Title: A Layman’s Guide To Managing Fear
Subtitle: Using Psychology, Christianity, and Non-Resistant Methods
Author: Stanley Popovich
Publisher: Mountain View Publishing,
ISBN: 1512007803
Genre: Self-Help / Mental Health
Reviewed by: Barbara Miller
Pacific Book Review
Stanley Popovich has written a book which will help many people in overcoming fear in his book titled A Layman’s Guide To Managing Fear. As his subtitle suggests, fear is categorized into three types of therapy including Using Psychology, Christianity, and Non-Resistant Methods.
There are many types of fear including the fear of death, fear of failure, fear of heights or flying, phobias about germs, or certain groups of people or simply being afraid of the dark. Just about everything has someone who illogically has an issue with it – falling when there is no chance of it happening, insects which are harmless, snakes when they are caged in a display … the list goes on. It is how you handle these fears and methods of overcoming these feelings which constitutes the essence of Stanley Popovich’s narrative work.
The first approach is critical thinking and deductive reasoning. By thinking it out, talking with a professional, and realizing the true aspects from internalized false beliefs can mitigate the issues one has with a wide variety of common fears. Lay out the scenarios which frighten them, each can be peeled back and logically dismissed; that is of course if reasonable assumptions are agreed upon. Yet the fear of death, in particular, cannot be lessened by logical deduction, so this is where the second group of methodology is used; turning it over to God. Being fatalistic can be helpful as long as the person’s faith is strong. With appropriate quotations from the Bible, Popovich lays out many comforting Psalms and prayers. He provides a very revealing insertion of his favorite quotes in a section near the end of his book listing many Bible quotes.
Finally the category of Non-Resistant dealings comes to play. This is when counseling agrees with the patient that the fear, although illogical is in fact justified in at least the way they see it, so talking about it as “approving it” will help lessen the fear level and will hopefully bring it to a manageable understanding. For example, agoraphobia, which translates from the fear of the marketplace, is real to many, yet can be handled by agreeing with the person there are many risks everywhere; yet suggesting the benefits of dealing with it must be overcome to achieve the ability to buy groceries for their home.
Popovich’s guide is categorized into chapters, each using examples of the various fears and solutions, but most importantly he strongly recommends for those dealing with their fear to seek professional help. He even provides a listing of many services and resources available. Plus there are a few pages left blank for notes or a journal to be written by the reading audience. All in all, A Layman’s Guide To Managing Fear is a must-read for those afflicted with an abundance of fears. It is an excellent tool for any professional or work group, or for an individual dealing with this overwhelming condition.
