The Power of Negative Thinking

by Tony Humphreys

Dr. Hagans has given us a new insight into how life is made up of both positive and negative forces and how this affects our lives. It is written in a down-to-earth style that will allow even the novice to grasp the subject.

Genres: Self Help, Audiobook, Nonfiction, Psychology, Philosophy

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Dr. Tony Humphreys is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Author and National and International Speaker.

He began his career as a Clinical Psychologist in State Psychiatric and Psychological Services in England and Ireland and since 1990 has been working in private practice in Ireland.

He works with individuals, couples, families, schools, local communities and the business community. He is the Director of three National University of Ireland courses which are run in University College Cork and in an outreach centre in Dublin.

He is Co-Founder of The Irish Association of Relationship Mentors and a Member of Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI), IARM.

Reviews

[Baraa · Rating 4 out of 5]

قرأت الكتاب منذ سنتين والكتاب الآن ليس بحوزتي لكي أكتب ملخص دقيق.. لكن باستطاعتي أن أقول بشكل موجز أن الكتاب يعرض وجهة نظر جديدة في تفكير وتصرفات البشر السلبية، بحيث يجعل القارئ يرى التفكير السلبي بطريقة لم يعتد أن يراها فيها: سيفهمها بطريقة مختلفة، سيجعله قادر أن يفهم لما الإنسان عادة يلجأ لأن يتصرف بسلبية.. وعندما يتم الفهم يصل الإنسان إلى الحل..
بقراءتك للكتاب ستدرك ربما للمرة الأولى أن الصفات السلبية التي تحملها، أُوجدها جسمك من أجل أن يحميك: ابتكرها جسمك لأنك كنت بحاجة لها (عوملت بطريقة سيئة من شخص ما)..
الكتاب لا يقدم فقط صورة جديدة لفهم التفكير السلبي، بل يقدم طريقة الحل أيضاً للتخلص من التفكير السلبي..

[دينـا · Rating 5 out of 5]

يتحدث هذا الكتاب عن الافكار السلبية التي تسكن عقول الناس ولكن من ناحية ايجابية !!
فهو على خلاف ما اعتدنا لا يرفض هذه الافكار ، بل يعتبرها اسلوب ذكي يطوره الانسان في سبيل حماية نفسه من تكرار تجاربه السيئه ..
فمثلا ان تعرض احد ما لتجربة هجر في الطفولة من قبل ابويه ، فهو بلا شك سيتبع اسلوبا انطوائيا متحفظا في علااقاته كي يحمي من نفسه من تكرار التجربة ، هذا السلوك يدل على حبه لذاته وسعيه الحثيث لتجنيب نفسه الالم ، ولهذا لا يجب ان نقول للناس لا تفكروا بشكل سلبي ، قبل ان نعرف انهم بهذا الاسلوب يحمون هشاشتهم العاطفية ..ويخبئون لا امانهم الشخصي ،..
تفكيرك السلبي سببه شعور سابق لهذا التفكير ، والشعور سببه مواقف مررت بها ، لا بد من ان تمر بهذه الرحلة العكسية لتقوي امانك العاطفي وبهذا ستتجاوز حتما طريقة التفكير ..
لماذا خمسة نجوم ؟ لأنني شخصيا مررت بكل ما ذكره الكاتب هنا ، ونجحت في تجاوز سلبيتي بعد ان عمّقت ايماني الشخصي بذاتي والذي جاء من الحب اللامشروط الذي منحته لنفسي .. جاء الكتاب بالنسبة لي مثل ملخص تأكيدي على نجاحي في تجاوز مرحلة صعبه ، وعلى انني اصبحت اتعلم من نفسي قبل ان اتعلم من الكتب ..

