Beyond Anger. A Guide for Men. How to Free Yourself from the Grip of Anger and Get More Out of Life

Customer Reviews

The first 78 pages are useless.

2008-05-14
The first section of the book, an entire 78 pages are worthless. The author keeps repeating himself with one message: "You have an anger problem, you have an anger problem." Thanks Dr. Harbin, I wouldn't have picked up a book called "Beyond Anger" if I were not aware of this already! I have to wonder, is the author trying to annoy the reader into becoming an angry person? The second section finally gets to the point and tells the reader what to do about their anger issues. However, he brings up various helpful points of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, yet he glosses over them, and does not give them the time they are due. Realizing your own "self talk" is very important, but the reader needs more than to be told, "Listen to what you say to yourself." Yeah, ok... so now what? The author also assumes many things about "Angry Men" which are untrue. This was really annoying to read so many generalizations. For example, the author says, "Angry men refuse to ask for help." Um, no they don't! I am a college student and I am constantly in my instructor's office hours asking for clarification and help. Please don't assume that one reader is identical to everyone else. The writing style of the author is not as good as Dr. Less Carter, and the book needs some attitude adjustment: The "voice" of the book is accusatory and unpleasant. Also, the book fails to talk about people who suffer from general "frustration" or who might have a low-level anger problem. Dr. Harbin lumps everyone into one category, that of wife-beating, out-of-control ex-convicts on the verge of self-destruction. It is really great to know that Dr. Harbin has experience with those kinds of people, but if you are a mostly-normal person who wants to understand why you have feelings of frustration and anger, this book is not for you. The folks at Publishers West Group need to work on heavily editing this book. They could throw out a good 1/3 of the text, and replace it with a new 1/3 entirely: Focus more about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques, and actually tell the reader how to help themselves. After all, isn't this a self-help book?

Beyond Anger

2008-05-09
This is an absolute must for any man with anger issues and a lot more men than you would think have them. The thing is a lot of men do stuff with their anger that is both profitable and creative....and therefore legitimate. Or is it? Read this book and then decide for yourself.

Super Fast

2008-04-05
Have not got all that dug into the book yet. The shipping was amazing and got to me faster then anything else I have ever ordered over the internet!!

Great Book!

2007-09-10
My husband found this book so informative and easy to read he read the book in 2 sessions. He could not put it down and he doesn't like to read books. Gave him a lot to think about and work on. I really think this book will be a turning point in his life. This book is great for anyone to read about the man in their life wheither father, son, husband etc.

Does he know me?

2007-08-23
Very relatible...it blows my mind how much I can relate to it. A very good tool for men with anger issues. Enjoyed it.

Very Helpful

2007-03-15

Men tend to express their anger differently than women do. Research shows men are often more violent and less willing to confront and deal with their emotions than women. Written by a psychologist who specializes in the treatment of male rage, Beyond Anger shows the angry - and miserable - man how to change his life and relationships for the better. This book helps men understand their anger by explaining what the specific symptoms of chronic anger are and by showing angry men how their actions negatively affect family, friends, and coworkers. It helps men control violent feelings by using simple exercises - developed especially for men - to identify when and why anger occurs and by helping them form new habits to prevent anger before it starts. Women, too, will learn essential strategies for understanding and helping the angry men in their lives. Beyond Anger is honest, tough, and real.

Excellent

2007-01-04
This book was written by a Psychologist in my home town which I had the pleasure of his councel in relation to my ex-husband who was a very angry man. This book nor the counceling saved my marriage but it helped my ex see that the problems in his life were due to constant anger boiling below the surface that would quickly with little provocation erupt into rage. The major obstacle is getting "your loved one" to begin reading. Once that is achieved they will relate on many levels with the information in this book. My ex's exact words were, "THIS IS ME .... " He found out the whole world wasn't wrong, just his perception of it.

great read, very helpful

2006-07-03
I bought the book for my husband and so far he is very impressed by it. He said it hits many valid points about anger in men, and he highly recommends it for any man with an anger problem.

Neutral

2006-04-28
This was the second book I turned to after having gone through "The Anger Workbook" by Les Carter. While Dr. Harbin calls a spade a spade and clearly debunks our common copouts for why we are angry, I found his book to be more of a survey, versus a self-help manual. Certainly I learned from him, and his words forced me to see some hard facts, but I did not find his few exercises to be realistic for me. The Anger Workbook constantly turned the questions over to me and my situation i.e. "given examples such as these, what are some areas in your life where you have had similar reactions or feelings?" It helped me explore the how's and why's of my anger. This book may be better for a spouse or friend of an angry person looking to understand and help. Valuable no doubt. But if you are looking for help finding the roots of your anger, this may not be the best choice. However, if you are thinking you may have an anger problem, please read something!

It wasn't the most helpful for me

2006-03-10
I've read quite a few books on anger in the last few months after having been confronted by two of the most significant folks in my life about it. The one turn-off I have toward "angry men" books is that it plays into the stereotype of men being more angry and violent. The latest studies seem to be disproving that assertion. Overall, the practical exercises in the book are helpful, however it didn't help me get to the root of my issue as other books and methods did. In the end, I set this book aside in favor of another methodology that yielded better results for me.