Rating: 
Summary: An Insightful Read
Review: "Self Matters" by Dr. Phil is a very energetic, clear, insightful read. I felt like a student being lectured to by an awesome Professor. I had to take breaks at times (lots of info). He provides various projects and questionnaires which serves to assess the state of our individual being. Through his analysis, he clearly points out we are all a result of life's
conditioning. He coaches us into discovering our 'core', center, authentic self, from which to live, an alternative to the old, unexamined, mechanical, stimulus response behavior we've learned (from other people & past experiences) for survival. He insists with his urgent, in-your-face style that living from your 'core' yields authentic joy, freedom, clarity,
and true self-expression. The book is semi-psychoanalytical in feeling, in a fun and sometimes humorous way. According to this book there is work to be done, but hey, it's worth meeting your true self and living a full and satisfying life!
If you like this book, you may want to try the collaborative work of Ariel and Shya Kane's "Working On Yourself Doesn't Work." It's a great follow-up book to "Self Matters." I found it a refreshingly different path leading to a similar place. Their non-judgmental, being-in-the-moment philosophy and the 3 principles of transformation offer a more anthropological way of looking and discovering our true selves. It's a gentle, effortless read with many profound insights simply and directly stated. Love the illustrations provided and yes, I did most certainly meet myself on so many of the pages......Oh, and it's a great pocket pal to take on vacation or to keep in a backpack for an immediate uplift and to get back on track with your life.
Ellen in Connecticut
Rating: 
Summary: Fictional self vs Real self
Review: This book will help to eliminate the feelings of inadeqacy that so many feel. Many people think that it's okay to be negative.This book teaches you to take control of your life. The chapter Defining the Authentic Self along with the quizz on page 46 is worth the price of the book alone.Two quotes worth restating here are:"The life that is unexamined is not worth living"-Plato"The only thing we can really change is ourselves and that makes all the difference in the world"-CherI also recommend 7 Habits by Covey, SuperSelf by Givens and The MAGIC of Thinking Big by Schwartz.
Rating: 
Summary: Gives Self-Help a Bad Name
Review: This book is an excerise in claptrap. I have read numerous self-help books by the likes of Dr. Albert Ellis, Dr. David Burns and Dr. Wayne Dyer, and I can tell you that Philip McGraw steals from them all. For example, is it a coincidence that Wayne has a book called "Your Sacred Self" and now here comes Phil (I refuse to call him "Doctor") with "Self Matters"? He may be good on TV, but his book is really shallow. You'd be far better served by reading one of the authors I've already mentioned.
Rating:
Summary: Realistic and helpful
Review: Dr. Phil's no-nonsense approach takes you out of wishful thinking and helps you focus on resolving critical issues in life. This book reinforces the concept that the old positive thinking paradigm is outdated and supports Rosalene Glickman's personal and professional model in her brilliant life-optimizing book "Optimal Thinking: How to Be Your Best Self."
Rating:
Summary: Self Matters
Review: My husband received a copy of this book and I picked it up first. I wanted to see what Dr. Phil had to say. The idea behind the book is great and worthwhile and I hope it helps many out there who are lost and searching for their reason for being. Sorry, Phil. You lost me. The book started out great. Your personal story was riviting and one I'm sure many readers can and will identify with. But then you got too bogged down in telling readers what you wanted to share with them. It's probably more of your editor's fault. He or she should trimmed down your message with half the amount of verbage. I'm busy and don't have a lot of time or patience to wade through repetitive material. I put it down after the first chapter. Maybe I'll go back and try to read it again another day. Or if someone comes out with Cliff's notes....
Rating:
Summary: Failure of book still unaddressed.....
Review: The following is a quote from the review of "A reader" on Nov. 19, 2001. "As the worst example of this problem, the book has blatantly obvious appendices A and B for the internal factors that influence you. Nowhere could I find a way to score these questions, while the text blithely discusses what your point totals mean." And I thought that I had missed something! My experience with appendices A and B was the same as that given in the above review, and I am puzzled as to why Dr. Phil has not addressed this confusion of the book. Other than that, I find the book to be an amazing and extremely insightful, helpful work. Far excels anything of it's kind, including that of John Bradshaw. I'm glad I found it. I'm in my second reading and still have work to do! Wonderful promise of hope.
Rating:
Summary: On the Path of Self Discovery
Review: I have read all of Dr. Phil's previous books and find this one to be the best yet. Dr. Phil presents a self discovery guide, where he has included his own experiences in searching for his "authentic self," as compared to his "fictional self" many of us put forth all our lives. Through the book's exercises I was able to discover aspects of myself I had not known of before. What I most appreciate about Dr. Phil is his matter of fact, tell-it-like-it-is style of work. Through books like Dr. Phil's I gain more knowledge about myself and in turn discover more possibilities of how I want to live in my life. In other words, becoming the author of my life story.
If you are a fan of Dr. Phil's work I'm sure you are looking forward to his TV show starting this September. And if you are on your path of self discovery, take a right turn and check out a book written by Ariel and Shya Kane called "Working On Yourself Doesn't Work." I found the Kanes' book to be very insightful and helpful in discovering how to create and sustain a wonderful life for myself, without any hard work involved.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I have never read a self-help book that was layed out in such a specific format. Dr. Phil takes you step by step, with exercises at the end of each chapter, and has brought me to many insights into parts of my life that are not working. It is in-depth with a lot of journaling, and soul searching, with many "aha" moments. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: not a keeper
Review: I was bored with this book from the beginning. The writing to capture your interest is just not there. There are much, much better self-help books than this.
Rating:
Summary: The best book I've read this year.
Review: Dr. Phil is much more profound that he comes across on TV - don't be fooled by that gruff-tough talk! This book is a masterpiece. Five enthusiastic stars!
| 
