avoidant book

55th Amazon Review of Avoidant – “The Most Helpful Book I Have Read in My Entire Life.”

Avoidant: How to Love (or Leave) a Dismissive Partner has sold tens of thousands of copies since it was published two years ago. I am gratified by the number of people who have written me to tell me it helped them, and the thriving community at the Jeb Kinnison Attachment Type Forum which discusses attachment issues and helps people who have been injured.

Today’s really good Amazon review:

on September 25, 2016

 

This book literally changed my life. I am a woman and always had an attachment style that is sometimes fearful avoidant sometimes dismissive avoidant. Everything the author describes about avoidant people matches perfectly what I am, what I did or do and how I feel. I stumbled across other avoidants in my life and like the author says the relationships between me and other avoidants were always short lived because the “why bother” factor was just too much.

This book is priceless both for avoidants like me and for non avoidants. I think almost everyone in their life will happen to date some avoidants, especially if you are still single above 30. This book gives you the tools you need to exactly understand where you stand. It saves you so much pain. For me, it has helped understand why I always feel caged when in a relationship, why I never seem to find the right person despite being very attractive and extremely fit. Also it allowed me to understand how poor my communication is and how out of touch with my emotions I am.

Many of the men I dated told me I behave like a man. I always act like I don’t give a damn about relationships (and in most cases I don’t give a damn for real). I could never figure out why they would say so and the book clarified that avoidants are more often men than women so now I also understand why my dates had that feeling that I behaved like a man.

I would seriously give this book 100 stars. So far I can honestly say it has been the most helpful book I have read in my entire life. I read many books about relationships but this went right to the core, the root reason, why my relationships were always disfunctional. As an avoidant, they were bound to be disfunctional because I made them so. Now with this awareness I think I can learn to be better and hopefully start a secure and mature relationship

“Avoidant”: Testimonial from an Avoidant

Avoidant: How to Love (or Leave) a Dismissive Partner

Avoidant: How to Love (or Leave) a Dismissive Partner

I get emails from people who have read the books commenting about how they apply them to their own issues. This one is heartfelt but free of any specific issues that could identify the author, so I can post it with my reply:

I have just finished “Avoidant” and wanted to say that I found it incredibly helpful and somewhat emotional. Truth is, I am an avoidant, or at least one in recovery. After ending a relationship (of course) I started to realize something was very wrong with me, but struggled to work out what the problem was. I am 42 and have a history littered with short term relationships — I am almost a cliche of an avoidant. After searching endlessly and getting a hint I had something of a fear of commitment, I finally started to find out about attachment theory which ultimately led to your book.

On finding out I had this problem I was initially devastated, not only because it made me confront the hurt I have caused, but also because there is little sympathy for people like me. We are cast, rightly so I guess, as the boyfriends to avoid, men who are troubled, broken, and unreliable with little hope. There is always a lot of help for those in relationships with avoidants, but very rarely any help or support for those like me who have the problem. At least in your book you detailed ways in which people like me can begin to change, so thank you for that.

I have been in therapy for 6 months now and am determined to change my ways as much as I possibly can. I’m very emotional writing this, so at least that must be a good sign that I’m in touch with my feelings 🙂

Anyway, I hope this email finds you well and thank you for an enlightening book. Hopefully, your words will help heal and change a lost, confused soul into one capable of being in a loving relationship.

My answer:

Thank you for the heartfelt letter. I really appreciate it when people tell me they’ve found my work helpful. You made my day….

My piece of advice for you is not to regret too much. You have recognized the problem and are working on it. Keep at it — 42 is still young, you have half a life left to experience being more in touch with your feelings. I know all too many edging on 60 who will never examine themselves.

Recognize that your defense mechanism of blocking negative feelings kept you from hurting, but also kept you from learning. Not being able to process those feelings left you less capable of making good decisions of all sorts.

The unblocked you will pick up skills rapidly and is more likely to succeed at everything, but especially at finding and keeping a good partner. No point in feeling bad about in some sense starting out anew at 42 — there will be somebody out there who was similarly trapped and just getting freed up.

Good luck with the work. Being able to absorb the book and write this means you are most of the way along!

Amazon link: Avoidant: How to Love (or Leave) a Dismissive Partner

Another Review: “Avoidant: How to Love (or Leave) a Dismissive Partner”

Avoidant: How to Love (or Leave) a Dismissive Partner

Avoidant: How to Love (or Leave) a Dismissive Partner

Avoidant: How to Love (or Leave) a Dismissive Partner got its second Amazon review a few hours after the first! Maybe the first reviewer suggested it for a friend? In any case, I love getting good reviews like this:

5.0 out of 5 stars If only this book came out sooner…
November 12, 2014
Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

This book saved my life. I’ve read nearly all the books out there on attachment theory — this one by far is one of the best. Similar to the previous review, I struggled for nearly a year in trying to understand why my relationship fell apart out of nowhere. It was the most painful and traumatic experience I ever had.

I’m grateful for Jeb Kinnison for writing this book and explaining in very clear, yet detailed terms, why avoidants act the way they do. The man I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with turned out to be a fearful avoidant. Up until reading this book I thought our breakup was entirely my fault. This book turned out to be the only thing that gave me answers and ultimately true comfort. I really enjoyed how the author went into describing the many scenarios and/or conversations that are common with dating an avoidant — many of which I experienced first hand. This book is legit — it’s the real deal. Save yourself from heartache and pain. Read it again and again. You’ll be happy you did when you finally end up in the healthy and everlasting relationship you deserve.

Review: “Avoidant: How to Love (or Leave) a Dismissive Partner”

Avoidant: How to Love (or Leave) a Dismissive Partner

Avoidant: How to Love (or Leave) a Dismissive Partner

Avoidant: How to Love (or Leave) a Dismissive Partner is selling well, about 200 copies in the month it’s been for sale, but I made no special effort to get people to review it–and not one of those 200 buyers did! Until today.

Apparently Amazon customers are no longer taking the time to review books–less than 1% do. This is bad, because Amazon reviews are one of the few indicators of quality left, and if there aren’t many, the ratings can easily be skewed by trolls who sadistically leave one-star reviews and trash your work.

Only a few newspapers and magazines still do book reviews, and those are almost entirely of the legacy-publisher-with-connections and PR variety. If a book becomes news itself after selling well, as 50 Shades of Grey and Wool did, then it will get coverage, otherwise not.

I was very pleased with this reader’s review:

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars easy to understand November 12, 2014
By Twixt
Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

I found this book to be tremendously helpful. It provided a level of insight into the dynamics of my relationship after nearly a year of struggling to find answers from my partner about behavior I found unsettling. At some point in my struggle I arrived at the word ‘dismissive’ in my google searches, and this book came onto my desk.

The subject matter is in depth, easy to understand, and provides an objective matter-of-fact perspective on what is certainly one of the foundations interpersonal dynamics. I strongly suggest this book for anyone that is struggling to find understanding and clarity in an otherwise confusing and/or frustrating relationship … especially one that seems to be conflicting, hypocritical and misleading. It’ll help you understand what is going on, how to manage through it or how to move on.