Breaking Free

by Nathaniel Branden

Book by Nathaniel Branden

Genres: Psychology, Self Help, Personal Development, Nonfiction

214 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Nathaniel Branden was a Canadian–American psychotherapist and writer known for his work in the psychology of self-esteem. A former associate and romantic partner of Ayn Rand, Branden also played a prominent role in the 1960s in promoting Rand's philosophy, Objectivism. Rand and Branden split acrimoniously in 1968, after which Branden focused on developing his own psychological theories and modes of therapy.

Reviews

[Abhishek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book in a way takes us back to our childhood and then look at it in a different way. The accounts of people provided here show how things in our childhood shape the personality we develop when we grow up. It's something that we may not have paid much attention, but that's the crucial stage in our formation. These things can also make us aware of our actions towards younger people, and can act as eyes opener if we weren't behaving well with them.
It's a good read.

[Samuela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book helping to show the repressed emotions and sharing stories of others making it even more compassionate. It’s nice.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book if you're at the point in your life when you want to figure out how your parents may or may not have screwed you up. And by recognizing those problems, you can start fixing them & making different choices.

[Jordan Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I happened upon Nathaniel Branden after watching a series of YouTube videos on charisma, self-awareness, and self-esteem. The library didn't have Branden's well-know treatise on self-esteem, so I picked up this one instead.

If you aren't into reading a book consisting almost entirely of dialogue, don't read this. Branden starts out extolling the benefits of this great method that he has discovered, which involves a list of questions that he asks his clients to help them uncover how their families of origin negatively affected the way they relate to the world. Much of the discussion he has with his clients does come back to self-esteem, but it isn't the only focus of the book. I think these are conversations that actually happened, but I kind of get that feeling that they were altered to make Branden sound as impressive as possible.

I vacillated from thinking Branden was making a great point about how a person can mature and individuate from his or her family to then suddenly not liking the guy very much for the way that he seemed to need to lecture and share his "correct" point of view with his clients. Client-centered he was not, but I think his intellectual approach can be valuable in certain situations.

If you have a particular interest in anything I just wrote, then check this book out. If not, there are much better books in the world for you to read first.

[Joseph Manganello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Offered a lot of interesting insight into the effect of the conclusions we make as children. It was slightly sexist at times and felt like it dodged the question of anything to do with sexual orientation, but it was the 70s. I felt like the book had a lot more potential, but as mentioned, it was intended to be a short depiction of one step in the process of acquiring self esteem. The psychology of self esteem is super interesting, and I think that although the writing wasn’t very impressive, it communicated Branden’s ideas clearly and effectively. Definitely an interesting read that will get you thinking about your own experiences and the conclusions you drew from them.

[Merriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style of this book, and many of the conversations felt overly edited. They seemed cliche even. For a while, I wasn’t really enjoying reading. I felt uncomfortable and was tired of thinking about my parents. I thought I had analyzed my childhood many times already. Then I took a moment to write down some of the thoughts spurred by the book and I made several mental breakthroughs in the span of a few hours. It was amazing.

With time the style of the book improved slightly and the conversations felt less like soap opera depictions of a therapist’s office. However, something was lacking. Some tips for how to use my newfound insight would have been nice.

[Omaroo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came in with high hopes, and so good so far. However, I do wish Branden would elaborate more rather than just give us examples of the discussions in his group therapy sessions. I think this book has a lot more potential. I'd love it if anyone could recommend other works that give answers to what Branden left unanswered!

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is a fictious transcript of his group therapy sessions. The patients discover the roots of their problems by looking at their childhood. He had a series of (I think) 21 questions that he ask them on or near the first day of therapy that hit some raw nerves. Each chapter after that examined one of the questions in detail.
Sometimes he would get on his soapbox, such as when he responded to a patient and railed against religion for a page or so. I wasn't impressed. In fact, it made me wonder how accurate or how useful the rest of the book would be. If he is that set against that which is good in our society, perhaps he would lead a person astray in other areas also.
I wondered if it is really necessary to go back and examine the past. The Gospel teaches to stop sinning, and do it no more. The first part of repentance is recognizing that something is wrong. In that sense, perhaps the gospel does also require going back and examining. The gospel only requires going back far enough to discover that it is/was wrong. Fortunately, that also seems to be as far as he takes it too.
I kept feeling like there was more to this book; that it would produce some valuable insights. There were some, but I never felt any big breakthroughs. There was the promise of something profound just around the corner, but I never found it.
I also wondered how valuable his form of therapy would be since he denies God.

And now from a pyschologist whom I trust (M. Scott Peck):
"Is belief in God a form of psychopathology?" ... The answer is sometimes yes."
"There clearly is a lot of dirty water surronding the reality of God. Holy wars. Inquisitions. Animal sacrifice. Human sacrifice. Superstition. Stultification. Dogmatism. Ignorance. Hypocrisy. Self righteousness. Rigidity. Cruelty. Book burning. Witch burning. Inhibition. Fear. Conformity. Morbid guilt. Insanity. The list is almost endless. But is all this what God has done to humans or what humans have done to God?"
'Another reason that scientists are so prone to throw the baby out with the bath water is that science itself is a religion.'
"... I very much would have liked to say to him: "You really ought to tell your therapist about it. It is essential for your therapy that you be open about everything, particularly a serious matter such as this. You should trust your therapist to be objective.' But I did not. For I was not at all sure that his therapist would be objective."
"The Road Less Traveled" by M. Scott Peck p 223 224

[Nathan Titus · Rating 3 out of 5]

A big problem I have with therapy in general is the focus on the past. Case in point this book. Branden understands that people are self made but this book says quite the opposite; that we are largely products of our upbringing. So much for free will and choice. Sigh........