All You Need is HART!: Create Love, Joy And Abundance - Now!

Helene Rothschild
Robert D. Reed Publishers (2006)
ISBN 9781931741729
Reviewed by Louise Bickley for Reader Views (12/06)


The author’s main point is that “you can create love, joy and abundance now.” The way to do this is through applying the principles of HART—holistic and rapid transformation. Ms. Rothschild is obviously a knowledgeable contemporary therapist with a thorough grasp of the principles of cognitive therapy. Her invention of the HART method is catchy and holds the potential for some memorable concepts that can endure in the minds of her readers.

I loved the two metaphors linking HART to a house with three levels and also the sick tree. The house model illustrated beautifully Freud’s three levels of consciousness. Something else I like about Ms. Rothschild’s writing is that she takes complex, technical concepts and translates them into clear language for the lay person. I believe her book is especially useful to beginners on the journey toward better emotional and mental health.

One nugget of gold that caught my fancy was the author’s suggestion (page 115) that children be given classes in problem solving from first grade up. I hope she writes a whole book on this subject for parents and schools to use.

Some suggestions that could have perhaps made this book even better are the following:

 • I wish she had done more with the house metaphor throughout the book.

 • I would have liked to see more connections throughout referring back to HART and how it is being applied. As it is, I had to keep going back to where she first outlined its meaning and asking how this related to that.

• The book contains enough material for three or four individual books. At times I felt overwhelmed with too much information and lengthy, tedious lists. For better or for worse, modern readers expect briefer presentations—short bulleted or bordered lists, for example.

I believe that Ms. Rothschild has much to share with a world hungry for her expertise. I see within this one book, “All You Need is HART!” another three or four books. Two such publications could be one expanding upon the house metaphor and another on problem solving skills for children. I look forward to seeing more of her works in the future.

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