STATES OF EQUILIBRIUM
John Burton, Ed.D. (2000)
Crown House Publ. Hardback. 235 pages, $44.00
Description: With his background in Developmental Psychology, John Burton in this book uses the Meta-States model to write a book that integrates, in a most extensive way, the best of Piaget, drive theory, Kohlberg, Maslow, Rogers, Skinner, Erickson, Jung, and Cognitive-Behavioral therapy. The result is that he has created one of the most extensive descriptions and applications of Meta-States as applied to personality, therapy, and change. This is the most extensive presentation of Meta-States outside of anything that L. Michael Hall has written. And it offers numerous new applications of Meta-States, applications new to Dr. Hall.
States of Equilibrium is also a must read for those in the field of coaching. If you work to facilitate bringing out the best in people, you’ll want to understand the full range of responses that can occur in people as they seek states of equilibrium. If you are interested in balance, focus, mental and emotional health, emotional intelligence, running your own brain, eliminating stuck and limited states, getting on top of anything internal that might sabotage you, then States of Equilibrium is an excellent choice.
This book is a must read for therapists and coaches. In many ways it makes an excellent follow-up to The Structure of Personality: Personality Ordering and Disordering with NLP and Neuro-Semantics (2000). John has filled the book with case studies and lots of practical suggestions. Therapists will find fascinating descriptions and case studies around addiction, learning dysfunctions, obsessive compulsive states, depression, fight/flight responses, anxiety, fear, and much, much more. And John’s analysis of fear is absolutely brilliant.
If you are interested in balance, focus, mental and emotional health, emotional intelligence, running your own brain, eliminating stuck and limited states, getting on top of anything internal that might sabotage you, these are the themes of this book.
Style and Audience: This is a very readable book for an NLP audience, especially for therapists and coaches, for anyone interested in Developmental psychology, in Meta-States, and in personal development.