Take Charge of Your Future

ISBN 9780716021858

Elliot Right Way Books 2007, £5.99

Many people are dissatisfied with who they are. They may feel they have not reached their full potential or taken opportunities that have come their way, or feel they have followed paths that were not right for them. Some people feel that if life had not dealt them an unkind hand they would have been different to how they are now.

  Having bad or unrewarding experiences damages your sense of self, limits self-expectations and lowers self-esteem, so that you stop being the person you were meant to be, or never quite reach the heights of who you could have been.

  This book helps you to make enduring personal changes to enhance your life providing the skills, knowledge and awareness necessary to make it happen.

This book helps with goal setting, getting out of a rut, motivation, dealing with anger, overcoming anxiety, stress and panic, overcoming low mood and chronic depression, raising self-esteem, overcoming experiences of unskilled parenting and unfair treatment through racial and sexual discrimination and religious laws. There are many practical tips on how to help yourself become the person you would have been had life not been unkind. Many therapy techniques that you can use yourself are described.

Reviews

Dr Gill Salmon, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

'Take Charge of Your Future is full of sound practical advice and suggested coping strategies. It will be an invaluable resource for anyone who has wondered about getting professional help for their emotional difficulties. It is written in a clear, accessible and down-to-earth style which will prove popular. General Practitioners would do well to recommend this book to patients who present asking for help either as a stand alone self help guide or in conjunction with referral for more 'specialist support.''

*****

Jill Curtis, (psychoanalytic psychotherapist and Member of the British Association of Psychotherapists)

'Take Charge of Your Future is to be welcomed in the ever expanding number of self-help books. It is refreshing to read a book written in everyday language, and which will certainly help many people who want to understand why they feel and act the way they do. This book will take the reader on a voyage of self-discovery and will provide the knowledge to enable anyone to shape their adult self into who they want to be.'

*****

Jennifer Smith (London)

I love this book - Marianna Csoti is a true gem!, 3 Sep 2007 Amazon.co.uk

I read my first Marianna Csoti book last year, during a rough time in my life. I suffered from a lack of social skills and confidence, coupled with depression, haunted by bitter memories from childhood. This affected my promotions prospects at work and ability to develop long-term social or intimate relationships. When I read her book, "How to be a people person", it gave me hope, and became my most cherished book that year. She explained things in a way no other book had. I finally understood what I was doing wrong, and how to put things right. My job prospects have since improved along with my social skills and confidence. Tremendously.

I couldn't wait to read her next book: "Take Charge of Your future". And it was well worth the wait. Not only does she treat matters that are usually considered taboo, she delves into techniques to throw away those residual memories from the past. And the self-defeating habits that have formed as a result of experiences from the past. She is so specific and detailed in her writing that it feels like she's talking to me.

I especially like the way she starts the book, by engaging you in a discussion about who you are. Working with you to establish a picture of how you see yourself. Once that picture is established she moves on to the next chapter and together you explore the elements in your present life that contribute to this picture. And through subsequent chapters she helps you redefine that picture. As I read it, I felt validated, because as she says, I too have personal rights. Things that I've accepted from childhood, people I allowed to ride roughshod over me, simply because that's the way its always been, I didn't have to take them. I have a right to say no - and in a smooth manner. I assert myself, taking into consideration other people's feelings. And in so doing, I gain respect and enhance my self-confidence. Marianna Csoti validates me. Reading her book is like discussing with a friend. I highly recommended it.

*****

Reviewed by Clare Humphreys, NPS volunteer helpline worker.

Marianna Csoti (author of How To Be A People Person) gives sound, compassionate advice. Take Charge of Your Future has three parts. In Part One: Becoming the Adult You Should Be, the author addresses the effects of a damaged self-esteem, suggests ways to repair it and promotes the life skills everyone needs to develop, such as asserting your right to say ‘no’ to people. Csoti’s advice on healing oneself should strike a chord with most people, whether you have a mental health condition or not.

Part Two: The Distressed Self is much more focused on the mental disorders that can result from factors Csoti discusses in Part One. The symptoms and possible causes of Anger, Phobias, Anxiety and Depression are outlined and a few techniques briefly described for coping with each. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and other therapies that may help are also outlined.

In Part Three: Damaging Influences In Your Life, Csoti looks at past and present influences that contribute to forming and maintaining a person’s distress, such as a difficult childhood. The chapter on how some aspects of religions and cultural views may sometimes have a negative impact on psychological health is especially interesting.

This book is full of suggestions on how to create positivity in your life, such as eating healthily, offering a ready smile to those you meet in daily life, and taking responsibility for your life choices, good or bad. Reading this book gives you a psychological boost. However, anyone with an enduring issue would probably need additional, more focused support to aid their recovery, whether a guided self-help book, such as those based on cognitive behavioural techniques for various conditions, a therapist, or another route. Csoti’s book is great