Women of all ages want to make others happy—it's just in a woman's nature, isn't it? But what happens when that "need to please" goes wrong, and a woman keeps pushing herself harder while simultaneously ignoring her own needs? What happens when a woman begins to think self-sabotaging girly thoughts—thoughts like If only I was thinner . . . younger . . . prettier . . . was into kinkier sex . . . ? What happens when relationships sour and the trauma is carried into subsequent relationships?

Anything worth doing is worth doing well. Practice makes perfect. Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing. Failure is not an option. In today's perfection-obsessed culture, these are the maxims we live by. Yet, the damage that they cause is stifling. Renowned author and pioneer of codependency treatment Ann W. Smith knows this first hand. Smith has dealt with her fair share of perfectionism and has bared witness to this all too common phenomenon in her professional life, having spent the last thirty years studying the impact compulsive disorders have on individuals and family. While perfectionism lacks much of the stigma attached to today's most common compulsions—smoking, gambling, sex addiction, alcoholism, and drug abuse—many of the negative connotations on self and the family system are the same.

The challenges we face over the course of a lifetime, especially those that involve major personal loss, can seem devastating, as radio personality and self-help specialist Dr. Raeleen D'Agostino Mautner discovered when her husband suddenly and unexpectedly died of a heart attack. The Italian rituals and lifestyle habits she grew up with—and later began researching—were instrumental in helping her stay grounded, feel comforted, and be gently redirected to a new path of joy and the next level of her own personal transformation.

While organizing the lives of her many clients as an organizing expert and a frequent guest on A&E's Hoarders show, Dorothy Breininger learned to face her own clutter, and lost seventy-five pounds in the process. In this one-of-a-kind book, she tackles downsizing from the much-needed perspective of what lies underneath our clutter—metaphorically, physically, and emotionally. With some of the most extreme and memorable true stories from the Hoarders show, Breininger reveals what our clutter is trying to tell us and how it relates to our struggles to lose weight and keep it off

From the founder of The Change Companies comes a collection of life lessons, true stories, and embarrassing self-disclosures illuminating how small choices made each day can create joy, meaning, and lasting change. While to-do lists and failed resolutions discourage people from believing that change is possible, Binder-Man (in full cape and with four-color graphics!) proves that change really isn't all that difficult and that sometimes it begins with just a simple step—or a series of missteps.

With anxiety at epidemic levels among our children, Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents offers a contrarian yet effective approach to help children and teens push through their fears, worries, and phobias to ultimately become more resilient, independent, and happy.

Author(s): Reid Wilson, PhD, Lynn Lyons, LICSW

Six million people in America suffer from bipolar disorder. Joan Child's daughter, Pamela, suffered from the disorder, bouncing from doctor to doctor in search of treatment.