Are self help books dangerous?

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Is there a mortal danger, or pure evil involved in the teachings/writings of non-christian self-help books?

For example, is there any Catholic worth in mindfulness, or should it be avoided and why?
 
The mindfulness based exercises i did involve visualisations of light and sometimes chakras. We know that the intellect is not purely material hence what we do of our minds can have effects on our spiritual life.

I think self help books are great but have now almost totally depend on Christ , the churches teachings , the mysteries of the rosary to get by day by day. It has been great as self help books can make yourself an idol , a sort of self worship. Again this goes for everything else in life.

As a youth , i got interested in Silva Mind Control , needless to say , it is demonic . Happy to help in this journey as i read almost 30-50 self help books.
 
mary15 said:
For example, is there any Catholic worth in mindfulness, or should it be avoided and why?
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Some downsides of mindfulness are described briefly here.

As to self-help books: some are good: they help people maintain boundaries, or forgive others, or get rid of bad habits. Some are not so good: they cause you to concentrate your attention in a bad direction.

So like most anything else, take the goos and leave the rest behind.
 
I think there is in some, it depends on the book and its creed.
 
its a waste of money if its not going to be advice from roman catholic viewpoint. Its the only way to make sense of the world.
 
I like Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey.

It’s mostly about setting priorities and time management.
 
mary15 said:
Is there a mortal danger, or pure evil involved in the teachings/writings of non-christian self-help books?
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Not all self-help books, no. But you have to choose carefully. Self-help books are not regulated, so the advice contained in them can range from very good to outright dangerous.
mary15 said:
For example, is there any Catholic worth in mindfulness, or should it be avoided and why?
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I am overall rather skeptical about mindfulness, but not because it’s not Catholic. I’m just not convinced that it’s helpful.
mary77 said:
its a waste of money if its not going to be advice from roman catholic viewpoint. Its the only way to make sense of the world.
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That’s clearly not true. Something does not have to come from a Catholic perspective to be of any value. If you had, say, bipolar disorder, and you learned that the top expert in bipolar disorder was a Muslim, would you eschew that expert and instead go to a Catholic whose expertise were inferior? If the best self-help book for addiction was written by an Anglican, would you think it contained nothing that was helpful and read a less good book by a Catholic? Historically, at any rate, Jews have been rather prominent in the field of mental health.
 
I would only seek psychological guidance from a Roman Catholic spiritual guidance practioner. No one else.
 
mary15 said:
Is there a mortal danger, or pure evil involved in the teachings/writings of non-christian self-help books?

For example, is there any Catholic worth in mindfulness, or should it be avoided and why?
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I’m old enough to have witnessed many fad substitutes for the one way. truth and life that IS the solution to human need: Jesus Christ. Mankind has, since Adam and Eve, wanted a way to be like God - and so to be independent of His Truth - to have “my truth” instead - to, in other words, be God unto myself.

The days are few, time is running out - why not jump right to the answer that DOES work? Get serious about Jesus, and the Truth He died to give us?
 
One of the best self help books- the imitation of Christ 🙂. On a serious note though, I would stay away from them. If they’re published by a major publishing house, they will likely be imbued with some form of new age philosophy or another. So stick with old school Catholic books , time tested!
 
A lot of self-help books are poorly written bunk, but most are not sinful. The problem is that self-help books often get shelved with books on evidence-based psychology and mental health interventions, making it hard for lay people to discern which ones are legitimate.

I love practicing mindfulness. How to practice Catholic mindfulness
 
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StudentMI said:
I got a lot out of Feeling Good by David Burns, myself.
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I too am in the fan club for that book. It changed my life much for the better back in the 90s.
No “mindfulness” involved, just good ol’ self-awareness.

I would recommend it to everyone who wants to retool their thinking for the better. It’s similar to Dale Carnegie and Peale’s “Power of Positive Thinking” but a lot more practical and a lot less claptrap.
 
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@fide

You and many others may be fortunate enough not to need much in the way of psychological help, but others do, and it falls under science, not theology.
 
mary77 said:
I would only seek psychological guidance from a Roman Catholic spiritual guidance practioner. No one else.
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And I would only seek “psychological guidance” from somebody who is a properly licensed psychiatrist, psychologist, psychotherapist, etc., i.e. somebody with genuine professional expertise. If I would happily see a dentist or a gynecologist who is not a Catholic, I’d happily see a psychiatrist who is not a Catholic. And if there was a Hindu dentist or a gynecologist who practices witchcraft who were better than their Catholic colleagues, I would see them.
 
Annie said:
@fide

You and many others may be fortunate enough not to need much in the way of psychological help, but others do, and it falls under science, not theology.
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It is a mistake to omit the Truth and Presence of Jesus Christ from any human “problem” or “solution” or even “response.” Whether it is called science or theology, a remedy having foundation and/or application empty of God is empty of man’s deepest and most urgent need. There are many ways to mask pain, and to lessen symptoms - if the one thing necessary is not addressed, happiness and peace cannot be found.

It does not have to be futile to seek out a person educated in psychology, for example - if he also is grounded in the true wisdom and holy love for persons that is found only in Christ. Education in secular fields is not “wrong” - it is only too shallow to be final.
 
Many Catholics prefer Catholic therapists, and I agree that all our studies should be grounded in Catholic theology, the queen of the sciences. Unfortunately, even Catholic counselors do not always know as much about their faith as priests and others who might act as spiritual directors do.

However, those people do not necessarily know very much about psychology.

It’s a fallen world here, not Heaven: let’s not throw out the babies with the bathwater.
 
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Well Annie, it is a fallen world - but. But in Jesus Christ, one can - and is called to - and ought to - grow in a LIFE that is truly supernatural, here and now in this fallen world. This LIFE is given to us all in Baptism, but in potency. Many, I am sad to say, many grow very little in their years on this earth, in that precious gift of the LIFE of Jesus Christ.

I am not talking at all about theology - I am speaking of LIFE, which is a supernatural not a natural reality, it is something that psychology - being a natural study - stands far distant. Theology can be kept at a distance, as well, from this LIFE - if the theologian keeps the subject matter at a safe and academic distance from his own soul. It is risky to truly hear the call of, and respond to, Christ! It is much “safer” to merely study and learn about Him, than to really hear Him. But LIFE is more simple than we are, costs nothing but costs everything, requires that we “turn and become like a child” to enter into it.

I digress. Yes, the best person one can find, in my experience, to help untangling and healing the heart and soul of the deep wounds of walking for years in this very broken world, is a holy man - given the gifts of the Holy Spirit (thus, supernatural virtues of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, prudence, piety and the holy fear of God) that bring reverence in the Presence of God.
 
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Two of the oldest self-help books around and two of the most famous are both from Dale Carnegie, “How to Make Friends and Influence People” and “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living”. They were both fantastic, but both of them also borrow considerably from scripture, which would be less likely in a secular self-help book published today.

I think most of them are probably closer to morally neutral. They usually combine a catchy and engaging writing style with techniques from behavioral psychology to help people change negative patterns of thinking that have become entrenched over time.
 
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