Rafael Santandreu is a successful and controversial psychologist today. His detractors number in the thousands, as do his followers. Sales of his books number in the millions. He has also proven to be a success. the latest book by Rafael Santandreu, Fearless: The proven method to overcome anxiety, obsessions, hypochondria and any irrational fear.
So much so that, a year and a half after its release, this self-help book continues to lead the Amazon psychology book rankings. Rafael Santandreu's latest book promises to help whoever reads it become the best version of themselves: «a free, powerful and happy person.»
Who is Rafael Santandreu?
Rafael Santandreu is a Spanish psychologist, best known for his work as a popularizer. She studied psychology at the University of Barcelona. To complement her training, she also studied at the University of Reading and at the Centro di Terapia Strategica in Arezzo.
Today he is one of the best-known psychologists in Spain, for two main reasons:
Firstly, for his passion for dissemination, which has led him to publish eight books, to work in television and even to be editor-in-chief of the magazine Mente Sana. The success of his role as a disseminator lies in a language that, moving away from the most technical terminology, is full of neologisms such as “terribilitis”, therapy anecdotes and controversial phrases.
These controversial statements are the second reason why Rafael Santandreu arouses so much passion. And it is that, despite the fact that His books are full of useful advice and truthful information about mental health and psychology, his public appearances are always seasoned with statements that make more than one psychologist frown.
Who is it for? Fearlessthe latest book by Rafael Santandreu?
In the synopsis and in the first pages of the book, the author states that Fearless It is a self-help manual that can help treat:
- Anxiety attacks.
- Panic attacks.
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
- Hypochondria.
- Shyness.
- Irrational fears.
- Depression.
However, Rafael Santandreu is convinced that this book can help «anyone who wants to overcome their fears.»
How can this be achieved? Rafael Santandreu's latest book states that there is Two types of therapy that can help you live without fear:
- Exposure therapies, which in the words of the author himself consist of exposing «the patient to everything that causes fear until your mind becomes desensitized.» In other words, it is a type of therapy that is commonly used to treat anxiety and phobias through the use of gradual approach of the patient to the object of his fear.
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy: a type of therapy in which the patient, with the help of a psychologist, is able to identify the thoughts that hinder his or her life, and then replace them with more productive ones that allow him or her to change the way he or she faces problems.
The cognitive-behavioral therapy method of Rafael Santandreu's latest book
In FearlessRafael Santandreu shares a technique inspired by the teachings of Claire Weekes. This Australian doctor was a brilliant scientist and is now considered the creator of modern anxiety treatment.
Through observing his patients, Weekes discovered that the anxiety problems that plagued them were not usually rooted in traumatic events. What those patients had in common was that they tended to avoid their fears.
For Claire Weekes, the fear that caused the anxiety was actually two different fears: first, the original fear, which could be the fear of heights, of closed spaces, of dogs… And, second, the fear of fearwhich gave his patients the feeling of being unable to bear the fear and kept them in a constant state of nervousness.
To overcome fears, Claire Weekes developed a four-step technique that Rafael Santandreu has shared in his latest book. The steps are:
- Face or, in other words, allowing yourself to feel the fear. If you want to overcome a fear, you must first expose yourself to it. You can start doing this in an imagined way and, as you gain tolerance, expose yourself to the real situation. The important thing is that you do not avoid the fear and that you experience the symptoms of it.
- Accept. That is, disable the fight or flight response that our body develops when we face fear. To do this, focus on the present and try not to think about what scares you while it is happening. If getting on the elevator with your mother makes you afraid, for example, spend the trip talking to her and try to think as little as possible about the closed space you are in.
- Float. It is about slowing down and facing what worries us calmly. It is a complex step, since it requires getting out of the yoke of anxiety and taking control over it. Do not worry if the anxiety does not disappear, it is not the objective of this step. The important thing is that you can act calmly despite anxiety. The goal is for you to understand that you can keep going even when your brain tells you the world is ending.
- Let time pass and accept that overcoming fear and anxiety takes time and patience.
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Is Rafael Santandreu's latest book enough to deal with complex mental problems?
In an interview with the Mallorca Diarythe author stated that «self-therapy in books can replace traditional therapy.» A phrase that is undoubtedly controversial, which may generate unrealistic expectations in those who read it and which should be clarified.
The author claims that you can “craft your mind” without help. That is, You can change the way you think and strengthen mental health without being seen by a psychologist.
Is it true? Yes, but only in part.
It is absolutely true that You can improve your mental health if you understand the way you think and the way your thoughts affect your daily life and, from that moment on, you strive to correct your inner voice every time a limiting thought appears.
However, this It's not that simple when you're dealing with a disorder. properly speaking, such as anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression.
First of all, because they are very limiting problems which significantly undermine the willpower of patients. It should be noted that people with depression, for example, find it difficult even to get out of bed.
Promoting the culture of «if you want, you can» can plunge them into a state of deep guilt because they understand that if they can't, it's because they don't want to get out of the depressive state enough.
Secondly, because it is about problems that alter brain chemistry. An average person does not know how the brain works and may therefore have difficulty putting in place the appropriate mechanisms to change their way of thinking and acting. Sometimes even the work of a psychologist alone is not enough to counteract its effects and it is necessary to supplement the therapy with medication.
For this reason, when faced with serious problems such as anxiety or depression, it is always advisable to seek the help of a psychologist.
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