[Ypatios Varelas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Εξαιρετικό βιβλίο σχετικά με το πώς οι αρνητικές σκέψεις και τα αρνητικά συναισθήματα στην ουσία δεν είναι αρνητικά αλλά προστατευτικά, ποια είναι τα βασικά προβλήματα που κρύβονται πίσω από αυτά και μας κάνουν να τα χρειαζόμαστε, πώς σκέψεις, συναισθήματα, συμπεριφορές και σωματικά συμπτώματα εξυπηρετούν τις ανάγκες ψυχικής προστασίας μας και ποια είναι η ενδεδειγμένη πορεία απαλλαγής (θεραπείας) από αυτά.
Αν και δεν συμφωνώ 100% με όλα όσα παραθέτει ο συγγραφέας, ωστόσο συμφωνώ απόλυτα με τη λογική και τον τρόπο αντιμετώπισης, κόντρα στην αμερικανοτραφή κουλτούρα της αναγκαστικής θετικής σκέψης αλλά και της λανθασμένης λογικής παρέμβασης πολλών ψυχοθεραπευτών.
Αφαιρώ ένα αστέρι από τα πέντε στη βαθμολογία γιατί ο συγγραφέας υπερτονίζει την αξία της θεραπευτικής σχέσης (είναι βασικός παράγοντας αλλά εξίσου σημαντικές είναι και οι τεχνικές σύμφωνα με τις γνώσεις και την πείρα μου). Επίσης, και αυτό είναι σημαντικό, διότι ενώ κατακρίνει ουσιαστικά τις αναπλαισιώσεις που κάνουν οι γνωσιακοί ψυχοθεραπευτές παραθέτει ο ίδιος μία μεγάλη συλλογή αναπλαισιώσεων με κύρια αυτήν για τους γονείς (που είναι η βασικήπηγή προβλημάτωνκαι ψυχικών τραυμάτων για τους περισσότερεους), ότι "έκαναν ό,τι καλύτερο μπορούσαν". Παρηγορητικό, ρυθμιστικό, αλλά όχι θεραπευτικό! Αν μία τέτοια σκέψη έρθει ως αποτέλεσμα βαθιάς και ουσιαστικής αποφόρτισης και αποτραυματισμού (που μπορεί να γίνει μόνο με ειδικές τεχνικές όπως π.χ. το EFT ή το EMDR και ΟΧΙ γνωσιακά, έστω και ψυχοδυναμικά), τότε είναι καλό, αλλίως είναι "κουκούλωμα".
Κατά τα άλλα το βιβλίο είναι πολύτιμο για όλους όσους έχουν πρόβλημα αρητικών σκέψεων, συναισθημάτων, συμπεριφορών, σωματοποιήσεων (ψυχοσωματικών ζητημάτων) αλλά και για όλους τους θεραπευτές που ασχολούνται με τέτοια θέματα.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a proponent of the power of positive thinking, this book "The Power of Negative Thinking" caught my eye while browsing for a holiday read and has reminded me of Dr.Phil McGraw's saying that no matter how flat you make a pancake it's still got two sides.

This book has given me a totally different perspective to negative thinking and how we use creative and ingenious ways to protect ourselves from further hurt, humiliation and rejection. The interpersonal interactions and defence mechanisms evident in my ABE classroom become all the clearer as a result. It also reminds me that creating safety is the essential first step which lets us move beyond our protective walls and towards a greater level of personal fulfilment.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A nice, but short little listen that was certainly more like a podcast than a book. A lot of excellent ideas that just weren’t properly flushed out. And perhaps one or two tangents that didn’t really stay on topic, which is okay, because they were still interesting. I still have plans to read his book The Antidote, and I’m sure it says a lot of similar things but with a lot more substance.

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt like listening to a podcast or putting on a YouTube video in the background, which is actually my favourite way of listening to things. Didn't get anything particularly new from this, but I'm excited to read more of Burkeman's work!

[🌶 peppersocks 🧦 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reflections and lessons learned/the content of this book made me feel…

…that whether we’re working 60 hour weeks or lying on the sofa feeling weak and confused by life, all of us will often catch ourselves in a question of uncomfortable reflection at some point

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and it inspired me to read further into stoicism. I definetly believe being a Stoic is a great way to live life.

