"Increase Your Self-Esteem with Matthew McKay's Proven Cognitive Techniques for Assertiveness and Self-Confidence"

Bryan Chicago: It's a good book over all but it is very narrow from a cultural perspective. Although I'm unsure of the author I can tell from the writing that it is probably a white straight man, which isn't a bad thing (i'm white and a man), but it's an issue when it comes to identifying the source of self-esteem. The author is fixated on childhood and the parent's role in ruining self esteem which I'm sure is a vast amount of people that have low self esteem. From a diversity perspective this is a very narrow interpretation of low self esteem. As a gay man with great parents my self esteem issues didn't derive from my parents telling me I always mess up or I need to try harder or I'm dumb. Mine comes more from a cultural perspective where society and 'religious' people (who aren't truly God's people) tell me that I don't belong, that I'm going to hell, that bullied me, that I had no representation on TV/movies (this is pre-2000s), etc.. I had no affirmation and had to stay silent and that killed my self-esteem. And I'm sure that's true for other minorities also. So I was getting annoyed by the constant blaming of parents for everything. But when I reframed it to society is telling me i'm...

United States on Oct 12, 2023

Amazon Customer: Liked it , it was deliver on time

United Kingdom on Sep 03, 2023

Jesse: Very thought out workbook

United States on Aug 02, 2023

NipuniO: I am not a native English speaker and the language is very simple and easy to understand. A smooth read and it keeps me engaged, which is huge as I suffer from reduced attention span. I am still reading the first few chapters, and it is definitely a helpful book - it is not just a read, but a workbook which makes you to think about yourself and act accordingly. I have started feeling better about myself since I started reading the book.

United Kingdom on May 08, 2023

Kindle Customer: The author is very knowledgeable in the subject. I got a lot of insights from reading this book. Very thorough. I highly recommend it to anyone who is doubtful of himself or critical. 5 stars. You can really sense the professionalism of Mr. McKay. Loved the book.

United States on May 06, 2023

Music all: I reached my full level of self esteem and ...confidence

Canada on Aug 26, 2022

Faustus Sax: I read this one right after reading WHEN ANGER HURTS... both were fantastic. I am keeping the both and will read them again in a year.

Canada on Jul 27, 2022

Shreya Patnaik: A friend recommended this book to me. It’s a great great book. It is written by therapists themselves. And it has really powerful technique and chapters in it. I think skimming through this book would not be a good approach and whoever wants to get the best use of this book, should take their time with every chapter and not feel disheartened if it’s taking long to complete - as the joy of the book and the learnings, is in the journey. A life changing book - will definitely recommend to everyone who needs it!

India on Aug 03, 2021

Juliet A. Wright: I got so much out of this book. The section on Meeting and Disarming the Critic was the very enlightening. I have sticky notes all over that section, along with highlighted portions and underlined sentences. There is so much of me in those pages. I need to feel right, achieve and control negative feelings and that is just for starters. I also have fear of rejection, anger and guilt. My inner critic is more easily silenced, thanks to the work I did in this book.

I also learned quite a bit from the Myth of Reality section. In this segment the author describes ones head as having TV screen in it, through which everything is filtered. Therefore, we see things not as they truly are, but through our filter. This was very helpful to me as I have learned to take peoples criticism of me at face value, or I'm better at it, at least. They are seeing me and my actions through their screen, which is adjusted for them. They criticize what they see on their screen, not me. After studying this book I can see how my perception of myself affects how I interact with everyone in the world. Asking For What You Want and Needs Versus Wants are also very helpful sections. The Wants Inventory was...

United States on Aug 31, 2013

D.Farrar: I really wanted to read this book as I am 49 and still dealing with the pain of low self-esteem. I had very high expectations for this book. I have never read a book on self-esteem before and at 49 I am ready to be healed from the pain of low self-esteem. One would have to be aware that for a book to accomplish this feat would be a major accomplishment.
To really get the most out of the book there are several exercises to do in the book. I chose not to do them the first time through, but I am planning on going back and reviewing. I'm sure the exercises will be very benefical in changing the way we think about ourselves.
There is a section on affirming our worth I found to be quite controversial. The authors gives us a choice of four different ways to deal with our sense of self worth. The first is to view our human worth as an abstract concept that upon examination, has an extremely fragile basis in nature. So we are better off not even think about the concept of self worth with this option.
The second way to view self worth is to see it as being equally distributed and immutable. This view lines up more with what I have been taught. If there is a God then he created us...

United States on Aug 03, 2010