Psychotherapist Creates Brutally Honest Self-Help ‘Books’ Inspired By His Patients, And The Result Is Hilarious
According to a recent study, the U.S. market for self-improvement is $9.9 billion. Despite that, many therapists think that self-help books are useless. Gregg Williams, for example, says that change is hard, improvements happen unevenly, involve many steps and take a lot of time. Nothing even remotely close to what the self-help reads are preaching. Luckily, Johan Deckmann has something that's way better. By day, Deckmann analyzes the human behavior; by night, he writes down his observations as titles for fictional self-help publications. Using books found in antique shops as a canvas, the practicing psychotherapist transforms their boring covers into witty jokes. Even though most of his pieces balance between the hilarious and the poignant, their faded color and worn texture take the readers on an emotional journey of self-reflection and soul-searching.
"My work is a portrait of human failure and self-sabotage," Deckmann told Bored Panda. "But my underlying motive is to mirror my audience and motivate change. I think my work resonates with people because many people in the western world are raised to believe that they are victims of their surroundings. I show through my works that they are not."
Johan explained that his psychological practice has great influence on his art. It not only serves as a tremendous inspiration for the content of his works but also as a constant reminder of personal responsibility. “I meet many people who suffer from a circumstance that they themselves have created but they choose not to take action," he added. "I think it’s tragicomic that underneath our frustration and self-slavery lies this beautiful opportunity."
Titles like "How to gain instant success by lowering your standards" can resonate with anyone, but instead of remaining sinister, the work is made humorous by using the same language that you might find on a cookbook. "How to build a wall so high that nobody will ever get to know you" might be fitting for people working in an office, and, perhaps: "How to keep doing the same old mistakes and expect a different result" could be considered the most universally human of all one-liners.
2018 is a busy year for Deckmann. His works are traveling from one gallery to another; from New York City and San Fransisco to Amsterdam. "Humour is a pretty convenient companion, given humankind’s condition," he concluded. "I think gratitude, appreciation of being here and a portion of self-irony are the main keys to a happy life."
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Book #3 "It's all about not being a looser in your own opinion" Doesn't matter how low you've got to lower your standards in order to achieve that, cause once you'll consider yourself to be worthwhile, you are going to raise so much higher emotionally. And now, you tell me, what's more important, the way you are feeling going through life 24/7, or the height of your standards?
Load More Replies..."owner of a lonely heart... much better than a.... owner of a broken heart" ... song lyrics often are spot on !
A more honest book would be, "How to be Lonely Because You are Obsessed with Finding the Perfect Person."
are you ok now? i'm sorry you had to deal with that abuse. if you are still in contact try to cut off ties
Load More Replies...You buy the main book, and the "Me" is one of those "bonuses"you get at checkout. ( it's really a blank note book you fill with lists you never finish).
If you read the intro, you will see this is not actual books, just old books used as a canvas for fictional titles 😊
Load More Replies...No, radically restricting your calories can lengthen your life. Of course, you'll be hangry all the time, and you could get hit by a bus. Moral of the story: eat the friggin' cake!
Load More Replies...I used to think that way. But then I restricted myself & did a lot of walking for half a year, lost 40 pounds, stopped restricting my diet & started lifting weights, and I am both healthier and happier than before. I don't crave foods, and when I do I know I can go ahead and eat them because it doesn't mean I'll eat the whole bag/box etc I will stop when I want to. I don't abstain from things that will bring me joy, and I don't feel guilty either. You just need to prove to yourself that it's not a lost cause, you can eat only as much as you actually want. It's hard, but worth it. And do strength training because that way you use up more calories just sitting on the couch!
Another trick: eat any time you're hungry, eat whatever you're craving, just include some protein too. Handful of chocolate chips? Add some peanuts. Cookie? Add some milk. It will help you to not be hungry again half an hour later.
Load More Replies...It may seem like that would work from what people say, but the oldest people I have known love life. I recently heard that people who really love food are usually healthier than people who are always denying themselves. They typically do not eat as much because they are savoring the food and enjoying it with friends.
