Why Good People Make Bad Choices:
  How You Can Develop Peace of Mind Through Integrity
Author:  Charles Lawrence Allen
Publisher:  Loving Healing Press
ISBN:  978-1-932690-25-5

This book is a part of Loving Healing Press' New Horizons In Therapy Series, an excellent and diverse series of self help/personal growth books utilizing a wide array of new techniques and ground breaking works in the field of psychology.

Charles L. Allen takes a look at the how and why of the thought processes that lead us to make both and bad choices and decisions.  We all do things we know aren't the right choices for us.  We may even think we truly want to make better decisions and we may really make attempts to change.  A part of us fights the urge to make those healthier decisions or changes for the better.

The author's premise is that how we make decisions is based on our personal ego.  Our ego has an agenda of it's own and that agenda isn't always in our best interests.  We need to learn the psychological functioning of our ego and how to overcome or control it.  The first thing needed to make changes involves thought and personal reflection.  We need to decide just what our priorities and our personal belief system consists of.  To resolve issues by a personal belief system creates personal integrity and responsibility.

This author does an outstanding job explaining integrity and how to figure out your personal value system.  Each chapter contains great, helpful exercises to assist  you on your way.  With topics including danger, fear of change and intimacy, handling happiness and more.  Several appendixes offer additional assistance to work through discovering personal ethics and values, case studies, a self image inventory, an extensive bibliography and very comprehensive index.

While the book is written at an adult level, I think it wouuld also work great as a guidebook for parents helping kids develop a personal value system.  Additionally, counselors/therapists will find it invaluable for working with clients.  Outstanding reference!

Reviewed on 08/01/2010 by ReviewTheBook.com Member LAURI COATES

This book will help you learn a lot about your ego, how it develops and what you can do to change it if you need to, and why you choose to do things that you should not do.  This is definitely a thought provoking  and you need to take time to read and apply the principles of the  book.  I think it would be geared towards people in the field of psychology and they could use with their clients or others interested in the mechanics of your ego and personality.    I think it would be a great book for a group discussion or a seminar for those interested in psychology.  I think a therapy group or a leader to discuss each topic with be very helpful in using this book. 

The book contains alot of interesting suggestions and will show you how to understand your anger , other emotions  and recognize more options to than to reacting foolishly to anger or other emotions. It will help you understand how outside forces can make up your values unless you consciously make an effort to determine your ego, your values and morals.  It will assist you in making good choices and if you made bad choices in the past,  you can learn to change your ego and values and then begin to make good choices.


This book will help you understand more about your ego and why you make the choices you make.  You will learn how to create a positive self image.  Having a positive self image and a good set of values will assist in a healthy lifestyle and choices you might make.  If you follow the suggestions you can also learn how to understand different emotions.  In the back of the book there is a participant guide to help you ask yourself many questions and you could also make a journal and to help you study throughout this helpful book.

Overall,  I would recommend this to professionals and students in the psychology field.  I would also recommend it to people who continually make bad choices and want to change. It might help you to understand bad choices that your spouse or children are making.  It can provide answers in understanding your personality and how ego plays a very important role of our actions and decisions.  I think it could be used as a therapy to understand why you do the things you do and how you are able to make choices and choose your values and therefore change your  actions that you are unhappy about.  Its all about you control you and you must make an effort and be conscious of your values and your choices. 

Reviewed on 11/17/2009 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Kim Beldowski