The Positive Power of Sadness: How Good Grief Prevents and Cures Anxiety, Depression, and Anger (Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality)

Book info: The Positive Power of Sadness: How Good Grief Prevents and Cures Anxiety, Depression, and Anger (Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality) (Hardcover, 168 pages) – Praeger, 2017. Language: English.

Written by two clinical psychologists with nearly a century of combined experience, this book explains how people who suffer from depression, anxiety, or undue anger can overcome these difficulties by allowing the normal process of grieving to occur.Sadness is generally characterized as a negative emotion, yet experiencing sadness plays a positive and key role in achieving and maintaining mental health and in avoiding anxiety, depression, and anger. Indeed, sadness can be understood as a normal and necessary feeling that always occurs when one loses something that is loved. The Positive Power of Sadness examines the experience of sadness, taking into account the personal, relational, and neurological factors of sadness; explains the cultural reasons that many resist feeling sad and consequently displace sadness into secondary processes; and provides a practical and systematic way to overcome anger, anxiety, and depression by allowing the normal process of being sad to occur. This simple paradigm of love and loss causing joy and sorrow in tandem is founded on solid research, carefully considered theory, and extensive experience and will serve to stimulate further thought and writing. Professional therapists, psychologists, counselors, teachers, and clergy who work with people in various settings will find this enlightening reading, as will general readers seeking self-help or possessing an interest in psychological functioning or relational difficulties.

“This book provides much wealth and wisdom from the authors' many years of experience. I have shared concepts from the book with colleagues and clients who have all found the ideas to be very helpful with practical suggestions to deal with the big and little sads or losses in life. There is much to be gleaned for both mental health professionals and non-professionals alike.” ―Dan Feaster, Executive Director and Psychotherapist with the Samaritan Counseling Center of Southern Wisconsin

“A must-read for all mental health professionals, but also for any human being wanting a better understanding of the ups and downs of day-to-day life and how to better cope with them. I found this book so helpful, clear, and pragmatic, that I began to put the principles to work in my practice the day after reading it and have applied them to my own life with wonderful results. Drs. Johnson and Brock present a game-changing perspective on life with such warmth and tenderness that the book feels like a big hug while they change the way you look at life's disappointments.” ―Kenneth H. Waldron, Clinical Psychologist