Staying Well with the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense: Of Verbal Self-Defense

by Suzette Haden Elgin

Book Overview

Elgin applies her revolutionary system of verbal self-defense to the issue of wellness, showing that illness often has language-related causes, and leads readers to health-promoting language behavior. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0138451168
• ISBN13: 9780138451165
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Length: 273 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Pschosomatic healing

Stress-related health problems cost the US more than $150 billion per year -- more than the combined profits of ALL the Fortune 500 companies! This book consists of a system of verbal behavior as a guide to better health, suggesting that mental health can affect physical health. Overcome stress-building hostility and develop strong social support networks. Defuse tension, minimize conflicts, and increase peace of mind. Replace harmful negative thinking with healthful positive thinking. Perceive yourself as someone in control rather than as a victim. Find that your own body's natural painkillers are more effective than any pain pill could be. The author is the founder of the Ozark Enter for Language Studies. This is the 5th book she has written in the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense series.

Very practical advice on defusing verbally abusive situation

I really LOVED this book. One of the things it did differently from many self-help books is provide clues to help you recognize verbal abuse. Since its mostly sneaky manipulative people are the ones verbally abusing, its not that easy to tell, which is one of the worst problems. Susan Elgin provided a many examples to show tone, verbage and other clues. Just that much alone solved a lot of my problems for me.The next section showed different styles of defusing the verbal abuse. This is also really good because different people can more easily use different styles. In each case the interaction was carefully taken apart, so that you can get the idea behind the theory.The last thing I really liked about the book was the acceptance of the idea that some people really are not going to cooperate on defusing. There are some people that thrive on hostility and fighting. Although I can usually bore people away with the lesser defense, her last-ditch defense is absolutely stunning.