11
(5) To find information on almost any psychological
collections of several mental health search engines. Other mega-
search engines summarize the results of searching several major
Metacrawler (http://www.metacrawler.com/). Three more sites
simply supply a lot of useful information:
bob.org/mental.html) mainly connects you with useful sites.
numerous articles, especially from Psychiatric Times, and
matters.com/) is a well organized source covering many disorders.
In most cases, the key to coping is knowledge. So, go get it!
Understandings between You, the Reader,
and Me, the Author
If you and I, as reader and writer, are going to communicate most
effectively, there are some things you need to know about the "state
of the art" of self-help and about my approach to self-help. I want you
to recognize the scientific basis (or lack of it) for self-help methods. I
want you to be aware of the assumptions I am making and the values
I hold. I want you to know what I would like you to do while reading
this book and afterwards. These 13 understandings should help you to
view self-help realistically, and then, use it effectively.
Understanding 1: We, as humans, primarily learn to be the way we are;
therefore, at any point in life, we can learn to be different. But, it may not
be easy to change.
I assume there are reasons--causes--for everything we do, and
that humans can learn to understand those reasons, which are
dependable, "lawful," useful, cause and effect relationships. Therefore,
each of us could presumably gain considerable control over our own
