Life throws a lot of unexpected and unpleasant things at us. Many people just struggle on, but others find someone to talk to, someone like Stephen Joseph, who, as a therapist, is trained to listen to their concerns. They turn up with problems - failing relationships, stalled careers, conflicts, feelings of upset - that all seem very real to them in the moment. They may say they just want to ''get back to normal'' or ''get back on track''. But sometimes the truth is that things have changed too much to go back. More than that, they come to realise that their life wasn''t really on track in the first place. Getting on track now means something much bigger.

Over months, or years, Joseph works with his clients to peel away the layers and find something deeper behind their discontents and identify new understandings of what really matters. These revelations often seem to come out of the blue - lightbulb moments in which people suddenly gain a new perspective on how to lead their lives. In this new book, Joseph shares the most important of these realisations: the six ways in which we can begin to see ourselves and the world anew, without distortion, and embark on a road to personal growth and a more emotionally mature life.

These are often hard-earned lessons that come at great cost, such as illness or bereavement. But, Joseph says, with an open mind, at the right time, such lessons can be learned by anyone. Drawing on his work over three decades as a psychologist, psychotherapist, university professor and researcher, he distils this vital knowledge for general readers and reveals how the secrets of enduring change are available to us all.