Self-Coaching: The Powerful Program to Beat Anxiety and Depression, 2nd Edition, Completely Revised and Updated

"I read this book trying to understand some of the reasons I have so much fear in certain situations and, hopefully to overcome it. Did it work? Well, yes and no.

I read something profound in this book that told me I was the producer of anxiety. That it wasn't an illness that came and attacked me as a virus does, but that I generate it with my thoughts, which in turns produces imbalanced chemistry within my system. This clicked with me on so many levels and just knowing that helped me. It gave me encouragement.

There were some other really great insights in this book also. It's very well written and gives the reader a lot of hope that better days will come if you try hard enough. And I believe Dr. Luciani when he says it.

However, I am uncertain that there is a true "heart" to this book. If I had to summarize the main point of this book it would be this: You have the power to talk yourself and motivate yourself out of anxiety with the right thought patterns. Is the advice deep enough for a real meaningful change? I think it has the potential to be. Automatic negative thoughts are a huge problem for those of insecurity an low self-confidence, so the advice really is effective here.

Is this book helpful to those who are struggling with anxiety and depression? I would say emphatically "yes" and you should really read it. There is only good to be gotten from it. Will it be the ultimate solution to abolishing your severe anxiety/depression? I doubt it. But it could a great stepping stone to doing so.

I would give this book three and a half stars if I could - but since it only lets me use whole stars, I will tip the scale over to four. My summation of the book is this: It really is a worthwhile read with some effective advice."
~ Written on 2008-08-05

"I have social phobia and I've been on a hunt for the past few years for a natural treatment. I've tried herbs and supplements and nothing has worked. The last straw came when the supposed miracle supplement for anxiety-sufferers (magnesium) did nothing for me. Having read this book once before and not thinking anything of it, I decided I had no choice so I reread the book. I've learned that although the ideas in this book are great aids, they just won't work for someone in my position.

Self-coaching is simple. You've lived for years with negative thoughts that cause your anxiety. All you have to do is change them. First, you must seperate your thoughts into fact or fiction. Most often, you'll find that your anxious thoughts are silly. Then you must change your thoughts into something positive. This will change your mood completely. People with anxiety problems live in their mind rather than living in the moment. They process and think and process and think until their anxiety becomes hellish.

Self-coaching will and does work. Some may find it hard to believe but if you truly think about it, your anxiety is all in your mind. If you're having an anxious thought and you put on some music and sing along, you eventually lose that anxious thought because you're living in the moment. People with general anxiety will find the ideas in this book to be helpful.

Unfortunately, for someone like me who gets anxious "in the moment", self-coaching will not work. I get extremely anxious around other people. Whereas self-coaching may help when you're walking through a busy mall or anticipating a public speech, it doesn't work when, say, someone comes up to you and begins talking to you. Self-coaching does help when you're anticipating something anxious but it certainly doesn't work when something anxiety-worthy comes out of the blue.

I will use self-coaching in addition to medication. I do think this book is well written, motivating, and easy to understand but, unfortunately, it won't work for everyone."
~ Written on 2008-08-03

"I suffered from Generalized Anxiety Disorder ("the worry disease") with underlying depression which fuels the worry because i was convinced that I couldn't handle life if something bad happened. Everyone has an internal dialogue going on in their head all day long and the reason why people are anxious or depressed is they have thoughts about something scary or sad all day long. This book shows what fuels those thoughts (insecurity and eroded self-trust) and how to change your child-reflex (how you react to situations that make you anxious and depressed) and this isn't written by someone who just got out of college. Dr. Luciani has had years of experience and knows what he is talking about. And if you don't understand something he is more than happy to answer your questions personally in his "Ask Dr. Joe" forum on his website www.self-coaching.net"
~ Written on 2008-06-28

"Suffering from severe depression is immobilizing, and only you can tell what you really need. The important thing is to get help and address it - just hoping for it to get better is a dangerous game. For me the thinking with this book was that it wouldn't hurt to try. I find the book's emphasis on the present versus what happened long ago helpful, but others may want to work through some old things. It has a definite focus on now, getting through the day, and living through some rough and debilitating emotional strongholds. Personally I prefer the down to earth and occasionally in your face tone to some of the "softer" depression books I've read. Having very practical and well-outlined tools to confront my depression/anxiety has been beneficial to me - and I also like the way the author reframes emotion based on context (anger, wanting to control, etc) to help the reader understand the roots of the negative feelings. Overall, really great book - main improvement would be having spiritual and Biblical helps as well. "
~ Written on 2008-05-08

" I am not sure of how I came across this book, though I think it was an Amazon recommendation. It is indeed fascinating and I think a worthwhile read for anyone. It is premised upon the author's contention that ". . . anxiety and depression are merely habits--and all habits can be broken". In fact, Joseph J. Luciani's suggestions and program could be effectively applied to any life situation from anxiety and depression to improving your golf swing.

While Luciani's approach, at first blush, seems to have a lot in common with Albert Ellis's "cognitive therapy", it is significiantly different. Luciani is really much more oriented toward self-delivered life coaching through what he dubs "self-talk".

On its face, the approach is logical and, in fact, what most of us do normally when we feel in control of the situation. Luciani's point is that it is in those situations where we don't feel in control that self-talk is most important - and, frankly, he seems to have a point.

Luciani is certainly devoted to what he believes. He maintains a web site in support of the book where he freely dispenses advice (with appropriate disclaimers), but without trying to sell anything. Quite a guy and a very different approach to self-promotion.

Depressed, anxious or not, this is a very interesting book and worthy of your attention.

Jerry"
~ Written on 2008-04-30