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Emotions: Can You Trust Them?
Dr. James Dobson provides practical guidelines and simple steps to help anyone understand their emotions so that they can improve interaction with others. Love, anger and guilt are emotions that can be a very positive force in our lives if we lean to recognize and cope with these aspects of who we are. The sound teaching of this book will help dispel the myths surrounding the way we thing about our emotions and will separate distorted thinking from the real thing-for instance, distinguishing between infatuation and true love. Learn how to interpret and understand a broad range of emotions and separate fantasy from reality.
166 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
30 people are currently reading
233 people want to read
About the author
James C. Dobson
253 books376 followersA licensed psychologist and marriage, family, and child counselor, Dr. James Dobson was a clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. For 14 years Dr. Dobson was an associate clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, and he served for 17 years on the attending staff of Children's Hospital Los Angeles in the Division of Child Development and Medical Genetics. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California (1967) in the field of child development.
He was the author of more than 50 books, including The New Dare to Discipline, The New Strong-Willed Child, When God Doesn't Make Sense, Night Light: A Devotional for Couples, Bringing Up Boys, and the New York Times bestseller Bringing Up Girls .
Heavily involved in influencing governmental policies related to the family, Dr. Dobson was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the National Advisory Commission to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. He also served on the Attorney General's Advisory Board on Missing and Exploited Children, the Department of Health and Human Services' Panel on Teen Pregnancy Prevention, and the Commission on Child and Family Welfare. He was elected in 2008 to the National Radio Hall of Fame, and in 2009 received the Ronald Reagan Lifetime Achievement Award.
He was the author of more than 50 books, including The New Dare to Discipline, The New Strong-Willed Child, When God Doesn't Make Sense, Night Light: A Devotional for Couples, Bringing Up Boys, and the New York Times bestseller Bringing Up Girls .
Heavily involved in influencing governmental policies related to the family, Dr. Dobson was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the National Advisory Commission to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. He also served on the Attorney General's Advisory Board on Missing and Exploited Children, the Department of Health and Human Services' Panel on Teen Pregnancy Prevention, and the Commission on Child and Family Welfare. He was elected in 2008 to the National Radio Hall of Fame, and in 2009 received the Ronald Reagan Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 26, 2018
If you have never read this classic, try it. Dr. Dobson is excellent at explaining spiritual discernment, that is, the ability to see, hear, know, and trust in Truth and keep the confidence that Truth will set you free.
Dr. Dobson teaches that our feelings are only one portion of spiritual discernment. Christians need to turn to the Word of God, and seek wisdom of discernment through the power of the Holy Spirit, wisdom in common sense and customary social teachings, and keep perspective of our goals, dreams and visions.
Feelings are secondary to Truth and often are tools used by God to teach or test our ability to discern wisdom and right judgement, and choose FAITH in God's ultimate power. Truth will set you free.
Dr. Dobson teaches that our feelings are only one portion of spiritual discernment. Christians need to turn to the Word of God, and seek wisdom of discernment through the power of the Holy Spirit, wisdom in common sense and customary social teachings, and keep perspective of our goals, dreams and visions.
Feelings are secondary to Truth and often are tools used by God to teach or test our ability to discern wisdom and right judgement, and choose FAITH in God's ultimate power. Truth will set you free.
July 9, 2021
Interesting things from the book.
Leaders of the Catholic Church have been widely quoted as saying, "Give us a child until he is 7 years old and we'll have him for life." Their affirmation is usually correct, because permanent attitudes can be instilled during these seven vulnerable years.
The 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians is known as the "love chapter." There is not a single reference to feelings.
A new unit in Vietnam had never seen actual combat and the men were terrified. They dug foxholes on a hill and nervously watched the sun disappear beyond the horizon. At approximately midnight, the enemy attacked as anticipated. Guns began to blaze on one side of the mountain, and before long all the soldiers were firing frantically and throwing hand grenades into the darkness. The battle raged throughout the night and the infantry appeared to be winning. Finally, the long awaited sun came up and the body count began, but not one single dead Viet Cong lay at the perimeter of the mountain. In fact, not one enemy soldier had even participated in the attack. The unit was shooting at a perceived enemy when, in fact, no one was there.
There was a high school in the 1930s located in a small Oklahoma town which had produced a series of terrible football teams. They usually lost the important games and were invariably clobbered by their arch rivals from a nearby community. Understandably, the students and their parents began to get depressed and dispirited by the losses every Friday night.
Finally, a wealthy oil producer decided to take matters in his own hands. He asked to speak to the team in the locker room after yet another devastating defeat. What followed was one of the most dramatic football speeches of all times. This businessman proceeded to offer a brand new Ford to every boy on the team and to each coach if they would simply defeat their bitter rivals in the next game.
