Are you steeped in depression? Feeling sad, but don’t know why? Plunged into a seemingly endless grief? What if you met someone whose greatest joy in life (yes, greatest joy) is to take you gently by the hand and lead you step by step into a lighter place, a life worthy of living? Not a perfect life, of course, filled with eternal joy, but a meaningful one cuddled in contentment—an attainable one, one you can realistically reach.
Dr. Bob Rich is a professional psychotherapist who has helped himself as well as numerous clients find their way into better lives. In his lovely little book, From Depression to Contentment, he does not send you off to spend thousands of dollars on therapy and fill your cabinet with miracle pills. Nor does he fill your head with theory and Pollyanna-ish positive thinking dogma, admonishing you to ignore what you know to be real and your feelings about it. Nor does he tell you it’s in your genes and there’s little you can do about it.
Instead, he has written a guide book of self-therapy and tells you step by doable step how to fix yourself using tools you already have—and helps you find your own reasons to do it. He speaks from lots of experience and knows that what you’re feeling is valid, and the causes are real. With compassion, love, and wisdom, he teaches you how to abolish self-destructive misery while still acknowledging the truth of your reality.
He did it. I did it. You can do it, too. You’ll be glad you did.
Yvonne and I became friends when she contributed a remarkable essay to Cancer: A personal challenge. It is a moving account of her two returns from clinical death. With her permission, I reproduced the essay in From Depression to Contentment because of its hugely healing value. We have continued as siblings of the spirit now for 14 years.
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