Becoming Real: Defeating the Stories We Tell Ourselves That Hold Us Back - Softcover

"Becoming Real" demonstrates how to recognise and defeat the stories that keep us from being happy and prevent us from having fulfilling relationships in our personal lives and at work. The key to having fulfilling relationships, experiencing a satisfying work life, being authentic, confident and comfortable with yourself is simple, says Gail Saltz. The stories we told ourselves as children to make sense of the world around us are the cause of most of our adult problems. "Becoming Real" illustrates how to find those stories and rewrite them so that we can be free of the past, of repeating history and start down the road to taking control, being stronger and having the best relationships of our lives. Emotional pain and difficulty mean that a story you told yourself as a child about how life should be and about who you are isn't working anymore. It's a story that looks like the truth, but it's not. We're all familiar with these myths, ones such as: "I can't depend on anyone but myself." "There must be something wrong with me that no one stays around." "People don't give me the credit I deserve."

You'll know a story is holding you back if you're experiencing any of the following symptoms: having outbursts of anger out of proportion to the cause; repeating behaviours you don't like in spite of your determination never to repeat them; repeatedly dating or marrying the wrong person; never being happy with your work. "Becoming Real" will help you recognise the myths and stop them holding you back.

Gail Saltz, M.D., is a mental health contributor to the Today show and is a contributing editor for Glamour magazine. She has appeared on Dateline, on CBS News and the Early Show, and on Fox News and Health News, among other television shows, and has been featured in the Associated Press, the New York Times, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, the Los Angeles Times, New York magazine, Newsweek, Harper's Bazaar, Redbook, Woman's World, Town & Country, and WebMD.