The Secret to Mental Health

An Operating Manual for the Human Mind

By: George Pransky

Narrated by: Mitch Weissman

Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

What if nothing is wrong with you but instead you have been living under the greatest misunderstanding of life...how your mind works? In this down to earth, easy to digest book, you will hear the story of Dr. George Pransky and how one meeting with one person, showed him a new discovery about psychology that not only changed his life but the thousands of clients he has worked with over the last forty years. Through personal stories and client vignettes, the listener can learn of a profound way to understand our minds to help all of us live with more ease and peace in our lives.

"In 1976 I met a person who completely changed my life. I was a practicing psychologist and felt discouraged at the progress my clients were making. I learned of a new understanding to help people live a more harmonious life. Since then, this approach is now being taught by hundreds of practitioners around the globe." -Author George Pransky, Ph.D.

©2024 George Pransky, Ph.D. (P)2023 George Pransky, Ph.D.

The hope revealed in this inside out understanding is priceless.

Dr. Pransky 's In depth understanding and testing of this thought system over the years as a psychologist are major contributions to the world of psychology. Whether you are familiar with this thought system paradigm or just gaining clarity now, I highly recommend you delve into this book. It will stick with you and you will want to share it.

Amazing book

I throughly enjoyed this book! I am a huge fan of Sydney banks and am so happy to see people write about how they use and practice the principles

A brilliant book that may awaken a new way of effectively, helping others, or helping yourself to a happy and joyful life.

I have known George Pransky for 52 years, since 1972 while I was completing my internship in Clinical Psychology at Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute and studying under John Enright at the Gestalt Institute. John and George and I became friends, colleagues and even partners for a brief time before John and George met Syd Banks and George soon embarked on his new practice guided by the three principles of life that he learned through his own epiphanies stimulated by Syd. But this is the first book I have read, written by George. George was always one of the warmest and most open people I have ever lnown and a brilliant teacher. His book manifests all of those qualities.

The Secret of Mental Health will most easily connect with mental health professionals and appears to be targeted primarily to that audience because it describes, as best as words can describe the principles which underlay George’s astonishingly successful methods for helping people who feel unhappy in life or who have been diagnosed with mental ‘disorders’. In contrast to the typically painful, sometimes tedious, and often lengthy process of psychotherapy, George describes for practitioners his methods for helping others in a process that is entirely joyful, intriguing, and rapid. His approach to helping others, which he attributes primarily to what he learned through Sydney Banks has now spread to many, many practitioners in many parts of the country. His book explains his methods and the three principles of life which underlie his approach to ‘healing’.

What George describes is a completely unscientific approach to awakening mental health in people; and therein lies its power and promise. I began my collegiate studies as a chemistry/physics major and transitioned to study human psychology under what was then called the scientist practitioner model. I obtained my Ph.D. at Vanderbilt University, known for its scientific approach to the training of psychologists. I have been awarded a Diplomate in Forensic Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. I have a law degree and practiced law in areas which heavily relied on contested scientific and medical science evidence. I understand and appreciate the scientific model and its ability to describe the workings of the universe, including to a limited extent human behavior. I also experienced the utter failure of the scientific approach as a method of helping people to be happy and mentally healthy. Indeed, the scientific method is a logical trap which blocks the path to finding mental health and happiness. The premise of the traditional scientific approach is to describe and predict the condition, movement, or behavior of an object by explaining those states as a result of forces or conditions external to the object. Free will has no role in the scientific approach. In predicting the path of a rocket through the application of Newtonian physics, no scientist would feel that an explanation that included “well, the rocket chose to go that way” was in any way scientific. But the external forces model imbedded in science, at least when applied to animate ‘objects’ like us humans, imposes a logical ‘helplessness’ on the object. And when people apply this scientific way of thinking – which George describes as “outside - in” – a person will experience no ability to guide himself or herself toward mental health and happiness.
In this book George explains the inside-out approach imbedded in his methods of coaching clients on the three principles of life, the full awareness of which reawakens naturally the innate happiness and joyful experience of life instinctive to all humans.

The Secret of Mental Health does not promote a cult or religion, but in it George does describe a contagious view of life and the human mind that is deeply spiritual and positive. But his description of the path to health through an awakening to the three principles involves no necessary rituals, subordination to authority, or group membership. Indeed, George’s use of the word “secret” in the title of the book is more of a ‘tease’ to read the book which describes what is ultimately an entirely heuristic process. He does not claim to own a secret formula that you get from him. George clearly articulates the three principles of life in a language and metaphoric style that will resonate with modern humans, especially those educated in psychology and psychiatry. But these principles have been discovered by some of the most salient philosophers, prophets, and spiritual gurus in human history. George brilliantly articulates the wisdom of the ages in a way that applies to helping others to be mentally healthy. The book will be most helpful for those who are so sincerely devoted to helping others who are suffering through life but have discovered the tools they were taught in school and their training are not effective in achieving their humanitarian goals.

The Secret of Mental Health is not written as a self-help book, but it could be one of the most helpful books ever read by those who feel unhappy or mentally unhealthy in life. The communication media of a book lacks the direct human contact by a joyful, happy person who deeply experiences the three principles of life – which George describes as the engine behind his helping approach. On the other hand, all the principles of life which awaken the innate human health and happiness in every person are described in this book. And, as George himself reports and illustrates in some vignettes, the potential for a life-changing awareness and awakening to mental health lies within all of us when we realize the illusions of thought and the reality and availability of a joyful, caring, and peaceful life.

Frank E. Dougherty, J.D., Ph.D., A.B.P.P.

A Wonderful Book - with lifetime value

A superb dive into the future of psychology by an inspiring teacher. Thoughtfully written. 5 stars.

great writing

this is one of the best books. it explains so much and it's obvious the psychologist really wants to help the average person in this time an era.

Great resource!

The information in this book makes the freedom and the peace that already exists within all human beings very visible. This brings hope alive when we are lost, helping us relax into who we are as we realize the power of thought in the moment.