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Prescriptions Without Pills: For Relief from Depression, Anger, Anxiety, and More Kindle Edition

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 161 ratings

The guide to drug-free, mindful techniques to improve your mental health. “This groundbreaking book is not just a book to read. It’s a book to use.” —Toni Bernhard, author of How to Be Sick

Have you ever wanted relief from feeling discouraged, worried, irritated, locked in habits that ultimately harm you? These negative states—depression, anxiety, anger and addictive habits—are the common colds of mental health. Like mild physical illnesses however, they can cause much distress and, if left untreated, can lead to worse difficulties.

Prescriptions Without Pills offers techniques for resolving the problems that have been provoking your uncomfortable emotions. Prescriptions guides you back to feeling good and then shows you how to sustain feelings of well-being.

Avoid the risk of negative side effects like weight gain and mental dullness that can result from taking pills to reduce your negative emotions. Instead implement these drug-free prescriptions. Use the prescriptions on your own or with help from a therapist.

Illustrated with engaging stories from the many clients Dr. Heitler has worked with in her forty-plus years as an internationally known psychologist and psychotherapy innovator,
Prescriptions Without Pills aims to help you navigate the route back to well-being and learn skills that can help you to stay there.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A graduate of Harvard and NYU, Dr. Susan Heitler is a clinical psychologist practicing in Denver. Her first book for therapists was "From Conflict to Resolution.” She followed this up with resources for couples who want to improve their marriage: "Power of Two and The Power of Two Workbook." Dr. Heitler’s master therapist video on couples’ therapy, "The Angry Couple," is used in training programs globally; she has lectured on her treatment methods in China, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East, where she recently keynoted the regional psychological conference in Beirut.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Who is this book for?

My 10 year old grandson Harel recently came to visit me at my therapy office. Sitting in one of the bright yellow chairs where my clients and I sit Harel asked, “You just sit here and talk with people? Sounds like your job is offering psychology to people when they need it.”

Psychology For People When They Need It could have been the name for this book. If you are someone who feels in need of help to free yourself of a negative emotional state, the prescriptions here aim to give you access to much of what you would learn in my psychology office. If you are a therapist, these prescriptions hopefully will expand your repertoire of remedies for helping people who are suffering from emotional distress.

In my therapy office, large windows enable the Denver sunshine to infuse the room with positive energy. This book aims to illuminate and refresh the dark corners in your life. Colorful contemporary art decorates my office walls. May your feelings of distress give way to similar uplifting visions.

In sum, my hope is that the therapeutic prescriptions you are embarking on reading will help you like they help the clients in my therapy office. If you are a therapist, my hope is that the remedies in this book will further your effectiveness with your clients.

Why is psychological treatment, self-administered with the prescriptions in this book or administered by a therapy professional, important?

Painful emotions hurt. They actually light up the same pain centers of your brain as physical hurts do. While both emotional and physical pain serve to tell you that a problem that needs attention, sometimes the pain messenger itself becomes as much of a problem as the situation that the pain is alerting you to.

In addition to causing emotional suffering, the impacts of emotional distress on physical health can be substantial. Unhappiness and anxiety leave you become more susceptible to illnesses from simple colds to cancer. Your immune system functions less effectively and your ability to heal from wounds and illness decreases.

Fortunately, psychotherapy helps to relieve both the emotional and potential physical consequences of distress. One major research project found that when patients diagnosed with a mental health disorder received treatment for their emotional distress, their overall medical costs were reduced by 17 percent. By contrast, the medical expenses of those who received no treatment for their mental disorder increased by 12.3 percent. Improvements in emotional health improve physical health.

Research has established that bibliotherapy such as you are doing by reading this book can offer effective mental health treatment. Adding the help of a therapist can make the results even more long-lasting. The more severe your emotional symptoms, the more important adding a therapist will be. In any case, do take this form of therapy seriously, making your reading and implementation of the prescriptions a priority.

The prescriptions

Like recipes in a cookbook or directions in a how-to manual, this book gives you step-by-step instructions.

When my husband Bruce and I were still in graduate school, our first baby arrived. We both were relatively clueless about parenting. With great delight, my husband bundled baby Abigail up, strapped her into a chest-facing carrier where she could snuggle warmly into his chest, and took her for a long walk to enjoy together the Connecticut shoreline where we then were living. Clouds alas blew in. Bruce turned to head homeward as soon as a damp drizzle began. By the time we unwrapped tiny baby Abigail at home however, the dampness and chill had so plugged up her new respiratory system with mucous that she was barely breathing.

To my husband’s credit, he never lost his composure. “Where is that Dr. Spock book?” Bruce asked me calmly. “I think nurses at the hospital packed it in the box of goodies they sent home with us.” I scurried to look and to my relief succeeded in finding the still-unpacked book.

“Let’s see,” Bruce said calmly, “what the book says if you look in the index under the word nose.” We’d only been married less than 10 months, but I knew at that moment that Bruce would be an blessedly reliable partner in living.

“Nose: If a baby’s nose is stuffed, use a syringe to remove the mucous.”

I quickly retrieved a blue rubber squeeze syringe from the hospital’s new-baby gift box. Two squishes later and Abigail was breathing like a normal infant. Phew!

Why do I tell that story now? I am hoping that you will be able to turn to this what-to-do-when book for similar help when emotionally challenging situations arise in your life.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01K18FCT4
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Morgan James Publishing (April 30, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 30, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2.7 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 285 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 161 ratings

About the author

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Susan Heitler
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II am a psychologist who specializes in helping clients gain fast relief from negative emotions. I share self-help versions of my treatment methods in my books, podcasts, videos, and blogs.

Of my contributions to the mental health world, the one that has meant most to me has been clarifying, in my first major book, the process of win-win conflict resolution. As the review in Contemporary Psychiatry put it, FROM CONFLICT TO RESOLUTION reflects "the best of therapy."

