Healing the Angry Brain
How Understanding the Way Your Brain Works Can Help You Control Anger and Aggression
Though the focus is on anger, the information provided in this book is helpful in understanding the full range of human emotions.
Healing the Angry Brain by Ronald Potter-Efron is a remarkable examination of emotional response in the brain. At just under six hours in length, the contents offer incredible insight into how the human brain responds to stimulus and how an individual might retrain the brain to take control of the anger response.
The book includes eight chapters that cover a range of topics, starting with a review of the basic biological and psychological processes of the brain and moving through emotional response, the causes of anger, and how to improve the brain’s neural network in response to angry feelings. Practical advice on recognizing triggers, avoiding bad choices, and learning empathy round out the content.
Though highly scientific and full of clinical terminology, the information is presented in a manner that is easy to understand. The narration in this audiobook is clean, with no extraneous sounds to distract from the content. The narrator is clear, with a calm, measured voice that is easy to listen to. The pace is fairly slow, allowing for a comfortable listening experience with plenty of time to digest the information that is being provided, even when it is complex. The book is also very well organized, so it is not difficult to return to a previous chapter to listen again.
Potter-Efron offers a fascinating explanation of the purpose of different emotions, providing a context that allows an academic, clinical examination of feelings. On its own this is very worthwhile, but the power of this book is in the practical suggestions for changing neural pathways, becoming aware of emotional responses, and learning to modify both the physical and the behavioral response. “When you train yourself to develop more bodily awareness, you’ll be able to recognize that you’re becoming angry, and you can make conscious decisions sooner than if you wait until your conscious mind knows it’s angry.”
Healing the Angry Brain offers an amazing opportunity to modify behavior. Though the focus is on anger, the information provided in this book is helpful in understanding the full range of human emotions.
Reviewed by
Catherine Thureson
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
