Eric Maisel

Eric Maisel (born 1947) is an American psychotherapist, teacher, coach, author and atheist. His books include Fearless Creating, The Van Gogh Blues (2002), Coaching the Artist Within (2005), and The Atheist's Way (2009).

Biography Eric Maisel was born in the Bronx, and grew up in Brooklyn.

Maisel is a columnist for Professional Artist magazine and a featured contributor to Psychology Today. His books include "Rethinking Depression," “Mastering Creative Anxiety," "Creative Recovery," "A Writer’s San Francisco," and "A Writer’s Paris". He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his family.

Maisel is the author of more than 40 books and a creativity coach. He trains creativity coaches and provides training for the Creativity Coaching Association.

Mental health In his 2012 book Rethinking Depression: How to Shed Mental Health Labels and Create Personal Meaning, Maisel rejects the idea that a case has been made for the existence of the “mental disorder of depression,” given the weakness of the construct “mental disorder,” the insufficiency of diagnosing on the basis of symptom pictures alone, and the reasonableness of supposing that what we are seeing is profound sadness instead; and presents an “updated existential program” for dealing with "profound sadness".

Atheism A lifelong atheist, Maisel described in his 2009 book The Atheist's Way: Living Well Without Gods how individuals can negotiate the paradigm shift from seeking meaning (in religion, spiritual pursuits, or anywhere else) to making meaning.

Books Dismay Maya Press, 1982 The Blackbirds of Mulhouse Maya Press, 1984 The Fretful Dancer Aegina Press, 1988 Staying Sane in the Arts Tarcher/Penguin, 1992 Artists Speak Harper San Francisco, 1993 Fearless Creating Tarcher/Penguin, 1995 Affirmations for Artists Tarcher/Penguin, 1996 Living the Writer's Life Watson-Guptill, 1999 Deep Writing Tarcher/Penguin, 1999 The Creativity Book Tarcher/Penguin, 2000 20 Communication Tips for Families New World Library, 2000 Sleep Thinking Adams Media, 2000 20 Communication Tips at Work New World Library, 2001 The Van Gogh Blues Rodale, 2002 Write Mind Tarcher/Penguin, 2002 The Art of the Book Proposal Tarcher/Penguin 2004 Writers and Artists on Love New World Library, 2004 Writers and Artists on Devotion New World Library, 2004 Performance Anxiety Back Stage Books, 2005 Coaching the Artist Within New World Library, 2005 A Writer's Paris Writer's Digest Books, 2005 A Writer's San Francisco New World Library, 2006 What Would your Character do? Writer's Digest Books, 2006*Toxic Criticism McGraw-Hill, 2007 Ten Zen Seconds Sourcebooks, 2007 Creativity for Life New World Library, 2007 Everyday You Conari, 2007 Creative Recovery Shambhala Publications, 2008 A Writer's Space Adam's Media, 2009

Murder in Berlin Singingwood Press, 2011 Become a Creativity Coach Now Singingwood Press, 2011