Rating: 
Summary: Addresses self-esteem in a rational way
Review: Branden writes a book that solidly and concisely discusses self-esteem and its interaction with other problems. His approach is one based on self-responsibility and a connection to objective reality. This differs from a lot of contemporary pop psychology that pushes mindless self-affirmations and cultural relativism over increasing true awareness.Branden's connections to Ayn Rand show throughout the book. Her influence is generally positive in the core sections. Where a Randian viewpoint runs into problems, by possessing a complete lack of empathy or intolerance for dissent, Branden does a good job of addressing the harm it can do to self-esteem. Where Rand's influence harms the book is in the latter chapters where Branden ties self-esteem to his particular political views. This narrows the audience, though it perhaps helps sell his services to CEO's. A reader can understand the negative effects denying reality or believing in original sin can have on self-esteem, while still having a clue of what this country would be like without public roads or schools.
Rating:
Summary: Addresses self-esteem in a rational way
Review: Branden writes a book that solidly and concisely discusses self-esteem and its interaction with other problems. His approach is one based on self-responsibility and a connection to objective reality. This differs from a lot of contemporary pop psychology that pushes mindless self-affirmations and cultural relativism over increasing true awareness. Branden's connections to Ayn Rand show throughout the book. Her influence is generally positive in the core sections. Where a Randian viewpoint runs into problems, by possessing a complete lack of empathy or intolerance for dissent, Branden does a good job of addressing the harm it can do to self-esteem. Where Rand's influence harms the book is in the latter chapters where Branden ties self-esteem to his particular political views. This narrows the audience, though it perhaps helps sell his services to CEO's. A reader can understand the negative effects denying reality or believing in original sin can have on self-esteem, while still having a clue of what this country would be like without public roads or schools.
Rating: 
Summary: Enlightening
Review: Branden's *brilliant* sentence-stem exercises allow you to explicate your own hidden knowledge and mature into an independent and efficient personality. I think I'm not alone in considering this to be an important work refining Objectivist ethics. If only follow through were as easy as the theory!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant summary of Dr. Branden's work on self-esteem
Review: Branden's work is found in the "self-help" section of bookstores, but his message, which comes from 30 some years of thinking as a psychotherapist and philosopher, is really a coherent theory of how humans function psychologically. Like Freud, Jung, Watson, and Beck, Branden has an entire theory of our inner life, and one wonders why such a thoughtful and integrated theory is not so well known. In brief, Branden begins where all psychologists begin-- that in order to understand human psychology, one must understand the nature of how humans think. And the essence of human thinking is that it is rational and abstract (unlike Freud who sees thought as instinct driven and mostly unconscious, or the Behaviorists who see human thinking as a simple process of pain is bad, pleasure is good). This ability to think abstractly and rationally inevitably allows us to "see ourselves"--to be self-conscious. Because we are self-conscious, we all have a picture of, and feelings about, our own self. Everything we do, think, believe, is filtered through this self-concept. So instead of asking, "How did one, as a child, move through his/her sexual stages?"--a la Freud, or "What rewards or punishments have you experienced?" a la Behaviorism, Branden asks, "How do you see yourself, think about yourself, feel about yourself?" This, he argues, is the key to understand, really, the essence of how one functions in the world. Branden is such a careful thinker, and his thinking is based on years of experience. There is no fluff here. No abstract generalizations, empty cliches, or pep talks. Just carefully thought, pioneering psychology. Six Pillars is a framework for the culmination of Branden's thinking.
