Harris, 2008
Harris, R. (2008). The Happiness Trap: How to stop struggling and start living. Boston, MA: Trumpeter.
Book Description by Publisher
What if almost everything you believed about finding happiness turned out to be inaccurate and misleading? What if those very beliefs were in fact making you miserable? Too many of us are caught in the happiness trap: we think that we should be happy all or most of the time, and we believe that we can control the circumstances of our lives in order to avoid unpleasant experiences.
In reality, every life is touched by disappointment and difficulty. Ironically, it is our fear of negative experiences that keeps us trapped in cycles of unhappiness. Based on the insights and techniques of a new form of psychotherapy called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Harris offers key principles and techniques for escaping the “happiness trap” to create a full, rich, and meaningful life.
Harris shows how mindfulness and acceptance can help us to overcome common emotional problems. He presents the six key techniques of ACT that have been proven effective in helping individuals to:
-handle painful feelings more effectively
-escape the grip of self-defeating habits, including addiction
-rise above fears, doubts, and insecurities
-create a richer and more meaningful life
Comments
Learn to explain ACT to the common person with this book
If you want to be able to explain why you are so excited about this thing called ACT, then get this book. In fact, get your friends and family to read it and they'll finally understand it because this book takes each concept and illustrates it in common language.
The Happiness Trap - support materials
There is now a website full of materials to support this book: http://www.thehappinesstrap.com
You can download the introductory chapter from: http://www.thehappinesstrap.com/upimages/Introduction_to_the_Happiness_Trap.pdf