[Mahmoud elhofy · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب جميل وبسيط جدا
الكتاب كله بيتكلم عن فكره واحده وهيا ان الواحد يفكر بطريقه ايجابيه افضل من التفكير السلبي..
وبيجيب امثله واسقاطات كتير علي حاجات ف حياتنا حاجات كتير منها مستني فعلا...

في حاجه اتعلمتها و هيا ان الواحد مفروض يكون مسامح في حياته مواقف واشخاص علشان يعرف يفكر بايجيابيه و يتخطي كل الامه

[Madii Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't get to finish this book as it belonged to somebody I was staying with, but as far as I read I would give it five stars! at first I was skeptical as it is such a different view on the typical self help books, but the more I read it the more I resonated with it. I think it really makes you consider the way we think. not recommended to people who are quick to judge a book!

[Stephen Theaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oliver Burkeman always seems so wise and sensible on Twitter and in his Guardian columns, so I got this from Audible and it didn't disappoint. Worrying about whether you can do things better and fretting about what could go wrong can be very useful, properly channelled.

[Nadya Ichinomiya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite short, about 2 hours. seems like this was more like 4 or 5 podcasts linked together.

Not terrible, I just much preferred and found much more valuable his more thoughtful and comprehensive book, Four Thousand Weeks.

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is short and worth listening to. It touches on a number of Stoic concepts and goes into more depth on impostor syndrome (and includes an interview with Amanda Palmer!) than anything I've come across before.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book changed my life when i was in the sixth grade.

this isn't actually what i read, but it has the same title.

[Siofra Ferriter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before reading this I had no belief self help books could be useful and this completely changed that view. Really practical, readable and educational. Fantastic resource alongside therapy

[Graeme Newell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oliver Burkeman has built a whole career out of being the guy at the self-help party who quietly clears his throat and says, “Has it occurred to anyone that all this relentless optimism might be making us worse?” That sensibility is very much the animating force of The Power of Negative Thinking, and for a good chunk of the book I was happily on board.

What I liked most is that Burkeman is very good company on the page. He has that rare ability to talk about anxiety, self-delusion, ambition, and modern misery without sounding like either a motivational speaker in a headset or a graduate seminar in human despair. His voice is intelligent, dry, skeptical, and just amused enough by the absurdity of modern life to make the medicine go down easily. He can look at our culture of forced positivity, endless self-optimization, and cheerful nonsense and say, in effect, “This is a bit ridiculous, isn’t it?” And I found that refreshing.

That, really, is the book’s central pleasure. It keeps poking holes in the cult of positive thinking, and frankly that target deserves to be poked. We live in an age where every bad feeling gets treated like a software bug, something to be fixed with a podcast, a morning routine, or a man on the internet telling you to wake up at 4:12 a.m. and stare heroically at a protein shake. Burkeman is deeply suspicious of all that, and so am I. He reminds us that uncertainty is real, that failure happens, that human beings are limited creatures, and that pretending otherwise does not make us wiser. It just makes us more exhausted.

I also appreciated that the book is funny in a way that sneaks up on you. It is not trying too hard to be hilarious, which is usually the first sign that something actually will be funny. Burkeman has a talent for spotting the hidden comedy in our little modern rituals of self-improvement. He seems to understand that much of contemporary life involves people trying to become better versions of themselves while secretly feeling like raccoons in business casual. That tone worked very well for me.

At its best, the book offers something genuinely helpful. It makes room for the idea that maybe peace of mind does not come from controlling everything, visualizing success, or treating every setback like a branding opportunity. Maybe it comes from accepting that life is messy and that your brain is sometimes going to produce terrible ideas at 2:30 in the morning. There is a maturity in that outlook that I admired. It feels less like being yelled at by a life coach and more like having a smart friend talk you down from a ledge.

