{"product_id":"sham-how-the-self-help-movement-made-america-helpless-paperback","title":"Sham: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eSteve Salerno\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSelf-help: To millions of Americans it seems like a godsend. To many others it seems like a joke. But as investigative reporter Steve Salerno reveals in this groundbreaking book, it's neither--in fact it's much worse than a joke. Going deep inside the Self-Help and Actualization Movement (fittingly, the words form the acronym SHAM), Salerno offers the first serious expos  of this multibillion-dollar industry and the real damage it is doing--not just to its paying customers, but to all of American society. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBased on the author's extensive reporting--and the inside look at the industry he got while working at a leading \"lifestyle\" publisher--\u003ci\u003eSHAM\u003c\/i\u003e shows how thinly credentialed \"experts\" now dispense advice on everything from mental health to relationships to diet to personal finance to business strategy. Americans spend upward of $8 billion every year on self-help programs and products. And those staggering financial costs are actually the least of our worries. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eSHAM\u003c\/i\u003e demonstrates how the self-help movement's core philosophies have infected virtually every aspect of American life--the home, the workplace, the schools, and more. And Salerno exposes the downside of being uplifted, showing how the \"empowering\" message that dominates self-help today proves just as damaging as the blame-shifting rhetoric of self-help's \"Recovery\" movement. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eSHAM\u003c\/i\u003e also reveals: \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e- How self-help gurus conduct extensive market research to reach the same customers over and over--without ever helping them \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e- The inside story on the most notorious gurus--from Dr. Phil to Dr. Laura, from Tony Robbins to John Gray \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e- How your company might be wasting money on motivational speakers, \"executive coaches,\" and other quick fixes that often hurt quality, productivity, and morale \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e- How the Recovery movement has eradicated notions of personal responsibility by labeling just about anything--from drug abuse to \"sex addiction\" to shoplifting--a dysfunction or disease \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e- How Americans blindly accept that twelve-step programs offer the only hope of treating addiction, when in fact these programs can do more harm than good \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e- How the self-help movement inspired the disastrous emphasis on self-esteem in our schools \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e- How self-help rhetoric has pushed people away from proven medical treatments by persuading them that they can cure themselves through sheer application of will \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs Salerno shows, to describe self-help as a waste of time and money vastly understates its collateral damage. And with \u003ci\u003eSHAM\u003c\/i\u003e, the self-help industry has finally been called to account for the damage it has done. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlso available as an eBook\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor the past two decades, Steve Salerno has been a freelance feature writer, essayist, and investigative reporter, writing on business, sports, and politics, and their wider social ramifications. His articles have appeared in \u003ci\u003eHarper's\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eEsquire, Playboy, Reader's Digest\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times, Good Housekeeping\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eSports Illustrated\u003c\/i\u003e, among other publications. He has also served as editor in chief of \u003ci\u003eAmerican Legion\u003c\/i\u003e magazine and as editor of the books program associated with \u003ci\u003eMen's Health\u003c\/i\u003e magazine. In addition, Salerno has been a visiting professor of journalism and nonfiction writing at three colleges. An accomplished musician, he lives in Pennsylvania.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 288\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.64 x 8.04 x 5.3 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 26, 2006\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51749655478560,"sku":"9781400054107","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/c19f60fc1238f6a9896f6b5428bb8711.webp?v=1779935681","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/sham-how-the-self-help-movement-made-america-helpless-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}