Your Inner Will: Finding Personal Strength in Critical Times

Why does the best in a person seem to come out only in times of dire crisis? In his newest volume of spiritual self-help, psychotherapist Ferrucci (What We May Be) explores the often unrecognized potential of willpower and how it can be consciously developed and accessed. Focusing on a different aspect of the struggles with and strengths of inner power, each chapter opens with a parable selected from one of many different cultures. Each then closes with an exercise that draws on techniques inspired by and adaptable to spiritual meditative practices or more secular therapeutic techniques. Structuring his analysis around themes such as "Plasticity," "Autonomy," and "Center," the author uses neuroscience, religious wisdom, and mythology, among other sources, to explore ways in which personal strength may be understood. A major influence is Roberto Assagioli's idea of psychosynthesis, and specifically the idea of realizing potentials that seem to not exist in the self. Crisis, suggests Ferrucci, may be a catalyst for change and growth, but the same may also be achieved with focus and practice. (Sept.)