imagine to attain healthy, confident relationships.”
--John McKinzie, Lead Pastor, Hope Fellowship - Frisco, Texas

Edition details

• Publisher: Auxano Publishing
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0990719103
• ISBN 13: 9780990719106
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 288