Embracing Envy Finding the Spiritual Treasure in Our Most Shameful Emotion [Hardcover]

A very interesting and valuable analysis of envy.This is one of the best books that I have ever read on any emotion, but envy especially. . . . Gressel covers a remarkable range of scholarly work on envy, from religious treatments, tough psychoanalytic ideas, to contemporary experimental work in social psychology. He weaves his consistently innovative analysis of these perspectives with well-chosen interviews with people who speak frankly about their experiences with envy. These interviews, as well as candid accounts of his own struggles with envy, help keep Gressels analysis grounded in the everyday world.An interesting book that offers an exploration of a universal emotion that has remained largely hidden from view! The author develops an original perspective on envy integrating thoughts by a large panel of authors coming from social sciences and humanities as well as clinical observations related to his activity as a psychologist. A living and personal essay one reads with pleasure.Embracing Envy features interviews with everyday people, reviews of mainstream psychological research, and lessons from wisdom literature that delve into how envy can be seen as meaningful and useful in our daily lives.Envy is a universal emotion, yet people are very reluctant to confess their envy of another. In Embracing Envy, Josh Gressel suggests it is our shame at admitting we feel inferior to another person that keeps envy so hidden. Through interviews with everyday people, reviews of mainstream psychological research, and lessons from wisdom literature, this book delves into how envy can be seen as meaningful and useful in our daily lives.Josh Gressel, PhD, is a clinical psychologist in private practice in the San Francisco Bay area and a student of Jewish mysticism. He is currently at work on a book about the role of projection in congregant-clergy relations.