Daniel A. Bochner, Ph.D.

"The field of psychotherapy often seems like a bunch of mumbo jumbo to those outside the profession. Few in the profession share the knowledge of psychotherapy as clearly, concisely, and helpfully as Dr. Dan Bochner achieves in his new book, The Emotional Toolbox: A Manual for Mental Health. As a colleague and friend of Dr. Bochner for many years, I am truly impressed by his effectiveness in working with individual clients, couples, and families. Dr. Bochner offers his unique and fresh perspectives in this Manual in a readable, accessible, fashion that makes them immediately useful, almost as if the reader had visited for a private consultation. He covers essential, yet wide-ranging, topics such as breathing well for relaxation and behavior management for acting out children. But he also delves into the more philosophical aspects of psychotherapy such as why people choose more strict or lenient approaches to parenting, or how one’s past can be overcome to free one for a better future. This book covers most of the topics a patient might bring to psychotherapy and can serve as a basic introduction to psychotherapy for both professionals and those in need of treatment. I strongly recommend Dr. Bochner’s Emotional Toolbox to anyone involved in the field of psychotherapy including students, professional practitioners, and those who might participate in psychotherapy services. Dr. Bochner’s Emotional Toolbox: A Manual for Mental Health is the essential text examining the common topics of psychological treatment; simply put, the book is where the rubber meets the road for the field of psychotherapy."

– Daniel B. Nagelberg, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist, Savannah, Georgia.

"I have known Dr. Dan Bochner for many years and I have never ceased to be impressed with his unique combination of knowledge and simplicity in explanation. There is no other clinician I know who is capable of so freshly and plainly explaining the deep and poignant, and often painful, problems of human existence and psychology. In Dr. Bochner’s new work, The Emotional Toolbox, every reader will discover new approaches to the struggles we all encounter. Dr. Bochner organizes his work into sections for individuals, couples, families, and the diagnoses most typically affecting peoples’ lives, but connects all these levels by explaining how human relationships exist within a balance and within one big, inextricably interwoven, system. No matter who you are, regardless of how your particular problems are affecting your life, you will find this Manual for Mental Health invaluable in gaining understanding of yourself and others. As Dr. Bochner might phrase it in his Emotional Toolbox, this Manual will help you see your part in the larger machine of life, and in helping yourself you can make your relationships, and the entire "great life machine," work just that much better."

– George "Woods" Miller, Psy.D., Psychologist, Savannah, Georgia.

"Dr. Bochner’s Emotional Toolbox is both encyclopedic and informative, bringing a fresh and accessible perspective to the commonest issues in psychotherapy and mental health problems. I especially appreciate Dr. Bochner’s article "From Id to Family System" which explains his "Relational Systems Theory" (originally introduced in his first book) at a level readily understood by anyone interested in psychology or psychotherapy. As a psychiatrist, I also appreciate Dr. Bochner’s functional descriptions of various diagnoses. Dr. Bochner helps his reader develop an understanding of how and why particular diagnostic patterns develop, and how these diagnoses influence, and are influenced by, relationships. Dr. Bochner’s Emotional Toolbox is a Manual practitioners and their clients should read."

--Arthur D. Colman, M.D., Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, U.C. Medical Center, San Francisco; Author of five books on the human life-cycle,      scapegoating, and healing; depth analyst and member of the C.G. Jung Institute in San Francisco.

"Human relationships are complicated, and the emotional toolbox that Dr. Bochner presents in his wonderful new book is an essential, informative and enlightening demonstration of his extraordinary clinical skills. The critical element here is that he is able to develop a conversation with the reader that is both educational and entertaining. This is an excellent book, which is full of wisdom and non-judgmental, sound recommendations; all in a format full of information, as well as nuance and feeling. It is as if he is there with you, giving comfort, as he guides you with his narrative voice offering you the tools and the blueprints to understand yourself and those around you."

--Robert C. Rollings, M.D., Cardiologist, Savannah, Georgia.

"Dr. Dan Bochner brings a uniquely practical view to the human psyche and now he is offering that singular vision in his new book, The Emotional Toolbox: A Manual for Mental Health. For the last decade I’ve watched Dr. Bochner work with my patients, struggling with all manner of anger, depression, anxiety and inattention. Dr. Bochner helps even the most resistant find insight into themselves, and helps their parents see how their child is attempting to cope with the stresses of life. Few can inspire insight like Dr. Bochner, and now that he has created a compendium of methods to find that understanding, I would highly recommend that anyone interested in comprehending their own or their childrens’ behavior read Dr. Bochner’s Emotional Toolbox."

--Keith M. Seibert, M.D., MBA, FAAP, Chairman, Department of Pediatrics, SouthCoast Medical Group, Savannah, GA