Sense Ability: Expanding Your Sense of Awareness for a Twenty-First-Century Life

Drawing on 28 years of experience as a psychotherapist, Helmering (Being OK Just Isn't Enough) believes that the key to ""enlightened maturity"" is the ""seventh sense,"" detached self-awareness that is based on impartially monitoring one's thoughts and actions. Launching each chapter with a diagnostic question (""Do You Know How to Love?"" ""Do You Get Too Angry?"" ""Are You a Controlling Person?"" ""Do You Suffer from Anxiety and Depression?""), Helmering helps readers investigate and fine-tune their habits of mind. She advocates stepping back from each moment, especially when there is a discrepancy between one's perception (e.g., ""I am a loving husband"") and the reality (""my wife is leaving me and says I don't love her""). According to Helmering, the pause in the action of the mind allows a disengagement from negative thoughts, ungrounded assumptions and other mental clutter that can lead to counterproductive actions. While the title may sound mystical, the book is practical. Inspired by the tenets of cognitive therapy and illustrated with accessible, real-life examples, it's a mental shape-up program that offers self-assessment exercises and encourages the use of ""positive self-talk"" to guide daily action. Solid and accessible, the book deserves a wide audience. (June)