"Emotional Freedom" by Judith Orloff, M.D.

Ever felt down and out?  Like you are stuck and want to get better?  This book will really help open your eyes to what emotional captivity and freedom look like.  What I really enjoyed about this book is not only how practical it is (using real world examples), but also that it combines science and spirituality.  In today's culture, most people who are upset get prescribed pills to make them better.  While that may be necessary on some of the population who truly have chemical brain imbalances, most people really need spirituality.  Spirituality can come from yoga, meditation, prayer, church, synagogue, counseling, therapy, tai chi, etc.  While Judith believes in God (so do I), she is not pushy in her book.  For those who are averse to spirituality, she encourages them to connect with a force of love and compassion--we can all benefit from doing this instead of mentally critiquing ourselves in our heads.  I think Judith is more convincing due to the medical background.  If she were not a licensed psychiatrist, some may not make all this stuff seriously.  However, given her credentials, readers have no reason not to take the advice in this book 100% serious.  And they will be glad they did!  Furthermore, different personality types are chronicled.  There are even quizzes in the book to help readers determine what situation they are in and what type of personality they [and others] have.  For me, I combined what I learned in Judith's book to understand that I am an empath (I absorb other people's emotions).  I was feeling tired and realized this only happened when I was around a victim emotional vampire (someone who is negative and complains a lot).  I realized that for my own emotional health that I had to distance myself from my negative friend and instead surround myself with positive energy (5Ks for example).  In the second half of the book, there are clear ways to switch negative emotions to positive ones.  Readers will learn how to transform vices such as jealousy, anger, and depression into hope, compassion, and self esteem.  This book also has a helpful index and list of references for those curious.  So, if someone wanted to read up on the mirror neuron science that Judith mentioned, they can easily find where to do that.