A noted psychologist shows you how to...embrace your passion; maximise your courage to create; identify and overcome personal barriers; awaken your natural curiosity; increase your emotional intelligence to create; prepare to be inspired. Creativity is one of life's great sources of fulfilment, whether it is expressed in the arts, science, business, or sheer entertainment. When we are at our creative best, we experience emotions of joy, excitement, anticipation, hope, and deep satisfaction. Unfortunately, for many people such moments of uninhibited creative drive are all too rare. Often, when we try to be creative, we also experience the inhibiting emotions of anxiety, self-doubt, judgemental attitudes, or even shame, guilt, and physical discomfort. Psychologist Bernard Golden helps us to be our authentic selves by pursuing our individual creative paths in this motivational guide. Filled with the insights and practical techniques culled from his almost thirty years as a psychotherapist, "Unlock Your Creative Genius" gives you the tools to unleash your creative imagination and manage the tension and negative mind-body reactions that often impede the creative flow. Golden first offers a variety of strategies that help the reader become aware of the often-unconscious obstacles to creative fulfilment. Among these are fear of failure; survivor's guilt, when friends or loved ones are ill or have died; the shame of failing to meet our own or others' unrealistic expectations; grandiose fantasies; problems with self-discipline; a pattern of dependency that impedes self-motivation; and an aversion to being alone even though creative expression usually demands time by ourselves. To counter these negative reactions, Golden provides guidelines to enhance positive emotions such as openness to change, trust, and the commitment essential for creativity. He also stresses the need to promote physical calm to offset tension and the importance of developing self-compassion, a vital resource in dealing with fear, shame, and guilt. This inspiring, helpful, and very practical book offers readers the freedom to live authentically as they access, accept, and act on their creative genius.
Bernard Golden, Ph.D. (Chicago, IL), a clinical psychologist since 1977, is the author of Healthy Anger: How to Help Children and Teens Manage Their Anger and the coauthor (with Jan Fawcett, MD, and Nancy Rosenfeld) of New Hope for People with Bipolar Disorder.
Introduction; The Nature of the Challenge; Moments of Challenge; Pathways to Inhibition; Fear of Failure; Fear of Success; Variations of Guilt; Striving to Elude Shame; When Fantasies Get in the Way of Our Dreams; No One Is Going to Tell Me What to Dc-Including Myself; I Do Not Want to Do It Alone; Will I Still Be Me?; Observing and Recognising "Moments of Challenge"; Challenging Inhibiting Themes; Fostering Positive Emotions; Enhancing Physical States for Creative Engagement; Practising Self-Compassion; Moving Forward; Conclusion; Index.
