J.F. Benoist's "Addicted to the Monkey Mind: Rewrite the Limiting Beliefs That Hold You Back" Paperback

Michael Mackid: Great food for thought. Written from a friendly perspective rather than a medical or formal psychiatric point of view. Very accessible and helpful .

Canada on Oct 16, 2023

Stacey HStacey H: It was a random recommendation on Amazon when browsing books. I read a handful of reviews and decided it sounded like it was a book worth trying. & it was!
Absolutely love how well it was written to make it easy to understand and to connect with on a personal level. I couldn’t put it down once I started it.
It truly helps give you a wider perspective on how we function now based on our life lessons and experiences. It’s given you an opportunity to recognize and change things that no longer benefit your life.

United States on Mar 29, 2022

charles reid: I liked the psychology but sometimes the narrative of the personal stories, with their physical characteristics portrayed so strongly, annoyed me.
Great Sunday read.

Australia on Jun 06, 2021

Angela: I would recommend this book to anyone who is living. Adulting isn't always easing and learning new tools along the way to help enrich our lives could only be seen as a positive. I've learn so much about myself and the power I have to change my viewpoint. While it's easier said than done, I stay hopefully. I have been implementing these strategies daily over several months and am very pleased with my progress!

Thank you J.F 😁

United States on May 31, 2021

Amazon Customer: Amazing!!! Must read!!

Canada on Jan 17, 2021

John: Benoist teaches us to overcome the defensive biases and reactive habits of the ego by stepping back into nonjudgmental awareness. From this place, which he calls the Observing Mind, we can use our emotions as a guidance system to lead us to our core beliefs ... and change them. He shows how to reinterpret our circumstances, take control of our beliefs, and find joy in the present moment.

Benoist uses the real-life examples of two characters, and their counseling sessions with him, to make this a practical, relatable read. However, I found the therapy dialogue to be tedious and eventually tired of the character storylines. But the purpose of this book is self-help, not dazzling prose, and I definitely felt helped.

My favorite insights from this book were about shame. “The promise of shame is that it will make you a better person; the reality of shame is that it makes you feel worthless” (84). “The very issues that we’re most ashamed of bring us to our greatest wisdom, power, and compassion” (page 109).

United States on Jul 24, 2020

valentina: I love the fact the author uses examples of other people. I was gripped! In a matter of a month I am slowly starting to ignore my monkey mind.

United Kingdom on May 02, 2020

Nigel Davies: One of the most important books you will ever read. The way he teaches his knowledge makes the topic highly accessible for everyone. It is a book where you will have a realisation. As someone with a long history of self-sabotage, this has been life changing for me. I cannot recommend it enough, I've read a lot of books of its ilk and this one really is up there with the best of the best.

United Kingdom on Feb 19, 2020

Happy Sea Slug: I've read a lot of self-help, and I'm a hard sell... After over twenty years of extensive evidence-based treatments to address various psychological disorders, and a strong grounding in mental health coping techniques, I feel like there isn't much I haven't already learned about. This book gave me something new to chew on, and it's not just about addiction. I have some vices (extensive internet use, overeating) but nothing like the serious substance abuse or relationship problems faced by the characters in the author's book. I still found it so useful that I intend to read it a second time, with careful notes.

The author makes a clear distinction between the Monkey Mind (a Zen Buddhist concept) and the Observing Mind - in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, this might be called the Wise Mind - it's the part of you with some ability to objectively analyze what is happening in the moment rather than buying into the truth of your negative beliefs. What I most appreciated were the detailed anecdotal examples. Yes, they are a bit cheesy and have idealistic outcomes, and yes, there were a lot of them - and don't get me started on the badly written dialog tags - but hey, they were...

United States on Jan 01, 2020

mrup2245: I am a CSAC working with a client who is currently at an in-patient treatment program. Client has been in and out of prison using meth and gambling as ways to cope. Diagnosed ADHD, client very vulnerable to "getting out of treatment." Client said he has gone through prison treatment program and it "made sense." Treatment program "not so much." I gave this client the book. He said the "best book ever read," and "it explained in the simplest way, why he does the things he does!" As a mental health counselor, I could not have said this with as much emphasis as the client. I would recommend giving this book to the hard-to-reach clients. It could save their life.

United States on Mar 20, 2019