The Road Less Traveled

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The Road Less Traveled; A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth
The Road Less Traveled, written by M. Scott Peck M.D. was the book I chose from the list the class was given. The book discusses how people react to different situations we encounter throughout our lives, from childhood lessons and how we are raised to our reactions to situations we deal with as adults. The book is broken down into four main parts; discipline, love, growth and religion and grace. And within each of those sections Peck breaks those down further. M. Scott Peck is a best selling author and psychiatrist, he was educated at Harvard and Case Western Reserve. Dr. Peck lives in northwestern Connecticut where he has a private practice. The Road Less Traveled is an amazing self-awareness book that helps people face life’s difficult problems, making it easy for people to relate to some of the issues talked about in the book.
The first Topic that he wrote about is Discipline. When he breaks it down in different sections like; pain, responsibility, character disorders healthy depression and delaying gratification, he sums this chapter up when he states ‘Life is Difficult.”(15) Discipline is what we need to solve any of life’s problems. Peck talks about how we avoid pain and any emotional suffering is one of the leading causes of mental illness. People go to great lengths to avoid emotional suffering causing them to become stagnant in spiritual growth. When he writes about Delaying gratification, he uses a patient’s cake eating habits to make his point. We learn at a young age to complete tasks then reward ourselves. When we do the most enjoyable parts first we tend to procrastinate the rest or not even complete it. Responsibility is a...

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...ses each of them to help his patients.
Each patient is experiencing a different problem and using his knowledge and experimenting with each patient and different schools of thought psychology, He can help his patient’s recover and lead normal healthy lives.
I would recommend this book to anyone, it has sections that almost everyone can relate to. When people see the issue they are facing in print it helps them come to terms that they are not unique or alone with life being difficult. If they read that through therapy the person they relate to is now living healthy and happy lives it gives them hope that their problems can be faced and they can live normal lives.

Works Cited

Peck, M. Scott. The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth. 25th Ed. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1978. Print.

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