Guilt: Letting Go

by Lucy Freeman, Herbert S. Strean

Shows how to understand and let go of your guilt. The first part deals with the causes of guilt, its manifestations, where it originates, how it works in the family and in personal relationships, and how it is manipulated by advertisers and salesmen. Describes the outlets it finds when it is denied, its relationship to fear and anger, shame and jealousy, and how it differs in men and women. The second part focuses on how to let go of the guilt the reader has been carrying around for years and includes chapters on denial, changing the inner script of the past, what to do when guilt persists, distinguishing between real guilt and imagined guilt, how to lessen it and how to cope with it.

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

First published July 7, 1977

About the author

Lucy Greenbaum Freeman was a reporter and an author. Her early coverage of psychiatry and mental health for The New York Times led to wider reporting on the subject. Ms. Freeman persuaded editors to allow coverage of the growth of psychiatry and the preservation of Sigmund Freud's private papers.

She graduated from Vermont's Bennington College with a B.A. in 1938 and was hired by The New York Times in 1940.

Her nonfiction books, ranging from detailed studies of Freud to those exploring sources of anger and anxiety, helped familiarize a popular audience with what had long been a hush-hush practice.

Ms. Freeman's first book, Fight Against Fears, recounted her own experience as a psychoanalysis patient who struggled to overcome her shy, whispery voice and social fears. Published in 1951, the book was in print for 47 years.

Her work earned the Writers Award from the American Psychiatric Association in 1976 and the National Media Award from the Chicago Institute of Psychoanalysis in 1986. Ms. Freeman also wrote 77 other books, including mystery novels and memoirs.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for research purposes. A very enlightening and informative book. It entices you to examine your own guilt and determine how much of it is self-created and unnecessary. It gives a different perspective as to why people behave the way they do.