Redirect Book Review

Timothy Wilson’s book, Redirect, is definitely a great read for those of us who are skeptical yet somehow intrigued by the self-help industry. Wilson provides an innovative theory which is “so crazy it just might work.” He debunked life fulfillment myths often propagated by the self-help industry and also provided in-depth explanations of how thought patterns are developed through four key scenarios: The first- semester college student who did poorly on their first exam, child abuse, teenage pregnancy, and group interaction which is meant to reduce conflicts and prejudice. The book’s major strength of the book is how clear Wilson explains how little time is required for some interventions that make very lasting changes in people´s behavior and outcomes. Wilson presents the material in a way in which scientific novices, like myself, can understand and appreciate the ideas he is trying to convey. He provides so many examples of the point he tries to make across and ties in everything to how it is possible to change a person’s narrative. A criticism I have of the book would be the section he expands on experimental designs and conditions. I saw it as a tangent on his behalf because it doesn’t exactly go along with “story editing”. Although, studies should be conducted in such ways explained by Wilson and it is extremely important to take into consideration because your life is an experiment in itself. Another would be the repetition of formatting he implemented throughout the book. First was a story, commonly tragic, that he then spoke about the routine processes following the incident, picks it apart, criticizes it and then shows how story editing/prompting could be used instead. The book itself made a contribution to our understanding of social psychology because Wilson popularizes the idea of positive thinking but adds his own spin to the age-old concept and showing how it could be integrated into “redirecting” our own personal narratives through new approaches