Lifeskills : eight simple ways to build stronger relationships, communicate more clearly, and improve your health

Amazon.com Review Psychiatrist Redford Williams and historian Virginia Williams turned their hostility workshop into Lifeskills is based on a program for improving relationships that they run at Duke University Medical Center. They emphasize that good relationships have physical as well as emotional benefits, lowering stress and increasing resistance to disease. Then, through scientific studies and a variety of exercises, the authors present ways to understand yourself better, communicate more clearly, and emphasize the positive in your interactions with others. There's nothing mysterious in Lifeskills ; recommendations include listening attentively, reflecting on information that someone has told you, and asserting what you want in a given situation. Anyone having trouble getting along with others will find Lifeskills to be a useful guide. From Library Journal Virginia Williams, workshop organizer and historian, and Redford Williams, director of behavioral research at Duke University Medical Center, are following up their best-selling Anger Kills (Random, 1993) with another book designed to help people improve their lives. Citing much medical research, the Williamses show how poor relationships and bad attitudes can harm not only mental health but also physical health. Their book teaches people how to improve attitudes, communication, and relationships, all of which will improve health. Designed for the lay reader, Lifeskills is easy to read, with step-by-step instructions, good examples, and lots of excellent advice. What most separates this self-help book from scores of others are the frequent references to respected researchers in the behavioral sciences and the extensive bibliography. Highly recommended for all libraries.?Elizabeth Caulfield Felt, Holland Lib., Washington State Univ., Pullman Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. Here are the eight skills this book will help you master: 1. Identify your thoughts and feelings: how to tap into your feelings, especially the negative ones 2. Evaluate your negative feelings, negative thoughts, and options: how to decide when to take action 3. Communicate better: how to be a more effective listener and speaker 4. Empathize with others to understand their behavior: how to appreciate a situation from someone else's point of view 5. Do problem-solving: how to define the problem, generate alternatives, and evaluate the outcomes 6. Practice assertion: how to get others to do what you want 7. Practice acceptance: how to back off without feeling like a failure 8. Emphasize the positive: how to build better relationships using a proven ratio of positive to negative interactions Lifeskills shows how building better relationships is an essential part of preserving health--and offers eight clear steps anyone can use to make that happen. From the Trade Paperback edition. Many of us long for the "good old days"-warm, close-knit families, communities that pulled together in times of strife, jobs where loyalty counted.