The team went crazy with sheer delight. They howled and cheered. For seven days, the boys ate, drank, and breathed football. At night they dreamed about touchdowns and trucks. The entire school caught the spirit of anticipation. Each player could visualize himself behind the wheel of a gorgeous coupe.
Finally, the big night arrived and the team assembled in the locker room. Excitement was at an all time high. They ran out onto the field to win, but instead, were demolished 38 to 0.
The team's exuberance did not translate into a single point on the scoreboard. Seven days of hoorah simply couldn't compensate for the player's lack of discipline, conditioning, practice, experience, or character.
There is no more powerful teaching tool than modeling it yourself as the parent and setting an example.
The energy which holds a people together is sexual in nature. The physical attraction between men and women causes them to establish a family and invest themselves in its development. It encourages them to work and save and toil to insure the survival of their families. Their sexual energy provides the impetus for the raising of healthy children and for the transfer of values from one generation to the next.
If sexual energy within the family is the key to a healthy society, then its release outside those boundaries is potentially catastrophic.
God has clearly forbidden irresponsible sexual behavior, not to deprive us of fun and pleasure, but to spare us the disastrous consequences of this festering way of life.
Short courtships require impulsive decisions about lifetime commitments and that is risky business, at best.
A son grew up and was having a hard time loving and forgiving his difficult dad. If the son can think of his dad as a blind person going through life, he might be able to forgive easier. Blindness is a physical handicap. Probably this dad has emotional and spiritual handicaps in a similar way. He is "blind" to the hurts he caused. His handicap makes it impossible for him to see the son's needs. If the son can accept the father with a permanent handicap, he will shield himself from the ice pick of rejection.
John 10:4 KJV says... And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Notice the expression "goeth before" and "follow". God goes before to open the way, and we are to follow in the way thus opened.
Leaders of the Catholic Church have been widely quoted as saying, "Give us a child until he is 7 years old and we'll have him for life." Their affirmation is usually correct, because permanent attitudes can be instilled during these seven vulnerable years.
The 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians is known as the "love chapter." There is not a single reference to feelings.
A new unit in Vietnam had never seen actual combat and the men were terrified. They dug foxholes on a hill and nervously watched the sun disappear beyond the horizon. At approximately midnight, the enemy attacked as anticipated. Guns began to blaze on one side of the mountain, and before long all the soldiers were firing frantically and throwing hand grenades into the darkness. The battle raged throughout the night and the infantry appeared to be winning. Finally, the long awaited sun came up and the body count began, but not one single dead Viet Cong lay at the perimeter of the mountain. In fact, not one enemy soldier had even participated in the attack. The unit was shooting at a perceived enemy when, in fact, no one was there.
There was a high school in the 1930s located in a small Oklahoma town which had produced a series of terrible football teams. They usually lost the important games and were invariably clobbered by their arch rivals from a nearby community. Understandably, the students and their parents began to get depressed and dispirited by the losses every Friday night.
Finally, a wealthy oil producer decided to take matters in his own hands. He asked to speak to the team in the locker room after yet another devastating defeat. What followed was one of the most dramatic football speeches of all times. This businessman proceeded to offer a brand new Ford to every boy on the team and to each coach if they would simply defeat their bitter rivals in the next game.
The team went crazy with sheer delight. They howled and cheered. For seven days, the boys ate, drank, and breathed football. At night they dreamed about touchdowns and trucks. The entire school caught the spirit of anticipation. Each player could visualize himself behind the wheel of a gorgeous coupe.
Finally, the big night arrived and the team assembled in the locker room. Excitement was at an all time high. They ran out onto the field to win, but instead, were demolished 38 to 0.
The team's exuberance did not translate into a single point on the scoreboard. Seven days of hoorah simply couldn't compensate for the player's lack of discipline, conditioning, practice, experience, or character.
There is no more powerful teaching tool than modeling it yourself as the parent and setting an example.
The energy which holds a people together is sexual in nature. The physical attraction between men and women causes them to establish a family and invest themselves in its development. It encourages them to work and save and toil to insure the survival of their families. Their sexual energy provides the impetus for the raising of healthy children and for the transfer of values from one generation to the next.
If sexual energy within the family is the key to a healthy society, then its release outside those boundaries is potentially catastrophic.
God has clearly forbidden irresponsible sexual behavior, not to deprive us of fun and pleasure, but to spare us the disastrous consequences of this festering way of life.
Short courtships require impulsive decisions about lifetime commitments and that is risky business, at best.
A son grew up and was having a hard time loving and forgiving his difficult dad. If the son can think of his dad as a blind person going through life, he might be able to forgive easier. Blindness is a physical handicap. Probably this dad has emotional and spiritual handicaps in a similar way. He is "blind" to the hurts he caused. His handicap makes it impossible for him to see the son's needs. If the son can accept the father with a permanent handicap, he will shield himself from the ice pick of rejection.