Rating: 
Summary: Painstaking classification of surface phenomena
Review: Check out the very accurate review "I HAD PROBLEMS WITH THIS BOOK THROUGHOUT" by "A reader from the West Coast who is a psychologist" here on Amazon for an example of what I'm criticizing in this book. This entire book consists of a man who is clearly an expert in his field classifying into concepts a number of concrete phenomena, and discussing relationships between those concepts. The problem is that Branden puts no effort into identifying essentials. For instance, he identifies that people have varying levels of self-esteem, and concludes that people with similar levels of self-esteem are attracted to each other, without ever asking himself why this would be true. Had he attempted to isolate an actual reason for his claim, he would find that he's unable to do so, and would be moved toward the correct realization that people with higher self-esteem are universally seen as more attractive. Branden's flawed thinking is apparent in the entire book. You can see it in his choice of the six pillars of self-esteem: living consciously, self-acceptance, self-responsibility, self-assertiveness, living purposefully, and personal integrity. You will find no explanation of why these six are the pillars of self-esteem and not some others, but only a laundry list of concretes which each of the pillars subsumes. The book is not worthless, however, because Branden's laundry lists cover a lot of ground. To someone who hasn't put much thought into the concept of self-esteem, this could be a valuable introduction to the issues which are related to self-esteem. Further, while Branden seems incapable of thinking in terms of fundamentals himself, he is very familiar with the works of philosopher Ayn Rand, who was excellent at it, and he occasionally paraphrases her observations in this work, which are almost always useful. However, the work here is mostly Branden's. If you are interested in Branden's work because of his association with Ayn Rand (like I was), I urge you to avoid his work, because the type of mind which enjoys Rand's work would find this sort of superficiality distasteful. (For instance, Branden more than once dismisses a consideration by saying "no one would think of arguing for such-and-such.")
Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly the most meaningful book I've ever read
Review: Don't be fooled by the cheesy title that makes this book look like yet another self-help book. This is an intelligent and open-minded approach to living your life, and it's practically changed mine. I am someone who only recently realized how low my self-esteem had been throughout life. I had undergone some brief non-medicated therapy that helped, but the real progress I've made and continue to make comes from reading books like this one. I was concerned that in order for this book to "work," I'd have to acquiesce into the author's way of thinking, but my concurrence has been natural throughout. With every recommendation Branden suggests, I ask myself if it would be better to accept this suggestion than not to, and I have yet to reject Dr. Branden's advice. If you're looking for happiness, more self-esteem, and/or a solid philosophy on how to live your life, this book is it.
Rating: 
Summary: I HAD PROBLEMS WITH THIS BOOK THROUGHOUT
Review: I am a psychologist who works with self-esteem issues and almost from page one I had problems with this book. It is full of overgeneralizations and concepts that are inaccurate. Brandon says, for instance, that "medium-self-esteem individuals" (his words) are "typically" attracted to others with medium self-esteem and that low-self-esteem-individuals are "typically" attracted to low-self-esteem-individuals" which, as a psychologist, I haven't found to be true. Instead I have found that individuals with low self-esteem may, indeed, be MORE COMFORTABLE with others who have a similar level of self-esteem, but they are most definitely ATTRACTED to those with higher levels of self-esteem, those who portray a strong sense of confidence, those who are independent, those who are positive, secure, upbeat, and have a sense of purpose in their lives. In fact, people with low self-esteem routinely attempt to attach themselves to people with healthy self-esteem, people others admire, because they enjoy a sense of self-importance and feel more secure themselves, when around people who seem to "have it together". Thus, I have found that people with low self-esteem only tend to gravitate to others who have low self-esteem AS A LAST RESORT, when they feel others are not accepting them, when they feel they don't fit in anywhere else. They definitely ARE NOT "ATTRACTED" to others who have low self-esteem. It's common, for instance, for young people who feel they don't fit in with the popular kids at school, to form their own groups--they ban together because they feel like outcasts. Inside, however, they would like to be friends with the same kids others admire. Forming gangs or groups of their own at least gives them a sense of belonging somewhere,of having a support group where they are not ridiculed, teased, or made to feel less adequate. If the truth were to be known, however, they too would say that they really just wanted to fit in with the regular kids in their schools and community. The second problem I had with this book is that Brandon seems not to recognize that just as many people who have low self-esteem become "overachievers" as those who become "underachievers". Sorensen who wrote "Breaking the Chain of Low Self-Esteem" thoroughly explains this this and also how low self-esteem is in itself, a motivator for many people--that anger and a desire to prove oneself adequate and competent can spur people to achieve as much or more than they might have, had they not had low self-esteem. Many highly successful people in all fields have low self-esteem but Brandon doesn't seem to understand this. Brandon doesn't recognize that low self-esteem, though a negative factor, is, indeed, still a true motivator for many who have low self-esteem. These comments come from early in the book. I read somewhat further but found far too many "distortions" in his concepts to want to finish the book. While I know he has had a huge impact on the early understanding of self-esteem, it seems he has not refined his early concepts, as one often has to do, and it concerns me that the average reader who is not well versed in self-esteem issues, will not necessarily realize the problems in his theories.
Rating:
Summary: Unbalanced but worthwhile
Review: I have recommended this book to many of my personal friends, and I am glad to do so again. Like many of the other reviewers of this book, I found it very meaningful to me personally. I spent almost 18 months working the sentence completion exercises, and I cannot recommend this process more highly. If you have an introspective slant, you too may find these exercises more helpful than consulting a therapist. However, I do not want my endorsement of this book to take on the tone of unmitigated praise that many others have. Branden's writing is cocky, self-absorbed and narrow-minded. You will not find careful analysis here. You will not find balance. Branden is quite proud of his unofficial title "the father of self-esteem," and he writes as one defending this claim. He is likely to offend those in the helping professions who work directly with people dealing with low self-esteem. He is likely to offend those working in the public education system. He is likely to offend evangelical and fundamentalist Christians. What he says is of value, but one needs a fairly thick skin to glean the best of it. Perhaps the most significant emphasis Branden makes is that self-esteem is so much more than just feeling good about yourself. Responsibility, integrity, assertiveness, purpose, action - each plays it's part in forming your opinion of yourself. In this I agree completely. Self-esteem is not and cannot be based upon the fact that you exist. "Being" is an inadequate reason to think highly of yourself. What you have chosen to do with what you are, is the essential foundation of an esteem that can weather life's ups and downs. I'm glad that he pushed me to take more complete responsibility for my own life. If you have the courage to try, he might also help you.
Rating:
Summary: This book boosted me up one big step on my personal journey
Review: I originally began reading Nathaniel Branden's books about 4 or 5 years ago. I began doing sentence completion every weekday morning to start off my day over a year ago. I cannot begin to express how deeply indebted I feel to Branden for providing a format for people to work on their self-development on their own and at their own pace. Thanks to Branden's books (among others), I have become so much more aware of myself, what has been holding me back from achieving, how we all look for excuses and chances to be the victim. For your own sake, please read his books, but more importantly, do the sentence completion exercises on a regular basis. And hopefully you will meet and become acquainted with one of the most fascinating people in the world - yourself. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: IS THIS AUTHOR AUTHENTIC?
Review: I started reading this book and then actually heard Brandon (the author) speak at a Conference. Afterwards I approached him to ask a question. He was rude and brash and refused to answer my question. Instead he dismissed me by saying, "Just read my book, I beg you, just read my book." I truly wondered afterward about how authentic he is (he speaks alot about authenticity in this book). I wondered about his level of self-esteem. Friends who were standing nearby were equally appalled by his words and attitude. I came home and tried again to wade through his book, though I must admit I was far less enthusiastic because of his arrogance (which shows up in this book as well). My question involved his concept that people must "earn" their self-esteem. In thinking more about it, I realize I truly disagree with this theory. We are not responsible for having developed low self-esteem which forms in childhood and is the result of what we've been taught to believe about ourselves, our worth, our competency. Yes, we can do something about it, we can change our view of ourself and learn to like ourselves. But self-esteem is not something we earn--it's something we learned and can now relearn, if necessary.
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