Beyond Death Anxiety: Achieving Life-Affirming Death Awareness

by Robert W. Firestone, Joyce Catlett

This book fruitfully serves those looking to apply Ernest Becker's ideas psychotherapeutically, in individual counseling or in group therapy. A capstone to Robert Firestone's 50 years of work in psychotherapy, psychoanalysis and psychiatry and to the numerous books written by these authors, Firestone and Catlett show how to apply the themes and implications of the ideas of Ernest Becker in everyday life. Their basic premise is that accepting death is part of developing an affirming and meaningful experience of life. Contributing to the credibility of their presentation is the wealth of clinical evidence and personal experience Firestone and Catlett incorporate. --The Ernest Becker Foundation [F]ascinating and an enjoyable read....steeped in well researched and relevant psychological and sociological perspectives applicable to all social studies areas..." -- Carol Lloyd
University of Chichester
Firestone and Catlett's work is a marvelous achievement....This volume is both innovative and intrepid. Firestone and Catlett challenge prevailing psychoanalytic views on death and they demolish many of the accepted canons of thanatology and existential psychology. ...This is required reading for anyone who purports to talk about death."

-- Jerry Piven, PhD
Author of Death and A Freudian Analysis of Mortal Terror [A] towering synthesis of personal and clinical wisdom about death....with a superb overview of the psychology of death and death anxiety....Dr. Firestone draws on the best of the existential-humanistic as well as the psychoanalytic thinkers to address a flourishing path toward self-realization.

-Kirk J. Schneider, PhD
Author, Existential-Integrative Psychotherapy and Awakening to Awe
(From the Foreword)
Firestone and Catlett's groundbreaking volume assists mental health practitioners in helping their clients learn to accept and face their mortality. They describe the many defenses of death anxiety that keep individuals from achieving personal fulfillment, and also suggest methods to cope directly with fears of death; an approach that, ironically, can lead to more satisfaction, more freedom, and a greater appreciation for the gift of life. This book examines the many destructive consequences of death anxiety, including introversion, depression, and withdrawal from life. Throughout the book, the authors demonstrate the importance of achieving what they call life-affirming death awareness. Key topics With this book, mental health practitioners and their clients will be able to better understand death awareness, overcome the defenses against death anxiety, and ultimately lead richer, more fulfilling lives.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Death

408 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Candleflame23 · Rating 2 out of 5]

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كنت في حالة انسجام مع الكتاب إلى أن وصلت إلى أخر ما
عرضه المؤلفان وهو رأيهما حول نظرة الدين للموت وكونه
مجرد بداية لحياة أخرى يرفض المؤلفان الإيمان بوجودها
والسبب هو (عدم إيجاد أدلة علمية تثبت وجود الحياة الأخرى
على حد قولهما ) وهذه النقطة لها جواب ولها تفصيل والخلل
فيها لا ينبع إلا من كونهم يحصرون مصادر المعرفة بمصدر
واحد فقط هو العلم التجريبي … وأنا لن أتوسع هنا بالنقاش
فيها لكن يمكنك الاطلاع على محاضرة ( مقدمة منهجية لنظرية
المعرفة في الإسلام للأستاذ أحمد السيد ) على اليوتيوب .



لو رجعنا إلى أركان الإيمان سنجدها كالتالي ( الإيمان بالله
وملائكته وكتبه ورسله واليوم الآخر والقدر خيره وشره )
إذا هي منظومة متكاملة لا تستطيع أن تؤمن بالله
وتنكر اليوم الآخر، أو تنكر وجود الملائكة ، أو ترفض
الاعتراف بالرسل ، هذا لا يصح الإيمان هنا لا يتجزأ ،
لذاك تجد أن المؤمن بالله ( بشكل حقيقي )
لا يقلق من الموت لأنه يعلم حقيقة هذه الحياة الدنيا الفانية
ويعلم أن الموت بداية حياة أخرى أبدية مصيره بها يحدده
عمله الدنيوي السابق ، هذه الفكرة ذاتها التي تدفع المؤمن
إلى العمل الصالح وإعمار الأرض يعتقد الكتاب أنها سبب
يصرف الناس عن العمل ويسرع من التسليم ويوقف عجلة
التطور بالحياة !! ويرى أن الدين هنا يخطىء بتعزيز هذا
الإتجاه في نفوس البشر وهذا هو محور الخلاف بيني وبينهما
وشخصياً لا أدري أين موقع الربط بين القضيتين !
( إعمار الأرض ، والإيمان أو عدم الإيمان بالأخرة ) .



بقية محتوى الكتاب يتحدث فيه عن الأثر النفسي المترتب
على تكرار تذكر الموت ويشجع الكتاب عن عدم الإنغماس في
التفكير به .


ماذا بعد القراءة ؟

"قُلْ إِنَّ الْمَوْتَ الَّذِي تَفِرُّونَ مِنْهُ فَإِنَّهُ مُلَاقِيكُمْ ۖ ثُمَّ تُرَدُّونَ
إِلَىٰ عَالِمِ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ فَيُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ "
8- الجمعة .

#تمت
#أبجدية_فرح 2/5 🌸📚
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#ماوراء_القلق_من_الموت
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#غرد_بإقتباس
#حي_على_القراءة
#ماذا_تقرأ #ماذا_تقتبس #القراءة_حياة
#القراءة #القراءة_حياة_أخرى_نعيشها

[Paige Bookman · Rating 3 out of 5]

"In business, politics, and organizational life in general, the drive to accumulate power is often motivated by a misguided attempt to maintain a sense of specialness and invulnerability. Conscious fears of death are temporarily alleviated by symbols of power and influence. However, these same fears still exist on an unconscious level, and often increase in intensity as an individual amasses greater power.

For this reason the accumulation of power has addictive properties. Leaders must increase their power base in order to compensate for feelings of inferiority, insignificance and vulnerability. When in power, they tend to be suspicious and overly sensitized to potential threats to their position from competitors and enemies, whether real or imagined. Many leaders start off with humanistic values and ideologies, but become increasingly paranoid over time.

Destructive or toxic leaders tend to have elements of authoritarianism, paranoia and sociopathy in their personality structure, as well as fear of the unknown, fear of failure, and feelings of inadequacy. They exercise power and authority as a means of bolstering an inflated self-image and as a defence against feelings of inferiority and vulnerability to death. Their charismatic, narcissistic leadership styles both resonate with and exacerbate feelings of fear and insecurity in their followers, especially during times of crisis and uncertainty.

In an analysis of this type of leader-follower relationship, J. Post (2004) proposed that there are crucial aspects of the psychology of the leader, such as narcissism and the ability to convey a sense of grandeur and omnipotence that, like a lock and key relationship, attract followers. 'When these ideal-hungry followers find a mirror-hungry leader, we have the elements of a charismatic leader-follower relationship.'"