Book of the Month: The Happiness Trap - Russ Harris
For Companioning Your Journey’s twelfth Book of the Month, Russ Harris’, “The Happiness Trap”.
About the Author and Publication
Dr. Russ Harris is a physician, therapist, and best selling author who has become an expert in the discipline of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Dr. Harris has authored and co-authored multiple books on this topic and blends their own experience in practice with their personal journey with depression and anxiety. Dr. Harris shares some direct examples from their work with clients that have helped them to transform their lives and move forward in their journey. I enjoyed the amount of content and examples in this book which not only helped provide solid resources for future clients, but also helped give some ideas on how to successfully use these techniques in session.
Key Take Aways
Overall Premise
The Happiness Trap offers practical and well thought out methods of using ACT techniques to help the reader apply these skills to their daily life. It allows us to accept and acknowledge the thoughts that come up and channel them instead of trying to fight with them.
Fighting Your Emotions Can Get You Stuck in Them
Things can get hard and it is natural to feel darkness creep in every now and again. Yet, we often respond to this darkness with increased shame, guilt, and blame. This can cause the feelings to spiral into something worse and make the feeling even more difficult to escape. This book talks about the ways that we can allow and accept the emotion to come in and reminding ourselves that these negative thoughts are only thoughts. We do not have to allow them more space or allow them to continue expanding. By acknowledging and allowing the thought, we can experience the pain without sinking into suffering.
Instead of Chasing Happiness, Experience the Present Moment
One of the topics that this book touches on is the idea of chasing happiness and missing out on the moments of pleasure around us because we have not yet reached our ultimate goal. We can often set ourselves up for failure by chasing whatever is next and convincing ourselves that once we attain ____ that we will finally be happy. Instead, the author encourages us to thoughtfully take in small moments and joys and to let ourselves deeply immerse ourselves in those moments. Happiness is within you and gratitude is key in letting that happiness shine through.
Act in Accordance with Your Values
As nice as it would be, we can not control how we can’t always choose how we feel or choose what happens around us, but we can choose how we act. When our choices feel limited or we feel stuck, we have no further to look than our values. Trust in your compass and know that if you are acting in accordance with your values you will grow a deeper satisfaction with yourself and with your life, no matter where you end up. Allow yourself to have pride as you take intentional steps towards realizing your goals.
What Made this the Book of the Month
This is a book that inspired one of the groups that I developed. There are so many practical tools and techniques that it felt like the author was tailoring it to be shared with others. I appreciated how approachable and practical all of the steps were throughout the text and felt encouraged to use this material to support clients. I would strongly recommend this book both to clients and to clinicians.
Conclusion
If you are looking for an impactful read, look no further than Russ Harris’ “The Happiness Trap”.
What has been one of your most impactful reads? Are there any that you feel like more people should get their hands on? Let me know and I would be happy to read and review in a future post!