I've discovered first-hand through my research and the work I've done among various cultures around the globe that there are no short cuts to psychological resilience and happiness. To become resilient in a way that helps you be ok when things in your life are not ok and, to learn to live happily, you must understand and intentionally apply correct principles. This book outlines these principles and describes a number of tools that I've used in my clinical practice to help individuals transform their lives in remarkable ways. What's different here is that the principles, processes and self-help tools outlined in the book are not simply theoretical fun and games. Rather, they are based on what leading behavioral and neural scientists agree are the most important principles and conditions that must be adhered to in an effective, self-directed psychological change process. This means, given what we now know about brain plasticity, if you take the time to learn and apply the principles and approaches outlined here, you'll be able to "hack" into your own brain and rewire your neural-pathways in a way that helps you consistently increase your psychological resilience. Once you've accomplished this "brain hack" using my carefully honed cognitive reappraisal, self-hypnosis and neurolinguistic programming techniques, you'll be able to systematically identify and alter irrational thought patterns that cause your undesirable behaviors and undermine your ability to consistently set and achieve goals. You'll also be able to use my Happiness Algorithm Planner (H.A.P.) to objectively discern your perceived state of happiness, isolate what makes you more or less happy, and develop a plan to increase and sustain your sense of wellbeing and personal contentment regardless of what's going on in the world around you.
About the Author: Dr. Galen Cole, PhD, MPH, LPC, WCP, is a master of public health, licensed counselor, nationally and globally certified psychotherapist, and a nationally certified hypnotherapist. He currently provides therapy out of two offices in the Atlanta-metro area (www.galencole.com) where he's known for his innovations around leveraging brain plasticity in ways that produce rational thoughts and actions through the process of helping individuals change their life scripts. This emerging psychology has become known as Life Script Restructuring and is described in his book by the same title. Dr. Cole has taught counseling psychology, equine assisted mental health, behavioral and evaluation research, and a number of other counseling and health-related courses at the university level. He's been on the undergraduate and/or graduate faculty at Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University, Pennsylvania State University, and Emory University. Dr. Cole has worked on staff and as a consultant at numerous clinics, hospitals and community based organizations; consulting on a number of popular television series; served as an associate director of the county public health department in Phoenix, Arizona; and worked for 23 years as a research psychologist, behavioral scientist and director of research, evaluation, and strategic communication activities in various centers, institutes, and offices at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. After leaving CDC in 2014, Dr. Cole took a position as a Senior Mental Health Strategist and Thought Leader at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), headquartered in Washington, D.C. In this position he lead the development of AIR's vision and creative strategies to address the mental health needs of the nation. Dr. Cole has served on numerous local, regional and national boards of directors, including the Board of Professional Counselors at the American Psychotherapy Association's. He currently serves as President of the Georgia Association of Licensed Professional Counselors. Dr. Cole has published numerous books and scientific papers, and made presentations at conferences and training seminars across the world. He and his wife Priscilla have been married since 1975 and are the parents of 5 adult children who have lots and lots of grandchildren.