Assertiveness Your Perfect Right
About the Authors
Robert Alberti, PhD, has received international recognition for his writing and editing, which is often praised as the “gold standard” for psychological self-help. Recently retired from a long career as a psychologist, marriage and family therapist, book author, editor, and publisher, Alberti’s now inactive professional affiliations include licensure as a psychologist and marriage and family therapist in California, life membership and fellowship of the American Psychological Association (APA), clinical membership in the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and fifty years of professional membership in the American Counseling Association (ACA). Alberti’s publishing achievements include eight books, newsletters for a number of organizations, dozens of articles, and the editing of more than 100 popular and professional psychology books by other authors.
His “formal” publications career began in 1970 with the first edition of Your Perfect Right, coauthored with Michael Emmons. Now in its tenth revised edition, Your Perfect Right has over 1.3 million copies in print in the United States, and has been published in translation in more than twenty languages around the world. Alberti also collaborated with the late divorce therapist Bruce Fisher on Rebuilding, a best-selling guide to surviving divorce, which has over 1 million copies in print and editions in ten languages.
Michael Emmons, PhD, (1938-2016), was a celebrated psychologist; consultant to educational, government, and business organizations; trainer of marriage and family counseling interns at California Polytechnic State University; and author or coauthor of seven books. Emmons and assertiveness training became synonymous when he coauthored Your Perfect Right with Robert Alberti. Since 1970, he devoted much of his life’s work to furthering and understanding assertiveness. Although his focus on assertive living took center stage, he was an innovator in terms of dealing with the whole person—mentally, physically, and spiritually.
Learning Objectives
After completing this course, you will be able to:
- Provide a definition of healthy assertive action.
- Describe how the goal of achieving equality in a multicultural, pluralistic society has become challenging.
- Give Assertiveness Inventory test to your clients.
- Help your clients prepare the Personal Growth Log.
- Discuss various elements of the definition of assertiveness.
- Contrast assertive, nonassertive and aggressive actions.
- Classify assertive and aggressive behaviors.
- Select various social, familial and work-related situations and formulate assertive, nonassertive and aggressive responses to each situation.
- Identify and expound upon the key components of assertive behavior.
- Identify three major characteristics of healthy personal growth and describe the behavioral model based on these qualities.
- Describe the deleterious effect of the continuous cycle of attitude, behavior and feedback.
- Identify the thoughts that get in the way of self-assertion.
- Explain to a client three “cognitive-behavioral" methods developed for dealing with thinking patterns.
- Explain the SUD scale and its application to assertiveness training.
- Explain the two methods for overcoming anxiety.
- Outline step-by-step the process of becoming assertive.
- Describe the step-by-step process for increasing your assertiveness.
- List 5 types of love and explain how assertiveness is important in building equal relationships.
- List 5 areas in anger management on which most mental health professionals agree.
- Distinguish between facts, theories and myths about anger.
- Identify 5 elements that may contribute toward making people angry.
- Outline 32 steps to managing anger.
- Explore with your client some of the most common put-down behaviors and what to do about them.
- Define intimacy and list six major dimensions which make for genuine intimacy.
- Classify various sexual communication types and describe their traits and body language.
- Distinguish between male and female sexual attitudes and behaviors.
- List some general ways in which one can practice assertion on the job.
- Describe how one can use his or her assertiveness skills in job search.
- Practice assertiveness in on-the-job relationships, dealing with supervisors and supervisees, and other coworkers.
- Describe 11 action steps you can take when confronted by someone who’s trying to push you around.
- Describe guidelines and procedures which can help when you’re confronted with a particularly difficult person or situation.
- Identify situations when it makes sense to be assertive and those when it’s better to walk away.
- List potential adverse reactions to assertiveness.
Contents Outline
Chapter 1: Assertiveness and You
Chapter 2: Whose Perfect Right?
Chapter 3: How Are You Assertive Now?
Chapter 4: Keep Track of Your Growth
Chapter 5: What It Means to Be Assertive
Chapter 6: “Can You Give Me an Example?”
Chapter 7: It’s Not What You Say, It’s How You Say It!
Chapter 8: Set Goals for Yourself
Chapter 9: Thinking Assertively
Chapter 10: There’s Nothing to Be Afraid of
Chapter 11: It’s a Skill You Can Learn
Chapter 12: Take It One Step at a Time
Chapter 13: Assertiveness Builds Equal Relationships
Chapter 14: Anger Is Not a Four-Letter Word
Chapter 15: Must We Put Up With Put-downs?
Chapter 16: Assertiveness, Intimacy, and Sexuality
Chapter 17: Assertiveness Works at Work, Too
Chapter 18: Dealing With Difficult People
Chapter 19: Deciding When to Be Assertive
Chapter 20: Helping Others Deal With The New Assertive You
Chapter 21: Beyond Assertiveness
- Assertiveness Takes Practice
- References and Further Reading Assertiveness Your Perfect Right
Comments:
"Loved this book! I will be recommending it to both clients & other counselors."