The Gift Of Our Compulsions

To some degree we are all compulsive. Our struggles range from overworrying and overworking to overeating and alcohol and drug abuse. When we realize we are compulsive, our main reaction until now has been to try to control our behavior, but when we try to control our compulsions, they control us. If we do manage to stop one, another always seems to take its place. Over the past three decades, Mary O’Malley has developed a revolutionary approach to healing our compulsions. She gently invites us to be curious about them, to engage them and ask ourselves questions that help us understand our behaviors. She shows us how lasting healing can come from being curious and forgiving rather than controlling and shameful. Compulsions then become our teachers. Her book is filled with new perspectives and simple techniques that anyone can easily grasp.

Newly Revised and Updated! Are you tormented by extremely distressing thoughts or persistent worries? Compelled to wash your hands repeatedly? Driven to repeat or check certain numbers, words, or actions? If you or someone you love suffers from these symptoms, you may be one of the millions of Americans who suffer from some form of obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD. Once considered almost untreatable, OCD is now known to be a highly treatable disorder using behavior therapy. In this newly revised edition of Stop Obsessing! Drs. Foa and Wilson, internationally renowned authorities on the treatment of anxiety disorders, share their scientifically based and clinically proven self-help program that has already allowed thousands of men and women with OCD to enjoy a life free from excessive worries and rituals. You will discover: • Step-by-step programs for both mild and severe cases of OCD • The most effective ways to help you let go of your obsessions and gain control over your compulsions • New charts and fill-in guides to track progress and make exercises easier • Questionnaires for self-evaluation and in-depth understanding of your symptoms • Expert guidance for finding the best professional help • The latest information about medications prescribed for OCD

Deftly interweaving scriptural quotations, descriptions of "Personality Points", Twelve Step prayers, and self-inventory exercises, Mortz shows us how to identify the negatives in our personalities and change them into positives that form the basis of a new serenity and productivity. Especially valuable are Scripture references for each of the systems.

Using in-depth case studies to explore how we grapple with compulsion in ourselves and those we love, Can’t Just Stop examines the science behind both mild and extreme compulsive behavior—“a fascinating read about human behavior and how it can go haywire” (The Charlotte Observer). Whether shopping with military precision or hanging the tea towels just so, compulsion is something most of us have witnessed in daily life. But compulsions exist along a broad continuum and, at the opposite end of these mild forms, exist life-altering disorders. Sharon Begley’s meticulously researched book is the first to examine all of these behaviors together—from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) to hoarding, to compulsive exercise, even compulsions to do good. They may look profoundly different, but these behaviors are all ways of coping with varying degrees of anxiety. Sharing personal stories from dozens of interviewees, “Begley combines a personal topic with thoughtfulness and sensitivity” (Library Journal) and gives meaningful context to their plight. Along the way she explores the role of compulsion in our fast-paced culture, the brain science behind it, and strange manifestations of the behavior throughout history. Can’t Just Stop makes compulsion comprehensible and accessible, with “fresh insight that could fundamentally alter how we think of, and treat, mental illness going forward” (Publishers Weekly).

Imagine for a moment that all the pressures in your life were off—no problems to fix, no deadlines to meet, no struggles to overcome. Do you feel that sense of spacious relief? It’s not an illusion, teaches Mary O’Malley. It really is possible to live with that profound openness every moment, even while tending to our everyday tasks and obligations. What’s in the Way Is the Way is the new book from this highly regarded teacher, offering practical guidance for meeting all of our experience with an abiding sense of ease, trust, and peace of mind. This accessible book is divided into 10 phases, featuring inspiring wisdom and step-by-step exercises to heal the core beliefs that keep you stuck With each chapter, Mary invites you to come into the present and see yourself and your circumstances in a different way—with openness and curiosity, unclouded by struggle, judgment, and fear. Discover why Eckhart Tolle calls Mary O’Malley’s work “a treasure of practical wisdom and profound insights, all pointing to one essential Truth: how to awaken into present-moment awareness and live in acceptance of what is.”

Gary Trosclair explores the power of the driven personality and the positive outcomes those with obsessive compulsive personality disorder can achieve through a mindful program of harnessing the skills that can work, and altering those that serve no one. If you were born with a compulsive personality you may become rigid, controlling, and self-righteous. But you also may become productive, energetic, and conscientious. Same disposition, but very different ways of expressing it. What determines the difference? Some of the most successful and happy people in the world are compelled by powerful inner urges that are almost impossible to resist. They’re compulsive. They’re driven. But some people with a driven personality feel compelled by shame or insecurity to use their compulsive energy to prove their worth, and they lose control of the wheel of their own life. They become inflexible and critical perfectionists who need to wield control, and they lose the point of everything they do in the process. A healthy compulsive is one whose energy and talents for achievement are used consciously in the service of passion, love and purpose. An unhealthy compulsive is one whose energy and talents for achievement have been hijacked by fear and its henchman, anger. Both are driven: one by meaning, the other by dread. The Healthy Compulsive: Healing Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder and Taking the Wheel of the Driven Personality, will serve as the ultimate user’s guide for those with a driven personality, including those who have slid into obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). Unlike OCD, which results in specific symptoms such as repetitive hand-washing and intrusive thoughts, OCPD permeates the entire personality and dramatically affects relationships. It also requires a different approach to healing. Both scientifically informed and practical, The Healthy Compulsive describes how compulsives get off track and outlines a four-step program to help them consciously cultivate the talents and passions that are the truly compelling sources of the driven personality. Drawing from his 25 years of clinical experience as a psychotherapist and Jungian psychoanalyst, and his own personal experience as someone with a driven personality, Trosclair offers understanding, inspiring stories of change, and hope to compulsives and their partners about how to move to the healthy end of the compulsive spectrum.

Offers advice on how to choose the most effective therapies and medications, and how to avoid relapses.

You may not know there are things you can do to start feeling better about your struggle with compulsive checking. Start with the book's self-assessment tools, which will help you understand the scope of your particular problem, then get ready to do something about it.