Healing the Addictive Personality Freeing Yourself from Addictive Patterns and Relationships Author: Lee Jampolsky, Ph.D. Celestial Arts 2007 ISBN #1-58761-315-8 Addiction as a behavior pattern is not only applicable to drugs, alcohol, food, and/or sex. These are just the things that come to mind first when we think about this kind of behavior. Addiction can also be to a way of thinking, or a way of acting … i.e. the need to accumulate a certain level of money, or fame, or material wealth. We create our own prisons with our thoughts and actions. When we repeat the pattern of our thoughts and actions, we create cycles of life that are very hard to change. In "Healing the Addictive Personality" Dr. Jampolsky posits that the keys to healing the addictive personality are compassion, forgiveness, and opening ourselves up to limitless opportunity. In his introduction Dr. Jampolsky speaks of his own personal battle with addictive personality, and in a very gentle manner, lets the reader know that we may all, to a greater or lesser extent, be dealing with this demon. From the book: "An addictive personality is created when we believe that looking outside of ourselves for happiness will bring us what we want and need." Healing begins when we recognize this process and make the decision to do something about it. Part of healing is finding the answers as to what is feeding our addictive behavior, and part of healing is recognizing the "smoke and mirrors" in our life. It is there … most often cleverly disguised … but it is there. Each of us has the power of choice, and each of us has the power to heal. In the end, we are our own teacher. From the book: "The addictive personality began precisely at the moment when we began to view ourselves as something other than whole, loving beings." Denial and projection play a large part in the addictive personality scenario. We project the feelings inside of us outward … onto the people and issues surrounding us. The heaviest emotion that runs the thought system of an addictive personality is that of fear. The actions that they take are to prevent whatever they fear from happening. If they fear rejection, they do whatever they can to please and appease. If they fear failure, then they focus firmly and whatever it takes to be successful … even though they never feel successful "enough". A big part of circumventing allowing your fears to take over your life is to identify where the negative self-talk is coming from. From what time in your life, from what person (or group of people), from what issue does this voice originate? When you can identify it, you can accept it and release it. Another way that our fears can take over our lives is that we become so focused on the past (and what has already happened), and on the future (and what might happen), that we do not pay attention to the present … so we never have control over our lives. Also addressed are the thirteen core beliefs of the addictive personality, including "I am separate from everybody else. I am alone in a cruel, harsh and unforgiving world." and "The past and the future are real and must be worried about." Each core belief is addressed by how the addictive personality views it, and what we can do to release the belief and replace it with a positive one. This is followed by a section on the structure of the truth based personality. The fundamentals of the truth based personality come from love, aligning with the present, acceptance, and abundance. The power of love, combined with remaining centered in the present moment, can set us free. Dr. Jampolsky presents six principles to peak performance and realized opportunity, followed by six old patterns of the addictive personality and six truth-based alternatives. As with the Addictive Personality, Dr. Jampolsky presents thirteen core beliefs of the Truth-Based Personality, including "What I see in others reflects my own state of mind. I lack nothing to be happy, grateful, and effective right now. There is an underlying unity to all life." and "Forgiveness, with hard honesty, ensures peace." Something else that we all need to do is to recognize our own essential value. Here Dr. Jampolsky goes into what the addictive personality wants us to believe, and what the truth-based personality wants to show us. I loved the part where he listed the "Irrational Beliefs of the Addictive Personality", and the "Alternate Messages From the Truth-Based Personality". At the end of the book are "Twenty-One Daily Lessons" (that the reader is encouraged to keep repeating until they become a natural part of the self), and an "Eleven-Week Action Plan For Continued Healing". This book is a tremendous tool of empowerment for those that are willing to take a deep look at themselves, learn to love themselves, and be willing to change. This is how we take control of our own lives! Through concise writing, and the inclusion of examples from his own life and that of his clients, Dr. Jampolsky has created an excellent tool to work with, and to act as a reference. © November 2007 Bonnie Cehovet Personal Lifestyle Reading - I offer a Personal Lifestyle Reading using Tarot that looks at past, present and future influences in your life, at the energies that are currently available to help you along your path, and at those energies that are appearing as challanges. My goal is to offer you insight into your decision making process, as well as tools that you can use to both better understand your path and make conscious, choice centered decisions. Home Personal Empowerment links Personal Empowerment articles Graphics by Art for the web