Other honors?

---I was chosen to demonstrate couples treatment for the first-ever master-therapists video series. THE ANGRY COUPLE: CONFLICT-FOCUSED THERAPY continues to be utilized in training programs across the US and globally.

---My blog for psychologytoday has garnered over 26 million reads.

---My POWER OF TWO book and workbook, which teach the skills that make marriages successful, has been published in 7 foreign editions.

---For more on my work, see my TherapyHelp and PrescriptionsWithoutPills websites.

---Most importantly to me personally, my cherished husband and I, married over 50 years, raised four children who now, with their spouses, have brought us 16 grandchildren. We feel very blessed.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
161 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book helpful and practical for overcoming negative emotions. It offers useful strategies and is an invaluable reference for those susceptible to negative emotions. The advice is concise, easy to understand, and well-written.

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16 customers mention "Advice"16 positive0 negative

Customers find the book helpful and practical for those struggling with negative emotions. They say it offers useful strategies to improve one's emotions. The book is an invaluable tool for both the layperson and someone suffering from any of the issues mentioned. It provides great information and clear guidelines from a seasoned therapist. The book is a mix of cognitive behavioral therapy strategies and alternative therapies that are helpful in overcoming issues.

"Great professional with good characters. Very Helpful book! 👏👏..." Read more

"Dr. Susan Heitler is a wonderful author and a seasoned therapist who has found a special way of communicating that is both reassuring, loving and at..." Read more

"...This book is a mix of cognitive behavioral therapy strategies and alternative therapies that are presented in a way easy enough for anyone to do on..." Read more

"This book give explanations and strategies to overcome some many issues" Read more

9 customers mention "Ease of reading"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and understand. They appreciate the clear writing style and useful exercises.

"...We are thrilled to have this new tool. It is written in a very accessible manner, with practical advice that offers hope to many who suffer from..." Read more

"...It’s placed in a succinct and easy to understand way...." Read more

"...and transformational information, which goes deep while remaining easy to read...." Read more

"Had some good straight forward ideas. Also, easy read for anyone and many different kinds of ideas." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2024
    Great professional with good characters. Very Helpful book!
    👏👏
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2016
    Dr. Susan Heitler is a wonderful author and a seasoned therapist who has found a special way of communicating that is both reassuring, loving and at the same time constructive and transformational. My wife and I are relationship counselors and we have used Dr. Heitler's other books with great success. We are thrilled to have this new tool. It is written in a very accessible manner, with practical advice that offers hope to many who suffer from anger, depression and anxiety. We welcome the move away from chemical dependencies for handling these disorders and are grateful to Dr. Heitler for again giving so freely of her years of experience to improve the life of many. This book will be an invaluable tool for both the lay person, someone suffering from any of the areas discussed or the professional working with these issues.
    14 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2019
    I am a psychotherapist. This book takes pretty much everything that I already know but adds a few things. It’s placed in a succinct and easy to understand way.

    The exercises or “prescriptions” as she calls them, are great and I use them with my clients now. My clients have found the exercises useful as well.

    I love the way that she explains things. I also love that she’s open to alternative methods of treatment like energy therapy.

    This book is a mix of cognitive behavioral therapy strategies and alternative therapies that are presented in a way easy enough for anyone to do on their own or with their therapist.
    29 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2024
    This book give explanations and strategies to overcome some many issues
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2016
    Dr. Heitler is an extremely well educated and seasoned therapist who also knows how to write. Benefit from her constructive and transformational information, which goes deep while remaining easy to read. It is great to see doctors moving away from the quick fix via chemical dependencies and instead going for the root cause. This book is for the lay person as well as professional counselors and coaches.
    9 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2017
    Had some good straight forward ideas. Also, easy read for anyone and many different kinds of ideas.
    11 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2019
    I thought, based on the book description and the sample pages that I downloaded, that this book would serve as a sort of technical manual to alleviating feelings of anxiety, anger, or depression, but it wasn't very compelling or enlightening. The suggestions or "Rx"'s as they are called in the book seemed a little cliche, and generic, and in some cases the Rx sounded more like a history lesson than actual steps to take. I've read plenty of books on this topic and, unfortunately, this one just didn't hit the mark for me. I suppose if this is one's first book on this type of subject matter, it's a good place to start, though.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2017
    I'm really impressed with this book, along with the author's other book, Power of Two. This book describes demystifies depression by explaining how it works, what triggers it, and what can help. I have experienced depression way less since I understood what triggers it for me. When it happens, I am able to notice how the situation gives me the blues, and I know how to deal with it. It's pretty amazing, and personally I find it much more helpful than meditation alone, although this approach helps me to really look at the situation objectively, which is, I guess, the scientific version of zen
    28 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars A very reader-friendly book
    Reviewed in Canada on January 3, 2017
    I have been searching and researching many avenues to deal with a personal and family situation in the past two years and and among all the books I consulted I found yours the most practical and extremely helpful.
    The real-life examples, the easy-to-follow steps, the non-medical tone of the text, and its warm and friendly approach (including your online videos), among others, have all contributed to its pragmatic application in day-to-day life.

    Thankful reader!
  • Jyn
    5.0 out of 5 stars good book
    Reviewed in Canada on January 24, 2019
    good book
  • Rosemary
    2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing.
    Reviewed in Canada on August 20, 2018
    Nothing I haven't heard/read before. Disappointing.
  • Sanjay
    5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding book-Must if u have depression,anger and or anxieties plus EFT endorsed.
    Reviewed in India on October 30, 2019
    Must book.I dont call my book price as price ,I call it an Investment and this book money is atleast for me superb Investments.So invest in the book NOW.
    One person found this helpful
    Report

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