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The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth » (25th Anniversary Edition)

Book cover image of The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth by M. Scott Peck

Authors: M. Scott Peck
ISBN-13: 9780743243155, ISBN-10: 0743243153
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Date Published: January 2003
Edition: 25th Anniversary Edition

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Author Biography: M. Scott Peck


M. Scott Peck's publishing history reflects his own evolution as a serious and widely acclaimed writer, thinker, psychiatrist, and spiritual guide. Since his groundbreaking bestseller, The Road Less Traveled, was first published in 1978, his insatiable intellectual curiosity has taken him in various new directions with virtually each new book: the subject of healing human evil in People of the Lie (1982), where he first briefly discussed exorcism and possession; the creative experience of community in The Different Drum (1987); the role of civility in personal relationships and society in A World Waiting to Be Born (1993); an examination of the complexities of life and the paradoxical nature of belief in Further Along the Road Less Traveled (1993); and an exploration of the medical, ethical, and spiritual issues of euthanasia in Denial of the Soul (1999); as well as a novel, a children's book, and other works. A graduate of both Harvard University and Case Western Reserve, Dr. Peck served in the Army Medical Corps before maintaining a private practice in psychiatry. For the last twenty years, he has devoted much of his time and financial resources to the work of the Foundation for Community Encouragement, a nonprofit organization that he helped found in 1984. Dr. Peck lives in Connecticut.

Book Synopsis

The Road Less Traveled continues to enable us to explore the nature of loving relationships and leads us toward a new serenity and fullness of life. It helps us determine how to distinguish dependency from love; how to become a more sensitive parent; and ultimately how to become one's own true self.

Library Journal

This book proved a smash when it debuted in 1978, selling several million copies. This 25th-anniversary edition includes a new introduction in which the publisher claims the author "explains the ideas that shaped this book and continue to influence an expanding audience of readers." That might sound like PR, but this truly was one of the first books dealing with the psychology of spirituality and paved the way for numerous others that followed in its wake. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the 25th Anniversary Edition5
Preface11
IDiscipline
Problems and Pain15
Delaying Gratification18
The Sins of the Father21
Problem-Solving and Time27
Responsibility32
Neuroses and Character Disorders35
Escape from Freedom39
Dedication to Reality44
Transference: The Outdated Map46
Openness to Challenge51
Withholding Truth59
Balancing64
The Healthiness of Depression69
Renunciation and Rebirth72
IILove
Love Defined81
Falling in "Love"84
The Myth of Romantic Love91
More About Ego Boundaries94
Dependency98
Cathexis Without Love106
"Self-Sacrifice"111
Love Is Not a Feeling116
The Work of Attention120
The Risk of Loss131
The Risk of Independence134
The Risk of Commitment140
The Risk of Confrontation150
Love Is Disciplined155
Love Is Separateness160
Love and Psychotherapy169
The Mystery of Love180
IIIGrowth and Religion
World Views and Religion185
The Religion of Science193
The Case of Kathy197
The Case of Marcia208
The Case of Theodore210
The Baby and the Bath Water221
Scientific Tunnel Vision225
IVGrace
The Miracle of Health235
The Miracle of the Unconscious243
The Miracle of Serendipity253
The Definition of Grace260
The Miracle of Evolution263
The Alpha and the Omega268
Entropy and Original Sin271
The Problem of Evil277
The Evolution of Consciousness280
The Nature of Power284
Grace and Mental Illness: The Myth of Orestes289
Resistance to Grace297
The Welcoming of Grace306
Afterword312

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