Carrie Barron - The Creativity Cure: A Do-It-Yourself Prescription for Happiness

A DO-IT-YOURSELF PRESCRIPTION

IN THEIR INSIGHTFUL BOOK , wife-and-husband physicians Carrie and Alton Barron present an innovative, highly achievable five-part plan to unleash happiness and alleviate depression and anxiety by tapping into creative potential.

A gifted psychiatrist and a premier hand surgeon, Carrie and Alton Barron draw upon the latest psychological research, a combined forty years of medical practice, and personal experience to demonstrate how creative action is integral to long-term happiness and well-being. The Five-Part Prescription for the Creativity CureInsight, Movement, Mind Rest, Your Own Two Hands, and Mind Shiftleads the way to a more meaningful, fulfilling life by simultaneously developing self-understanding and self-expression. With the Barrons detailed tools and strategies for cultivating creative outlets, overcoming unconscious fears and barriers to happiness, and linking internal thought to external action, readers will build the mind-set and habits necessary for happiness and positive change. They will experienceand learn how to sustainthe deep satisfaction that accompanies creating something by hand.

The perfect self-help book for our handmade, homemade, crafting culture, The Creativity Cure has a simple yet profoundly inspirational message: that you can find the authentic, contented life you crave by taking happiness into your own two hands.

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR

THE CREATIVITY CURE

The Creativity Cure is a most welcome addition to the literature on personal and relationship transformation. From working with several thousand couples over the years, Kathlyn and I have become strong proponents of creativity for the transformation of relationships. The same is true for personal transformation: creativity is often the missing piece, the absence of which has been sending distress signals in the form of anxiety and depression. The doctors Barron have done a marvelous job in bringing this often-hidden factor to light. I highly recommend that you read this book. GAY HENDRICKS, PhD , author of Conscious Living and coauthor with Dr. Kathlyn Hendricks of Conscious Loving

The Creativity Cure rocks! The Barrons have written a prescription for happiness. Follow the doctors orders and you cant help but feel better. PETER CRISS , founding member of KISS and author of Makeup to Breakup

The Barrons have outlined a clear and achievable step-by-step process that allows anyone to not only heal but to unlock their individual road map for a powerful, happy, and fulfilling life. BOB WOODRUFF , ABC News correspondent and author of In an Instant

CARRIE BARRON, MD , is a board-certified psychiatrist/psychoanalyst on the faculty of the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and also has a private practice in New York City. She has published in peer-reviewed journals, won several academic awards, and presented original works related to creativity and self-expression at national meetings of the American Psychoanalytic Association.

ALTON BARRON, MD , is a board-certified ortho-pedic surgeon and is currently the president of the New York Society for Surgery of the Hand. He has been a surgeon for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and Metropolitan Opera for more than a decade. Dr. Barron is a consultant for CBS and has appeared multiple times on the CBS Early Show . He has also written for the New York Times , has been listed annually since 2009 in the New York Times Magazine as one of the Super Docs, and has published extensively in multiple peer-reviewed journals and textbooks.

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COPYRIGHT 2012 SIMON & SCHUSTER

A Do-It-Yourself Prescription for Happiness

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Copyright 2012 by Carrie Barron and Alton Barron

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Designed by Ellen R. Sasahara

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012007163

ISBN 978-1-4516-3678-9

ISBN 978-1-4516-3680-2 (eBook)

For our children:

Chloe, Nicholas, and Caroline

And our parents:

Florence and Joseph L. Vigilante

Arlene and Jim Barron

Contents

F ROM THE TIME I was a small child I reveled in creativity, and therapy was a big part of the conversation in my housemy parents were both therapistsso this book, which combines the two, feels like a natural extension of the way I live, and have since I was a young girl.

Creativity was held in high regard in my entwined extended family. We were eight cousins, and several of the eldest, plus their significant others, were established artists. I was not among this elite, though I did sing for many years, but I enjoyed listening to them talk about the world of art and I always wanted to be a member of their club.

My fascination with psychological ideas and healing as well as creativity started early. When I was nine, I would pretend I was a therapist and act out treatment scenarios with ideas from the Ann Landers column. At twelve, I wanted to be a psychoanalyst because after two sessions with a child analyst, I felt a weight had been lifted off my shoulders as I left the room. She asked about what I liked to do, what my nighttime dreams were, and whether I would rather be seven or seventeen. After seeing her, I stopped getting into trouble and started getting good grades.