"A penny for my thoughts. No a dollor cause there worth more when I'm a goner." -song: When I Die Young
Yep ! Always listen to the song lyrics, they teach you all you need to know ! ;-)
Load More Replies...Don't do it for the money, and at least it might mean s. th. to yourself!
Does it have a section on "how to answer questions with questions"?
Or stupid, works too : there's a famous french singer, who died a few months ago. He didn't speak much, and the vast majority of people who didn't know him well thought he was just a nice guy but a bit, well, not the sharpest knife in the drawer. But he was everything but stupid, and I herad him saying in an inteview that it's sometimes useful to be taken for stupid, because people don't pay attention to dumbasses, so in the long run you just do whatever you want... How smart is that ?!
Foreword by C.S. Lewis "A pipe gives a wise man time to think, and an idiot something to stick in his mouth"
“Better to stay silent and have everyone assume that you are stupid,than open your mouth and remove all doubt“
How to never recognize what it is that you're doing over and over again.
That's a quote from the Smith's song, "Heaven knows I'm miserble now."
"How to have what you want and want what you have." A real book by John Gray
As long as you WANT it, you will keep WANTING it. Act as if you had one, and you will get one !
Load More Replies...Because I'm useless for everyone outside the wall. Trust me it's better for me to be inside
How to be so hard to love that nobody dares getting close in the first place ;-)
Take both things together, use Twitter, and become POTUS.
Load More Replies...That's the most uncomfortable thing to do. In the end you just want to scream!
However, it’s never too late to decide that this is NOT how your story is going to end.
Load More Replies...sone thinks we have to accept and let got or we will became depressed
Why should pursue dreams if ordinary things are enough to make you satisfied?#chapter 12
The sad story of how most people never really had or will ever have a dream or a passion
My mom wrote this one. She based it on a fifth grade essay titled " What I want to be when I grow up."
That is so true !! I was finally 100% okay with having no children. I now have an 11 year old.
Load More Replies...Or: "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence..."
This one is easy: Please consume feasies and pass away, lover of mums.
You are the stones in my kidney. The toothache making me cry.......
I did. The top answer was "The meaning of life is that which we choose to give it."
Load More Replies...Case in point: Steven Bradbury, Australian speed skater, Salt Lake City Winter Olympics 2002.
Is this the handbook for Life? That annoying time from birth to death...?
This is the kind of books that door-to-door salesmen bring and there are in fact 47 volumes in addition to a 130h documentary on video.
Load More Replies...Question: Are you sure the "good things" are what YOU "want really bad," or are they what you have been TOLD you should want? Or are you just lying to yourself?
Oh... sounds like"I'm so insecure because my mother couldn't breastfeed me".
I need the addendum, "Giving up when the S**t has really hit the fan."
Another ouch. I bottle up my feelings until I explode or worse implode. If I could cry in front of others many situations would not get so bad. Thought provoking book title this one 😕
Wait, so which is supposed to be better? Cry in front of others or when you're alone....?
Crying in situations/ places that you don't want to sucks.
Load More Replies...Had to think about this one... So, you feel like a fraud but are afraid to let anyone know who you really are?
Step one: Go to a volcanic island. Step two: Find a BIG chunk of pumice stone.
I don't need a manual for this, I can do this quite fine all by myself! 😞😕
It's not gobbledegook. It's about saying "I love you": saying the "I", saying the "love". saying the "you" etc.
Load More Replies...Some were brilliant, some made me question his qualifications! His poor clients! I waded through all 260plus images, some gems tucked in and some WTF 😃
At least these are a lot easier to ignore than a whole bookshelf of boring platitudes.
This past just makes it seem like he's making fun of his patients when they go see him for help.
Some were brilliant, some made me question his qualifications! His poor clients! I waded through all 260plus images, some gems tucked in and some WTF 😃
At least these are a lot easier to ignore than a whole bookshelf of boring platitudes.
This past just makes it seem like he's making fun of his patients when they go see him for help.
