Building a Better Life: A Good Lives and Self-Regulation Workbook

 
Now available in Japanese

from Seishin Shobo
 

 

By Pamela M. Yates, Ph.D., and David S. Prescott, LICSW.
Foreword by Tony Ward, Ph.D., DipClinPsyc
© 2011

Available from Safer Society Press
      (click here for an order form)

 

Contents

Foreword by Tony Ward

Introduction 

1. What Motivates Me?  

2. Understanding My Good Life Plan and My Goals in Life

3. Self-Regulation: Understanding How People Manage Themselves and Their Behavior  

4. Understanding My Risk Factors 

5. My Personal History 

6. My Offense Chain 

7. Pathways to Offending 

8. Who Am I and Who Can I Be? 

9. Bringing It All Together: Integrating Treatment Change 

10. My Risk Management Plan 

11. My Good Life Plan


Foreword

The decision to commit yourself to the process of self-change is a tough one, and not one to be undertaken lightly. It is easy for all of us to resist thinking about our lives: what is going wrong or how we really feel about ourselves and other people. Being fully honest and self confronting is extremely painful. It is much more tempting to stay with what is familiar. The problem for you is that the familiar path, the easy path, is a very dangerous one, both for yourself and for other people. If you are really honest, it is easy to see that it does not work to engage in sex with children or with non-consenting adults to escape loneliness, to avoid feelings of powerlessness, or simply to feel alive. It's ultimately a dead end. You now have a chance to get to know yourself much better. You now can find out what is behind your sexual fantasies and offenses and can grasp what things in life are likely to provide you with a genuine shot at happiness and a sense of purpose. This workbook will help you on the journey to self-understanding and change. As you go through this book, you will learn about the ingredients for a better or a good life, and you will figure out how, with help from others and hard work on your behalf, to achieve these new goals. Make no mistake, it is critical to learn what situational and personal factors are likely to increase the chances for you to re-offend. It is important for you to identify your unique set of risk factors—have no question about that. But it is also important to set personal goals for yourself that aim at happiness and a richer, more fulfilling life. The authors of this workbook believe you can do both of these things at the same time. I agree with them. I want to congratulate you in taking this step. If you put in the necessary effort, face your fears and doubts, and work hard on acquiring the skills identified in this workbook, I am confident you will be able to live a life that is more meaningful and less harmful to others. It is your choice. This is your chance to make things different, and better.

— Professor Tony Ward, Ph.D., DipClinPsyc