Illusion of Control
Published in the fall of 2008, The Illusion of Control takes practical tools Steve has been developing for use in his counseling practice and puts them in the hands of the reader. It is particularly helpful for those who tend to blame themselves whenever things don’t go 100% right, who are perfectionistic, and who are depressed with a profound sense of failure. It presents sound psychological and Biblical insights and is meant to be a clear and practical help.
Published by Crown Imperial Press, 76 pages.
Paperback
$14.00
Price Includes Shipping
For larger orders, please write to the following address
or call (651)-785-3920 today.
Illusion of Control
Crown Imperial Press
21211 Imperial Avenue North
Forest Lake, MN 55025
eBook
$5.00
Downloads of PDF or ePub files will be provided after checkout!
Steve spent many years working with Dr. William Backus. It was Dr. Backus who encouraged him to pursue licensure as a psychologist. During the years they worked together both in church and private practice, Dr. Backus was a major influence on Steve professionally and personally. Dr. Backus invited Steve to co-author the workbook for his book “Finding the Freedom of Self-Control”, written in 1987, which gave Steve a taste for both the enjoyment and the challenge of writing. Dr. Backus’ other books, including Telling Yourself the Truth, Learning to Tell Myself the Truth, and several others were foundational in the teaching material used in training volunteer counselors, and in the private practice at the Center for Christian Psychologic al Services, so Steve became very familiar with the material. Dr. Backus was one of the first to present Cognitive Behavioral counseling from a Christian perspective through these books. This approach became Steve’s primary counseling strategy in his own practice as well.
During his early years of practice, Steve found a particular subgroup of clients who struggled to give up a particularly difficult misbelief in their self-talk, namely, “I am the problem”. Steve encountered this misbelief, and the hopelessness it produced in clients, and discovered that for some, it was a very difficult misbelief to change. Working with a particular client, Steve developed a strategy for describing, understanding, and ultimately challenging this misbelief to help clients break the impasse in their self-talk. After using it in sessions for several years, he wrote the book “The Illusion of Control” in 2008, where he lays out the background work with his client, who has the pseudonym “Margie” in the book. He describes how, over several months, he was able to understand the power of the misbelief and develop strategies for helping her break out of the stubborn pattern of self-blame, anxiety and depression. Since then, many clients and others have found the book to be extremely helpful. It is written from a Christian, pastoral perspective and grounded in Cognitive Behavioral theory as well.
”Thank you Pastor Wiese for your helpful and insightful book. I could identify myself in Margie’s story and followed your instructions for evaluating my world view. I found myself in the middle of my own Illusion of Control. I too experienced a sense of hopelessness about many situations which I had tried to control. I placed an enormous load of guilt on myself for failing to control areas in which I only had influence or concern. This false guilt interfered with my ability to trust God’s love. Now I am reevaluating each situation of my life in terms of the truth model and finding more peace as I submit my efforts to God’s control. I am still amazed at what a burden I carried and how hard I strived to control the uncontrollable!
I believe everyone would benefit from reading your book. Many of my acquaintances suffer to one degree or another as I have. Similarly, when I worked with victims of spousal or parental abuse it was common for them to suffer under mistaken beliefs that their actions somehow controlled the abuser. In fact, it seems most people struggle to some extent because of efforts to control what they cannot. They need to read your clear and practical explanation of the truth model and your guidance on how they can submit their struggles to God.”
Grace Goodall, MSW, JD
What a Blessing Steve Wiese's book – Illusion of Control has been in my healing process. This book helped me to understand so many things about myself and the family I grew up in. My only wish is that this book would have been available at the beginning of my journey!! After reading Illusion of Control, I sent it to my brother and sister to read and they agreed that this book helped them to fit many of the pieces of thier lives together. Thanks Steve!
Sara Wienke, Cornerstone Bookstore
"This book is my most valuable resource to address the power and control pattern in relationships."