What's So Bad About Guilt?: How Feeling Guilty—and Understanding Why—Can Help You Feel Better about Yourself and Others

Rabbi Wechsler distinguishes between good guilt (when we've transgressed) and bad (when we blame ourselves unjustifiably), defining the feeling as both an emotional response and a rational judgment. His word for change, “repentance,” may seem old-fashioned, but he backs up the five steps toward this goal with wide-ranging examples, from the mundane to the cosmic.