Alain Braconnier
Protecting Your Inner Self Defending Yourself to Act More Effectively Publication date : April 23, 2010
Good news! We are much better equipped to face existence than it was previously thought. According to recent, fully confirmed studies we all possess a wide range of means of self-defence and self-protection that enable us to progress in life, despite the difficulties that may arise.
So what are those tools that we all possess without even knowing it? How can we make the best use of them? Under what circumstances should we use them? Which tools are the most effective in situations of stress in the workplace? Which are better adapted to dealing with a partner or with family? Which are most suitable for the anxious or hypersensitive personality? Which are appropriate for adults in their prime, which for growing children?
The author argues that it is up to each of us to discover, experiment and use to the best of our ability the vast range of antidotes at our disposal to deal with uncertainty, doubt, even anxiety. And we must each learn to work with our inner selves for improved self-protection, and in order to continue constructing ourselves throughout our lives.
• Parents should teach their children, from a very young age, to build the “psychological dykes” that will enable them to defend themselves as adults.
• As adults we should learn to manage the main stressful situations: falling in love, separation, birth, death and upheaval in professional or personal life.
• Depending on who we are, we must learn to activate the right “buttons”, those that will allow us to react in the best possible manner.
Alain Braconnier is the author of such immensely successful books as Mères et Fils and Les Filles et leurs Pères. A psychiatrist, psychologist, psychoanalyst, and former director of a mental health association in Paris, he teaches at the University of Paris-V and at the School of Clinical Psychologists.
So what are those tools that we all possess without even knowing it? How can we make the best use of them? Under what circumstances should we use them? Which tools are the most effective in situations of stress in the workplace? Which are better adapted to dealing with a partner or with family? Which are most suitable for the anxious or hypersensitive personality? Which are appropriate for adults in their prime, which for growing children?
The author argues that it is up to each of us to discover, experiment and use to the best of our ability the vast range of antidotes at our disposal to deal with uncertainty, doubt, even anxiety. And we must each learn to work with our inner selves for improved self-protection, and in order to continue constructing ourselves throughout our lives.
• Parents should teach their children, from a very young age, to build the “psychological dykes” that will enable them to defend themselves as adults.
• As adults we should learn to manage the main stressful situations: falling in love, separation, birth, death and upheaval in professional or personal life.
• Depending on who we are, we must learn to activate the right “buttons”, those that will allow us to react in the best possible manner.
Alain Braconnier is the author of such immensely successful books as Mères et Fils and Les Filles et leurs Pères. A psychiatrist, psychologist, psychoanalyst, and former director of a mental health association in Paris, he teaches at the University of Paris-V and at the School of Clinical Psychologists.