cover image To Thine Self True

To Thine Self True

Lewis M. Andrews, Bart Andrews. Doubleday Books, $16.95 (222pp) ISBN 978-0-385-23736-9

Compulsive eating to fill an inner void, the use of anger as a pretext to punish others, the perpetual muddle of the indecisive person, self-defeating resentmentthese behavior patterns illustrate that an ethical dimension frequently lies at the core of emotional problems, stresses the author. Ethical therapists, part of a burgeoning movement, deal with patients' neuroses in moral and spiritual terms. Unlike psychoanalysts, who are apt to view guilt as an irrational feeling, the ethical therapist instead investigates what a person is feeling guilty about. In this system, anxiety may be a positive developmenta sign that a person's deep intuitive widsom is demanding change. Andrews, a psychologist and author of Biofeedback, traces the ethical approach back to Plato. His book also offers advice on how to alleviate boredom, depression, frustration, fears, loneliness, addiction and feelings of worthlessness. (August 7)