Successful Problem Solving: A Workbook to Overcome the Four Core Beliefs That Keep You Stuck

by Matthew McKay

Some problems just don't seem to go away. Another season goes by, and you're still behind the same desk, even though the promotion you wanted didn't come through again. Month after month, you and your spouse quarrel about the same old issues. And you still haven't lost the weight you wanted to lose, or kept up that exercise program. You make resolutions, or promise yourself you'll think of a plan. Time passes, and nothing happens. You're right back where you were, and nothing has changed. Something inside you stands in the way. Maybe you tell yourself you just don’t deserve to get what you want, or it’s too dangerous to risk a change. Maybe you doubt your ability to fix the problem anyway, or you worry that you might hurt someone else if you tried to change things. Now, in this new guide, best-selling authors Matthew McKay, Ph.D., and Patrick Fanning will show you how to challenge these four core beliefs that keep you stuck in old ways of acting and living. You will discover the tools you need to work out any problem that you’ve been unable to solve—whether in your career or finances, your relationship or your family, your health or your lifestyle.

Genres: Psychology

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Matthew McKay, PhD, is a professor of psychology at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, and author of more than 30 professional psychology and self-help books which have sold a combined total of more than 3 million copies. He is co-founder of independent self-help publisher, New Harbinger Publications. He was the clinical director of Haight Ashbury Psychological Services in San Francisco for twenty five years. He is current director of the Berkeley CBT Clinic. An accomplished novelist and poet, his poetry has appeared in two volumes from Plum Branch Press and in more than sixty literary magazines. His most recent novel, Wawona Hotel, was
published by Boaz Press in 2008.

Reviews

[Atiyeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Successful Problem Solving: A Workbook to Overcome the Four Core Beliefs That Keep You Stuck by Matthew McKay is a practical, exercise-based guide rooted in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).

Rather than focusing on theory, it helps readers identify the deep-seated beliefs that often block effective decision-making and problem-solving—such as feelings of helplessness, fear of failure, perfectionism, or the assumption that no workable solution exists.

Through structured worksheets and step-by-step exercises, the book teaches a systematic approach to breaking problems down, generating options, and moving from mental paralysis to concrete action.

Its emphasis is less on insight alone and more on behavioral change, making it especially useful for people who feel “stuck” in repetitive thinking patterns and want a clear, actionable method to regain control and make decisions more effectively.