The Problem Was Me: A Guide to Self-Awareness, Compassion, and Awareness

( 4 )

All Available Formats + Editions

——

$9.99

NOOK Book

——

$9.99

The Problem Was Me (eBook) Pub. Date: 9/19/2011 Publisher: Gentle Path Press
$9.35

$12.96

Paperback

$9.35

$12.96

The Problem Was Me: A Guide to Self-Awareness, Compassion, and Awareness Pub. Date: 8/16/2011 Publisher: Gentle Path Press

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

Advertising

Overview

A motivational can-do guide to putting aside negative self-talk and taking one’s life to the next level

A single negative message in our childhood can carry a lifetime sentence. Unfortunately, many people experienced barrage after barrage of negative messages while growing up. These messages can morph into what author Thomas Gagliano calls, “The warden, an oppressive bully who sat on my shoulder for years.” Dr. Abraham J. Twerski and Thomas Gagliano inspire readers to silence this inner voice of self-doubt and fear and begin living proactive, satisfying lives. Moving past addictive acting out depends on right action and right thinking. With candor and humility, the authors show readers how to work an honest recovery program and break the cycle of negative thinking and addictive acting out.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780982650578
Publisher: Gentle Path Press
Publication date: 8/16/2011
Pages: 153
Sales rank: 334,814
Product dimensions: 8.76 (w) x 6.10 (h) x 0.46 (d)

Meet the Author

Thomas Gagliano is a highly motivated and successful entrepreneur with a proven track record in small business ventures. Gagliano has also been a high profile leader in addiction and self-help therapy, developing unique methods and procedures which have helped numerous institutions and individuals in the greater New York area. His methods have been embraced by a number of institutions, including the Counseling Center in Princeton, the Chabad Chai Center in East Brunswick and St. Ambrose Parish (RC) in Old Bridge. He is a graduate of Seton Hall University and has a bachelor’s degree in marketing. Today he is back at school, attending Rutgers University and completing a Masters degree in social work.

Abraham J. Twerski, MD, author of Addictive Personality and numerous other books, has been referred to as "Pittsburgh's most famous psychiatrist." After serving several years as a pulpit rabbi, Dr. Twerski entered Marquette University Medical School in Milwaukee and completed his psychiatric training at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School. He has served as medical director of psychiatry at Pittsburgh's St. Francis Hospital, and in 1972 founded the Gateway Rehabilitation Center for treatment of alcohol and drug addiction. He was the medical director of Gateway for 30 years, and is currently medical director emeritus. He is the author of numerous books on addiction, self-esteem and spirituality. Dr. Twerski collaborated with Charles Schulz, creator of the Peanuts cartoon strip, on four books. Dr. Twerski has lectured world-wide as well as in many cities in the United States.

Read an Excerpt

"Throughout The Problem Was Me, I refer to the warden, an imaginary person with a bat, who sat on my shoulder. Whenever someone made me feel defective, he would come out swinging. The Warden instilled in me a peculiar definition of intimacy. Intimacy meant pain, and should be avoided. The Warden was trying to protect me from getting too close to anyone. This imaginary guy on my shoulder has been with me a long time, as far back as I can remember. His motive for using the bat is to take a swing at me should I ever get the idea that I deserve to be happy or if I stumble and make a mistake. He permits me no margin for error.
The warden becomes the little voice inside our heads that won’t go away. The little voice keeps us imprisoned by reminding us of the intrusive messages we received in childhood over and over again. Childhood wounds are reopened, isolating us from others. In many ways, we play roles in our lives that can bring harmful consequences to others and to ourselves. We wear masks to hide who we really are. The little voice makes us feel ashamed and unworthy. We become self-centered causing us to feel that we have the right to something regardless of the harm it causes others. We call this destructive entitlement.
The warden’s voice inside our head repeats that we do not deserve to be happy. His voice leads us to sabotage happiness when it comes our way. He is so powerful that even though he imprisons us to destructive roles in our lives, we listen to him. The Warden keeps us emotionally shackled and orders us to keep our doors locked, so no one can enter. This book provides the key to unlocking the locked door and allowing happiness into our lives."

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5

( 4 )

Rating Distribution

5 Star

(3)

4 Star

(1)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines

Tell the world what you think of this product.

Add Recommendations

Your Name: Create a Pen Name or Leave Anonymously

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

- HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
- Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
- Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
- Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
- Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
- Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
- Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

- By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
- Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
- See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.

S_Yarima

Posted September 7, 2011

Very Highly Recommended-- A must read!

The Problem Was Me is a poignant novel that discusses
one man's journey to becoming a better person for himself and his family.
The courage Tom Gagliano shows as well as the courage of his wife to
share their deeply personal story in the hopes of helping others is
beyond courageous. The childhood wounds theory that he discusses
is not only important for addicts to understand but it is at the core of
understanding why we act the way we do. The only way that we can fix what
is broken is to first understand the problem and then work towards changing our
normal processes to a way of dealing with life that is healthy and productive. The most
beautiful part of this novel is not the fact that the author has healed himself, but that
he has overcome "The Warden" telling him he is crazy for thinking he could ever write a book
to help even one person and leave his children the positive messages of unconditional love
that he never received himself, thereby braking the chains that for so long kept him frozen to give and receive love. This is a MUST read!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Anonymous

Posted September 2, 2011

Highly recommended!

"The Problem Was Me" is a handbook for overcoming destructive thinking and behaviors and leading a healthy, functional life. The author's descriptions of the problem - negative self-talk and self-image, personified as The Warden - are unique and totally accessible, as are his simple, practical solutions. The book is a terrific primer on spirituality, emotional healing, and addiction recovery, and would make a great gift for someone who is troubled by the demons of a difficult childhood (and who isn't?). An amazing work by a first-time author. I can't recommend it highly enough.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Lynn-west

Posted August 31, 2011

Highly Recommended

Just finished reading your book. After years of reading self help books, this was the only one that really hit home for me. Getting to the core of why we are the way we are is painful because it brings up a lot of memories I, like most people, try to forget. It also helps me understand why love ones in my life are struggling with their own self-defeating thoughts. Thank you for your courage for " putting it all out there" so that others can benefit from your experiences
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Anonymous

Posted January 9, 2012

No text was provided for this review.

If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble