Finally, a book of insightful and practical advice for the millions of people suffering from low-grade depression, also known as dysthymia or chronic discontent Frustrated. Stressed. Irritable. Discouraged. Cynical. Fed up. These are among the feelings experienced by millions of people. Whether they realize it or not, their feelings are not caused by a negative attitude, a lack of gratitude, or laziness. Rather, these feelings are among the symptoms of a condition called dysthymia, also known as chronic discontent or low-grade depression. It blocks feelings of happiness, contentment, and passion, leaving emptiness, a lack of meaning, and despair. This powerful and practical book explains how this condition takes hold—and presents simple yet profound ways to overcome it once and for all. Using anecdotes from his private practice as well as insightful questions and exercises, psychotherapist Alan Downs, Ph.D., shines light into the dark corners of this isolating and debilitating condition and includes a five-week program to help you feel good again. Not a superficial, magic-bullet approach, The Half-Empty Heart is a probing, honest book that offers a path to meaningful change. The path begins here.

The Half-Empty Heart: A Supportive Guide to Breaking Free from Chronic Discontent

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Downs, Alan

Mental Health

St.Martin's Press

Seven timeless truths, applied to business management, introduces humanity back into today's workplace and helps managers realize and achieve the full potential of their employees without reengineering or downsizing. 25,000 first printing.

Seven Miracles of Management

Business & Money

Management & Leadership

Prentice Hall Pr

Whether he is flamboyantly fashionable with a body chiseled to perfection or chronically dissatisfied and without lasting relationships, the stereotypical extremes of male gay behavior are fueled by the same dark force: shame.The inevitable byproduct of growing up gay in a straight man's world, the experience of shame in childhood and adolescence sends a boy the message that he is other and that he is worthless. To avoid feeling shameful later in life-and even after he is no longer explicitly shamed by his sexuality-a gay man will quietly rage against the memory of this message and strive to excel dramatically to prove it wrong. The stereotypical manifestation of this inner battle is a gay man's success in the arts, fashion and in his body image; as with all the other forms of beauty, creativity and success, he is hiding behind the facades he creates.Building on the collected psychological research and the author's own experience of the past twenty years, The Velvet Rage will help gay men profoundly understand their dichotomous extremes. Explaining the psychological underpinnings of the forces at play in their lives, it also offers helpful strategies to stop the insidious cycle of avoidance and rage. Empowering and validating, The Velvet Rage will influence the public discourse on gay culture and positively change the lives of gay men who read it.

The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up Gay in a Straight Man's World

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Da Capo Lifelong Books

The gay male world today is characterized by seductive beauty, artful creativity, flamboyant sexuality, and, encouragingly, unprecedented acceptability in society. Yet despite the progress of the recent past, gay men still find themselves asking, "Are we really better off?" The inevitable byproduct of growing up gay in a straight world continues to be the internalization of shame, a shame gay men may strive to obscure with a fa?ade of beauty, creativity, or material success. Drawing on contemporary psychological research, the author's own journey to be free of anger and of shame, as well as the stories of many of his friends and clients, The Velvet Rage outlines the three distinct stages to emotional well-being for gay men. Offering profoundly beneficial strategies to stop the insidious cycle of avoidance and self-defeating behavior, The Velvet Rage is an empowering book that will influence the public discourse on gay culture, and positively change the lives of gay men who read it.

Reference

I Can't Believe This Is Happening to Me...Again! "Why does this keep happening to me?" is the question most commonly asked by those entering psychotherapy for the first time. Whether we can't stop dating the wrong guy or taking the wrong job, gaining and losing weight, or getting into debt, it is the repeating patterns in our lives that cause us the most pain and frustration. Now author and psychologist Alan Downs shows us all how we can break these cycles...for good! After fifteen years of working with people from all walks of life -- including executives, homemakers, young adults, and the elderly -- Dr. Downs has identified seven crises that every one of us will face at some point during our lifetime. In Why Does This Keep Happening to Me?, Downs uses his revolutionary Crisis Quiz to show us which of these crises is at the root of our repeating behavior. Downs includes quizzes, exercises, and real-life examples to help us resolve universal issues, including <ul>
<li>Who will I share my life with? </li>
<li>Why can't I believe in myself? </li>
<li>How can I become my own person? </li>
<li>What does it all mean? </li>
</ul> With wisdom and compassion, Downs leads us from recognition to recovery, showing us how we can apply our new knowledge and triumph over destructive patterns, breaking the cycle once and for all.

Why Does This Keep Happening To Me?: The Seven Crisis We All Experience and How to Overcome Them

Touchstone

"Layoffs are good for business." That's the myth that many of us have accepted as a grim business necessity. But Corporate Executions exposes, for the first time, the disturbing facts about this widespread and destructive practice. It demonstrates that in the long run, layoffs are not "good for business," measured by any means: company profitability, employee productivity, or national economic stability. In fact, most layoffs have proven to he ineffective for companies, not to mention disastrous for victims. In chilling detail Alan Downs explains how a new "culture of corporate narcissism" supports the downsizing fad and undermines responsible planning and sound management. He reveals how greed, in many forms, is behind most layoff decisions. Bonus-hungry executives, Wall Street analysts, and investors all cry out for quick profit at any cost, craving the personal rewards that come when layoff announcements drive up stock prices. It's a vicious cycle that ultimately collapses because no company can function without a sufficient number of productive, motivated employees. But Corporate Executions is not all bad news. It supplies positive strategies for avoiding layoffs or for carrying them out with minimal trauma, when absolutely necessary. It urges companies to seek "controlled growth," rather than short-term cost reduction, as the true road to competitive advantage. The book also proposes a "new social contract" between companies and employees. This enlightened approach takes into account today's realities - in business economics and in employee expectations. Finally, the book provides techniques (personal layoff protection) for individuals to use if they sense a layoff is imminent.

Corporate Executions: The Ugly Truth About Layoffs-How Corporate Greed Is Shattering Lives, Companies, and Communities

Stogner, Camille

Amacom Books

Beyond the Looking Glass: Overcoming the Seductive Culture of Corporate Narcissism

How can you cure a sickness when you don't know its cause? Many of today's corporations are exhibiting the disturbing symptoms of a hard-to-define illness. You see signs of the malady in numerous ways: irrational decision-making, massive downsizings, excessive executive pay, low morale, and a sense of isolation among employee. At some companies there's an even odder symptom: workaholic managers who seem indifferent to what they're working so hard at. What's going on here? Alan Downs, a noted author and organizational psychologist, has identified a root cause of this baffling and destructive ailment and given it a name. He calls it corporate narcissism. In Beyond the Looking Glass, he diagnoses this syndrome and explores ways to cure it. With dozens of vivid, real-life examples, Beyond the Looking Glass uncovers destructive cases of corporate narcissism and describes healthy companies that have resisted this negative force. Downs points the way to some powerful solutions for overcoming narcissism. If you are at a high level in your company, the book shows you how to create an organizational environment that doesn't tolerate extreme narcissistic behavior. If you work for or with a corporate narcissist, Beyond the Looking Glass shows you numerous self-defense techniques for survival. Ultimately, Beyond the Looking Glass poses the central question: What is the purpose of an organization? For companies like Levi Strauss, Starbuck's, Nordstrom's, and others cited in this book, the purpose goes far beyond profits. Making money is important, certainly - but equally critical are producing excellent products and services as well as providing a satisfying and rewarding place to work. In such a place, employees reward the company with their creativity, loyalty, and energy. That's profitable for all.

Successful leaders share one (and only one) common factor: They discover their own unique blend of talents and trust it completely. 
Executive success is really just that simple, according to Alan Downs, author of the incisive Corporate Executions. So what stops businesspeople from trusting and maximizing their talents? The enemy is fear--the kind of crippling fear that insists we must be something more than what we are and persuades us to abandon our core strengths. 
This masterful book explains how to conquer such fear in all its guises, see reality clearly, and free untapped potential. THE FEARLESS EXECUTIVE explores seven universal fears that choke off growth: * Rejection ("What if I don't make it to the inner circle?") * Inadequacy ("What if I fail?") * Scarcity ("What if someone steals my piece of the action?") * Reality ("Isn't there a quick fix?") * The Unknown ("What is lurking out there?") * Aging ("What if I'm obsolete?") * Authority ("What if I break the rules?") 
Rich in real-life vignettes and on-the-job management applications, this is a practical and compassionate guide. It will inspire readers to face their daily demons and live the fearless life--on the job and beyond. 
Praise for the author's previous books: "An important and insightful work." --Library Journal (on Beyond the Looking Glass) "Should be required reading for CEOs across the land." --Cleveland Plain Dealer (on Corporate Executions)

The Fearless Executive

It's not just faulty products and poor fiscal results that can throw an executive into crisis. The more prevalent and pernicious problems are personal in nature. A manipulative or hierarchical boss may be suffering a crisis of confidence; a stressed-out or uninterested colleague may struggle with a crisis of passion. 
According to experienced psychologist and executive coach Alan Downs, these often dormant interior conflicts flare up when the crushing demands of the business world collide with the inner needs of the individual. His new book offers a fresh, eye-opening perspective on how to steer executives back to a successful career path. 
Secrets of an Executive Coach uncovers six crises that cause people to fail. And unlike the prevailing corporate model, which advocates suppressing crises, Downs explains how to confront and resolve them using 11 essential coaching techniques, including role playing, self-imitation, metaphor map, and devil's advocate. These classic methods gain new relevance in this breakthrough approach that puts crisis management at the heart of effective

Secrets of an Executive Coach: Proven Methods for Helping Leaders Excel Under Pressure

Alan Downs presents a breakthrough approach to helping executives when the crushing demands of the business world collide with the inner needs of the individual. Adapting classic methods that put crisis management at the heart of effective executive coaching, Downs compellingly explains how to deal with conflict and get the executive back on track.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Downs, Alan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Downs, Alan

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Downs, Alan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Half-Empty Heart: A Supportive Guide to Breaking Free from Chronic Discontent

Seven Miracles of Management

The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up Gay in a Straight Man's World

The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up Gay in a Straight Man's World

Why Does This Keep Happening To Me?: The Seven Crisis We All Experience and How to Overcome Them

Corporate Executions: The Ugly Truth About Layoffs-How Corporate Greed Is Shattering Lives, Companies, and Communities

Beyond the Looking Glass: Overcoming the Seductive Culture of Corporate Narcissism

The Fearless Executive

Secrets of an Executive Coach: Proven Methods for Helping Leaders Excel Under Pressure

Secrets of an Executive Coach: Proven Methods for Helping Leaders Excel Under Pressure