That said, I did have some reservations.

For one thing, the book can start to feel thematically repetitive. There are only so many ways to say that forced positivity is hollow, that control is limited, and that anxiety cannot always be bullied into submission. These are worthwhile points, but after a while I began to feel like the argument was circling the block again. Not in a disastrous way, but in that familiar essay-collection way where you start thinking, “Yes, yes, I’m with you, but perhaps we might now proceed to the next village.”

That leads to my second issue, which is that the book sometimes feels more incisive than cumulative. Individual sections are sharp, witty, and perceptive, but the whole does not always build with the satisfying momentum I wanted. I enjoyed many of the pieces in the moment, yet the book occasionally felt like a series of excellent dinner party observations rather than one steadily deepening intellectual journey. Very smart dinner party observations, to be fair. The kind that make everyone else at the table feel a little underprepared. Still, I did notice the lack of a stronger arc.

I also think Burkeman’s charm can slightly soften the blow of his own ideas. He is so nimble and companionable that sometimes the book stays in the realm of clever critique longer than I wanted. I admired his dismantling of bad ideas, but now and then I wanted a bit more weight, a bit more staying power, a bit more of the “and here is what this means when your actual life is on fire” dimension.

Still, even with those complaints, I liked this book. I did not love every page equally, and I do not think it is flawless, but I enjoyed spending time with Burkeman’s brain. He is one of the few writers in this territory who can be skeptical without becoming gloomy, humane without becoming sentimental, and funny without turning the whole enterprise into a stand-up routine about mindfulness apps.

So my overall feeling is warmly positive about a book devoted, in part, to the uses of negativity, which feels appropriate somehow. It is smart, witty, and sanity-preserving, even if it occasionally repeats itself and never quite becomes as profound as it sometimes threatens to be. Still, in a world overflowing with perky nonsense, this book felt like a relief. It is the literary equivalent of someone opening a window in a stuffy room and saying, “Let’s all calm down a little.”

[Yael Isakov · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really fun audiobook.
I enjoyed the positive outlook on negative thinking.
It will definitely make me more forgiving of the over-thinkers in my life.
Additionally that piece on imposter syndrome is so relatable. The best providers I know are always trying learn from others.
Favorite quote: “At the birth of liberalism we’ve replaced G-d with other people and we’ve become a slave to public opinion. “

[AJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short audio program that uses interviews to explore the topics of Stoicism, imposter feelings (not syndrome!), and others that may not be new to listeners but are worth hearing again regardless.

[Bh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad. Concise. Like a podcast less like a book. Talks about how sometimes when you think positively it can lead to less desirable outcomes as one becomes less motivated to do certain actions. Trying to avoid negative thinking is not good too like not thinking about death etc.

[Brian Gowthorpe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thought provoking read, touching on “impostor syndrome” and the snake oil of positive thinking gurus. Negative thinking aids risk assessment and can head off problems. Amanda Palmer featured and was very entertaining.

[Angtburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice to know plateaus and enough are enough

[Gareth · Rating 3 out of 5]

(audiobook)

[Rob Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, makes a couple of good points, the conversational style was quite good at exploring positive and negative thinking, not particularly ground breaking but still quite good.

[Kirsti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought-provoking multipart BBC audio series. Covers much of the same ground as his books. Burkeman interviews several experts, including a doctor and a rock star.

[KWat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative, entertaining, relatable.

[Dina ElMaamoun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Underwhelming. I expected more, and the content is recycled at best. But it was a fun quick listen while I did chores.

[GT]

I like the ideas in the book, but you can probably skip it if you have read many books from this author.

[DP · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short. Unique take.

[Radostina Tsvetkova · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Anyone who totally knows what they’re doing is not to be trusted.”

[Lenon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very nice series of mini audio essays on productivity, happiness, and success, in the complete opposite manner to what mainstream motivational literature serves.