John 10:4 KJV says... And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Notice the expression "goeth before" and "follow". God goes before to open the way, and we are to follow in the way thus opened.
January 26, 2025
A manera de manual personal o en grupo, en este libro el Dr. James Dobson nos ofrece una ayuda concreta y práctica para conocer cómo distinguir y manejar sabiamente los sentimientos de culpa, amor romántico, ira e interpretación de las impresiones personales versus la voluntad de Dios.
September 2, 2015
This book is divided into three main parts: guilt, romantic love and anger.
The author distinguishes true guilt from false guilt, and gives advice which is is realistic and practical. The section on romantic love would be helpful to anyone starting a new relationship. He believes in Christian principles which may seem outdated to modern young people, but the points he makes are nonetheless relevant.
The third section, on anger, looks at when anger is appropriate, and how we can act on it without harm. There are Bible quotations to back up the author’s points, and an encouragement to take steps towards conquering a bad temper.
Then there's a final section about determining God’s will. Dobson warns against blindly trusting in intuition, which should always be tested by Scriptural principles, by reason and also by what we might call ‘providence’.
On the whole, I thought the book was fairly wise, if a bit wordy here and there. It was rather spoiled by the various discussion questions which were at the end of each chapter.
I don’t know that modern readers would find this particularly useful as there are many books on similar topics, but it's now available in Kindle form.
The author distinguishes true guilt from false guilt, and gives advice which is is realistic and practical. The section on romantic love would be helpful to anyone starting a new relationship. He believes in Christian principles which may seem outdated to modern young people, but the points he makes are nonetheless relevant.
The third section, on anger, looks at when anger is appropriate, and how we can act on it without harm. There are Bible quotations to back up the author’s points, and an encouragement to take steps towards conquering a bad temper.
Then there's a final section about determining God’s will. Dobson warns against blindly trusting in intuition, which should always be tested by Scriptural principles, by reason and also by what we might call ‘providence’.
On the whole, I thought the book was fairly wise, if a bit wordy here and there. It was rather spoiled by the various discussion questions which were at the end of each chapter.
I don’t know that modern readers would find this particularly useful as there are many books on similar topics, but it's now available in Kindle form.
September 12, 2012
An old book, but still worth reading. Short & quick read - writing style is easy to read.
I love Dr. Dobson! His writings are full of wisdom and insight. Reading his books help me put struggles into a manageable context, which allows room for joy to enter in the midst of struggle. Marriage and family life isn’t always easy, but with the right guidance it can still be joyful. I am so thankful for him and the Focus on the Family ministry.
I love Dr. Dobson! His writings are full of wisdom and insight. Reading his books help me put struggles into a manageable context, which allows room for joy to enter in the midst of struggle. Marriage and family life isn’t always easy, but with the right guidance it can still be joyful. I am so thankful for him and the Focus on the Family ministry.
November 17, 2013
Great book. Gave it to all my kids when we had The Talk, along with "Preparing For Adolescence". Straightforward, common sense approach to grappling with and understanding the sometimes deceptive nature of the flood of varying emotions that accompanies adolescence. So sensible and such an important message - not just for kids. Highest recommendation.
October 6, 2015
Don't Read
Dobson has some helpful concepts and illustrations in this book as to why a Christian is not to rely on his or her emotions for a mature walk. However, as he often does, he works in theological areas in psychological terms and understanding and comes to some conclusions that are in direct contradiction to Biblical teaching.
Dobson has some helpful concepts and illustrations in this book as to why a Christian is not to rely on his or her emotions for a mature walk. However, as he often does, he works in theological areas in psychological terms and understanding and comes to some conclusions that are in direct contradiction to Biblical teaching.
December 11, 2008
The only thing that I didn't care for was at the end of each chapter Dobson would have a list of questions to see how you would have handled situations based off the examples he gave. Other than that it was on point.
October 1, 2019
Great perspective.
Loved the tools in this book.
Wish it ended with a little bit more concrete information on discerning Gods will. Maybe more explanation on when he uses the word contradictory in reference to Gods word.
Loved the tools in this book.
Wish it ended with a little bit more concrete information on discerning Gods will. Maybe more explanation on when he uses the word contradictory in reference to Gods word.
February 22, 2008
Dobson is too conservative for me now... but I'm glad I read his stuff when I was a teen because it probably kept me out of a lot of trouble!
September 13, 2012
I have the 1980 version. After reading a few times, this one is falling apart... lol I should read again.
September 12, 2013
A quick and easy read. I appreciated some of the basic principles offered in the book, and I think I would have benefited even more from this book if I had read it at a younger age.
July 28, 2014
Simple, practical and clarifying. Very important book for Christians to read - especially for those who live in a "pentecostal" mode all the time.
June 6, 2016
This book has a very religious slant which not everyone is into.
August 8, 2024
Excellent!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews