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CONTROL FREAKS by Gerald W. Piaget

CONTROL FREAKS

Who They Are and How to Stop Them from Running Your Life

by Gerald W. Piaget

Pub Date: July 15th, 1991
ISBN: 0-385-41279-7
Publisher: Doubleday

Here, psychologist Piaget, a self-confessed ``control freak,'' offers some brisk and breezy advice on coping with those who ``have lost control of their urge to control.'' Control freaks and ``accommodators'' (those who respond to control freaks with automatic behavior) are analyzed and their methods explained. Boxed quizzes, bulleted and numbered lists, illustrative dialogues, and catchy headings stud the text, inducing the reader with a short attention span to stay the course. The controllers and accommodators presented in the frequent anecdotes (based on real people, according to Piaget) provide continuity, since many of the same individuals are used repeatedly in different contexts. End-of-chapter exercises are designed to increase one's options for dealing with control freaks, offering guidelines to recognizing their tactics and specific strategies for coping with them. The author's attitude is one of upbeat realism rather than unrealistic optimism: Here are some ideas for you to try; some may work for you at times and some may not; remember, it helps to have plenty of options; good luck! If there's a control freak in your life, Piaget has some ideas that may help you cope; then again, they may not.