The Language of Feelings

The Language of Feelings by David Viscott. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780671532260.

For those on their maiden voyage into the complex realm of self-definition and self-awareness, there is no better companion written than this book by Dr. David Viscott. "The Language of Feelings," which is in reality, a primer of applied Freudian psychology, is short, sweet, to the point, and most importantly, is everywhere correct. Viscott is a giant among the many "quick cure," "psycho-babble," and "feel good" pygmies and shysters. He provides what others of that ilk can only dream of: the true skinny about how we relate to ourselves through our feelings. Without fanfare, ideologies or religion and without elaborate promises of magic cures, he guides us through each feeling, one-by-one: "hurt and loss," "anxiety," "anger," "guilt," "depression," and "getting out of emotional debt," telling us what to expect, what needs they serve, how they interact with our natural defenses and most of all how they go together to make us whole. And everything he says "rings true," because his descriptions -- both in principle and in practice -- are exactly how we do in fact relate to our feelings.