Rewire: Change Your Brain to Break Bad Habits, Overcome Addictions, Conquer Self-Destruc tive Behavior - Hardcover

O'Connor, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1594632561 ISBN 13: 9781594632563

Publisher: Avery, 2014

Synopsis

We humans tend to get in our own way time and time again—whether it comes to not speaking up for ourselves, going back to bad romantic partners, dieting for the umpteenth try, or acting on any of a range of bad habits we just can’t seem to shake. In Rewire, renowned psychotherapist Richard O’Connor, PhD, reveals exactly why our bad habits die so hard. We have two brains—one a thoughtful, conscious, deliberative self, and the other an automatic self that makes most of our decisions without our attention. Using new research and knowledge about how the brain works, the book clears a path to lasting, effective change for behaviors that include:

• Procrastination
• Overeating
• Chronic disorganization
• Staying in bad situations
• Excessive worrying
• Risk taking
• Passive aggression
• Self-medication

Bringing together many different fields in psychology and brain science, Dr. O’Connor gives you a road map to overcoming whatever self-destructive habits are plaguing you, with exercises throughout the book. We can rewire our brains to develop healthier circuitry, training the automatic self to make wiser decisions without having to think about it; ignore distractions; withstand temptations; see ourselves and the world more clearly; and interrupt our reflexive responses before they get us in trouble. Meanwhile, our conscious minds will be freed to view ourselves with compassion at the same time as we practice self-discipline. By learning valuable skills and habits—including mindfulness, self-control, confronting fear, and freeing yourself from mindless guilt—we can open ourselves to vastly more successful, productive, and happy lives. The book even demystifies how to overcome what Dr. O’Connor calls the “undertow” (the mysterious force that sabotages our best efforts when we’re just on the edge of victory) for long-lasting change. Offering a valuable science-based new paradigm for rewiring our brains, Rewire is a refreshing guide to becoming a healthier, happier self.

About this title

About the Author:

Richard O'Connor, PhD, is the author of Undoing Depression, Undoing Perpetual Stress, and Happy at Last. For many years he was executive director of the Northwest Center for Family Service and Mental Health, a private, nonprofit mental health clinic serving Litchfield County, Connecticut, overseeing the work of twenty mental health professionals in treating almost a thousand patients per year. He is a practicing psychotherapist with offices in Connecticut and New York, and lives in Lakeville, Connecticut.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Each time we engage in a bad habit, we make it more likely we'll do it again in the future. But in the same way, each time we engage in a good habit, we make it more likely that we’ll do it again. You can learn to program your own brain so that making the right choices and exercising willpower comes to seem easy and natural.

About this edition

• Publisher: Avery
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1594632561
• ISBN 13: 9781594632563
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304