Fear and Other Uninvited Guests

Tackling the Anxiety, Fear, and Shame That Keeps Us from Optimal Living

By: Harriet Lerner, Ph.D

Narrated by: Harriet Lerner

Unhappiness, says best-selling author Harriet Lerner, is fueled by three key emotions: anxiety, fear, and shame. They are the uninvited guests in our lives. When tragedy or hardship hit, they may become our constant companions.

With stories that are sometimes hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking, Lerner takes us from "fear-lite" to the most difficult lessons the universe sends us. We learn:

• How to have the courage to speak, act, and show up when we are anxious and afraid
• How to deal with the fear of not being good enough and the shame of feeling essentially flawed and inadequate
• How to stay calm and clear in an anxious, crazy workplace
• How to manage fear and despair when things fall apart
• How "positive thinking" helps and harms
• How to be our best and bravest selves, even when we are terrified

No one signs up for anxiety, fear, and shame, but we can't avoid them either. As we learn to respond to these three key emotions in new ways, we can live more fully and move into the future with courage, clarity, humor, and hope. Fear and Other Uninvited Guests shows us how.

©2004 Harriet Lerner (P)2004 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Conversational and often witty." (Publishers Weekly)
"Superb insights." (Library Journal)

Such insight

I listen, stop, listen again and return at letter dates for the refreshing and sustaining insights recorded here and am grateful for the treasure.

very insightful and realistic

This book is excellent in many respects but first a comment about the author's delivery, which other reviewers have made into the issue about this book. It's true. The delivery takes some getting used to. Also, the book starts out a bit slow. It takes time to get to the parts that are actually useful. But, it does provides some very deep insights, in relatively simple terms and what I prize most about her account is that she's realistic and also self-deprecating. If you are looking for ways to understand anxiety and fear and other mind states that can be quite debilitating, this is an excellent resource and the author's perspective provides a sense of understanding that in and of itself can be healing. Excellent book, warts and all.

Insightful!

So much wisdom packed into three hour-long chapters! Lerner is a pro at the content. Her delivery was a little hypnotizing, slow, and repetitive. I suggest listening to it at a faster speed than 1.0.

Harriet Lerner, again, makes it look doable.

I have read Harriet Lerner's books for many years. I find myself rereading them every once in a while when I lapse back into old thinking habits.

She is a down to earth person who is gifted with the ability to break things down to a basic level. I love the examples she shares to illustrate her logic.

It is refreshing to hear her laugh about herself and the experiences that have made her the strong, empowered woman she is today.

I just wish I could find an unabridged recording. I miss the additional stories and concepts that are not included in the abridged recording.

The humanity of anxiety

I so appreciated how human she makes anxiety. So often I feel like a failure when I'm experiencing anxiety, but this was a refreshing reminder that it's not about whether or not we experience anxiety but how we choose to respond to it. It's definitely going to get a second listen!

understandable and insightful

this book was an easy listen filled with insight. great for anyone interested in understanding and building a healthy relationship with negative emotions

Very informative and helpful

Once you get past the sometimes monotonous tone of the author, this book is very helpful. I have read a number of books on anxiety but this one tackles all the issues. She discusses shame, fear, depression, anxiety, and phobias, as well as other conditions and how they all relate.

She takes a somewhat mediation approach to her psychology. That is, being aware of what you are thinking and using this knowledge to move on productively. This approach to me is the best because it forces you to be real and actually deal with you emotions instead of finding ways to distract yourself from them. Her speech is also very real and as a listener you feel connected to her. Some books feel clinical, but not this one.

If you are serious about healing your mind, this is the book to get. It offers concrete advice and is filled with humorous and personal stories. She doesn't just ask you to expose your weakenesses, she invites you to listen to hers as well. So get past her monotone voice and understand the message.

No one other than Harriet

Loved it. No one can present such hard material as simply and as clearly as Harriet.

Stopped listening 1 hour deep

This audiobook may have had some interesting nuggets, but they were hard to mine from the narrator's irritating tone and impossibly slow pace.

Personal Development Insights

Good content, narrator is author and not ideal. A quick listen. I enjoyed the distinctions.