Monday, February 11, 2019

"All the Good Ones Aren't Taken" by Debbie Magids, PhD and Nancy Peske

The combination of amusing title and cover caught my eye, and I decided to read this book.  It's all about finding lasting love and changing thoughts / behaviors that self-sabotage.  The authors go into detail on eight types of women.  They have clever titles like Runaway Bride, Uptown Girl, the Wanderer, the Old Faithful, and so on.  These characters mirror women who go after married men, are afraid to commit, can't get over an ex, are afraid to date, and more.  There is a huge emphasis on repressed emotions stemming from childhood as many of the examples in the book go back to one's home life growing up.  While I wouldn't say every dysfunctional relationship is due to someone's upset childhood, I would say that the ideas laid out in this book can help readers get to the heart of why they act the way they do and why they believe the thoughts they do--regardless of their origin.  There are also some psychological terms used, all of which are properly explained for the lay reader (thank goodness!).  Overall, I found this book very interesting.  I also really liked how at the end, there was a summary of what happened to the women in the book.  The examples given for each type of woman were not made up.  They were actual clients (last names omitted, of course).  It was cool to see what happened to those women after taking the advice from the authors.  It gives hope to the reader that people can change for the better.  Not every example woman landed a husband, but they all improved their outlook on life and made positive steps in the right direction towards finding love and, more importantly, learning to love themselves.

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