Breaking Free

Nathaniel Branden is a major proponent of "self esteem psychology". He took some of the ideas of Ayn Rand and developed them in a psychological direction. He usually focused on what we can do in the present moment to feel better about ourselves. In this book, he shows how some of our hurts and wounds from childhood have shaped us. We are then able to acknowledge this things, feel the hurt, and move past them. The book is a series of transcripts from people doing group work with him and working through their childhood stuff. This gives a practical flavor as well as feeling how people process their stuff and work it through.

Dr. Branden leads a psychotheraphy group. You get to sit in and participate. He covers about 18 standard mistakes parents make in raising their kids. As he asks questions to the group and they share their pains from childhood you identify with them and say, "thats what my parents did." This also brings up the emotional hurt that leads you on the way to learning from your childhood, instead of repressing it, allowing you to integrate yourself more fully. This will lead you to the life you want to live today, not from the controlled unknowing internally denied past.