Wayne Woods – author of Martial Arts for the Soul

Wayne Woods is a highly experienced psychometrist and psychotherapist. He holds a Master’s in Counseling/Psychology and a doctorate from Florida Southeastern University. He studied at Harvard and Oxford University as a postgraduate. As well as having many years of practical experience of therapy, he was the Academic Dean at Northeast Alabama College from 1983 – 2008.

Martial Arts for the Soul

Published: 15th December 2011
Have you got a difficult relative or a friend whom you just can’t avoid? Do you wonder why you seem to attract the wrong sort of people?

Martial Arts for the Soul takes a close look at common forms of mental illness, examining the behaviour of neurotics, hypochondriacs, psychopaths, controlling personalities, dysfunctional families and more.

Packed with fascinating case studies and thoughtful advice, this book is suitable for anyone with an interest in counseling, or anyone seeking to solve a stubborn relationship problem. Students and practitioners will find it a very valuable read too.

Reviews

Reviewed by William F. Cass, Author/Editor. Harnessing Creative Power, The Last Flight of Liberator 41-1133, Alaska’s Father Goose, Carry On!

Wayne Woods shares with us the remarkable wisdom he has gained in over forty years as an educator and psychologist in both private practice and clinical settings. This is not a dry textbook; rather it is a penetrating look at ourselves and those around us we go through life and experience its many ups and downs. Through a series of mini-case histories, in which only names have been changed to protect client confidentiality, Dr. Woods explores personality, anxiety, happiness, disorders (the psychopath and the neurotic among them), and more in a style which is crisp and fast-moving. Best of all, the book is chocked-full of insights that we can all use in everyday life.

Reviewed by Kent Horner, PhD:

Martial Arts for the Soul, by Dr. Wayne Woods, presents his evaluation on the spectrum of the human condition–normal and abnormal. Dr. Woods’ conclusions are drawn from his time and efforts spent in the psychological, academic, and business professions.

Reviewed by Cathie Crow:

Both helpful and entertaining, “Martial Arts for the Soul”, gave me guidance and direction for my own “great adventure” and wisdom and insight into the personalities of friends and relatives!

Reviewed by Libby Hamm:

Martial Arts for the Soul, by Dr. Wayne Woods is very interesting reading. It has information about people Dr. Woods has counseled and/or taught, and how he has learned to deal with these people’s mental health problems. It also gave me a lot of insight into why some people might act the way they do. Congratulations, Dr. Woods, on a job well done.

Reviewed by Edie Bishop:

This was a very interesting read.  This book contains a wide scope of personalities and cultures that provide an insight for everyone.

Excerpt from Martial Arts for the Soul

Copyright Wayne Woods 2011

from Chapter III: The Neurotics

The lion is not so fierce as they paint him.
– George Herbert

The neurotic individual will probably not cause us lasting psychological or physical harm. They simply annoy us. Sometimes their personalities are like Felix Ungar in the movie The Odd Couple, who is obsessive-compulsively engaged in constant cleaning, much to the annoyance of his roommate, Oscar.

However, if the neurotic personality is extreme, this person will cause severe problems for those obligated to them. In some cases, they even cause divorces in their families. I will explain why this can happen later in the chapter. The neurotic is not going to change unless they receive a great deal of help; however, they will probably avoid this at all cost. Most psychologists are concerned with both diagnoses and treatment of the patient. We will be paying attention to the family members, teachers, counselors and others who must deal with a neurotic individual in their lives.

I made a mistake while teaching a psychology class one morning. I described in detail the characteristics of someone suffering from Hypochondriasis. A hand went up in the middle of the class. A young lady asked the very logical question, “What do you do if you know someone who has this condition?” I thought her question came from a non-personal viewpoint. So I gave her a flippant however correct answer. “You avoid them like the plague.” Her response, “But … that is my mother!” At this point the worst word in the English language escaped my lips. “Whoops.” (Nothing good can come from that word. Your little brother is in the kitchen holding his great-grandmother’s antique churn. He is looking at it and wondering how it worked to make the butter and cream he heard his father talk about so fondly. You are in another room and hear him say “Whoops.” Not a good word.)

Rather than dealing with treatment, I want to deal with how neurotic personalities impact on us. Each neurosis will affect us whether we want it to or not, because we must react to their condition. The closer we are tied to these people, the more we are drawn into their world – which can make our own world dysfunctional.

Buying Martial Arts for the Soul

You can purchase the ebook Martial Arts for the Soul straight from Espresso Books for $4.99. This includes electronic editions of the book in .pdf, .epub and .mobi formats (compatible with all ebook readers). A .pdf file can be read on your computer.

You can also purchase Martial Arts for the Soul direct from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk if you prefer a Kindle-specific format. (Note, though, that our .mobi files can be easily read on a Kindle.)

Buy Martial Arts for the Soul from Amazon.com

Buy Martial Arts for the Soul from Amazon.co.uk