Review of “The Power of Wholeness” by Dr. Verlaine Crawford

Score: 95/100 (9.5 out of 10)

The Power of Wholeness is an excellent self-help book by Dr. Verlaine Crawford. It combines strategies akin to self-affirmation, self-actualization, positive thinking, and mindfulness. There are also other interesting strategies presented in her like pursuing “wholeness” by satisfying the four cornerstones of your being, looking at the big picture or gaining a new perspective on things that seem negative, trusting and becoming in tune with you intuition, and the “infusion integration process.”

This might be considered the “Queen of Self-Help Books” in the same way that the “Stress Book” by Dr. Terrence Foster was the “King.”

Ironically, we had just read a similar self-help book titled “Teens' Guide to Making Friends” by Kev Chilton which tackled some of the same issues, ideas, and conflicts, but targeted to young people and teens. These two books differ in other ways. For example, Chilton had taken the perspective of not being pressured by peers into fitting into a mold, ignoring negativity and criticism and being yourself. While Crawford still takes the perspective that you should love yourself and be your own unique being, she takes the perspective that negativity, criticism, and peer pressure actually have their place.

Now, before you get turned way by this perspective, she has a point. Constructive criticism exists, after all, and so does tough love. Sometimes we need someone to tell us bluntly that we're screwing up so that we can improve.

Crawford actually takes the fascinating perspective that what we perceive as negativity, criticism, judgment, and even bullying by others might actually be an outward reflection of our own internal thoughts and conflicts. Maybe there is a part of us that feels we've failed in one way or another. Maybe there is a part of us that feels insecure about something. Rather than dismissing and ignoring these things, Crawford encourages us to be mindful of them and to use them as fuel (and information) to improve ourselves. Maybe it's not about being “right” or “wrong” but from learning from the perspectives and experiences of others (yes, even negative people) to better our own ideas and beliefs.

The author reminds us to constantly ask the question: “What is this doing for me?” or “What are you doing for me?” Is this idea, belief, argument, or person helping us or hurting us? Is it teaching us something or is it holding us back?

This book presents the concept of the “four cornerstones” of our whole being: health, wealth, love, and self-expression. At the center of these four cornerstones is intuition. The author takes the perspective that intuition overlaps with all of the cornerstones, influencing multiple aspects of our lives, and that becoming in tune with it can help us to improve in every aspect. Intuition is an almost supernatural or psychic force that warns us when something seems off or dangerous. Don't ignore it, become one with it.

Health is at the top of the cornerstones because without it, we have nothing. We are encouraged to take care of our bodies and minds with good food, exercise, adequate sleep, etc.

We are encouraged not to view wealth as “evil” or “corrupting” but to see it as a necessity and a potential source of good, such as being able to care for one's loved ones or afford food and shelter.

Love includes self-love because this book, like Chilton's, takes the perspective that we can only love people who first love themselves.

Self-expression is probably the most interesting because the author views creativity as a natural human trait that needs to be exercised and practiced. People are made to make things. People are made to put a message out into the world and to enrich the world.

Perhaps the most complex concept in this book is what's called the “infusion integration process.” In layman's terms, we interpreted this to be becoming in tune with your multiple voices, selves, and personalities which include multiple different ideas, beliefs, and perspectives. Rather than shutting one of them up, we can listen to their perspective and negotiate with them. This reminded us a lot of You Will Never Be Normal by Catherine Klatzker in which the author discussed the multiple different selves they wrestled with: an aggressive self, a doubting self, a naive self, etc. In The Power of Wholeness, the author takes the perspective that these selves exist for a reason. They exist to help and protect us along with our intuition. They often have good points and guide us along a better path.

The author also seems to take the perspective that a lot of illnesses and bad things in life are actually caused by a kind of negative thinking or self-fulfilling. Even something like cancer, the author argues, can be the result of one coping with trauma in a negative way or wanting to die. While we may not necessarily agree with this perspective, it is interesting, and phenomena like the placebo effect does seem to support this idea to an extent.

You can check this out on Amazon!