Judgment Detox by Gabrielle Bernstein

Judgment Detox Reviews

• 
  Monica Kim | Musings of Monica

  I’m upset! Where do I even start. First of all, I’ve read of all berstein’s book and not a fan per say, but somehow ended up riding along her popularity. Some of them are good, most of them not so good. And you guys, I love self-help, personal-development, and spirituality books, so I’ve read it all, heard it all. She’s certainly been through a lot and is brave for sharing her experiences, but I find that many of her teachings, ideas, and concepts are borrowed from others making it her own.
  .
  I’m gonna get to the point & keep it short before I write something I regret later. I try to be respectful of author’s work and certainly feel they should be rightly compensated for it; but to me, this book is just wrong. It should’nt have ended up in a book form, she should’ve kindly shared it in a blog or as an article. To put this in a book, sell an overused concept, without sharing much depth or research is also unfair to the readers & her fans.
  .
  Idea of the book is certainly great, especially in the time we’re living in, but nothing new, nothing interesting, nothing groundbreaking, but certainly could be useful to some people.
  .
  As someone considered as though-leader of our generation and under 30/40, she could’ve done better. We deserve better as readers who is also spending hard-earned money.
  .
  I never want to say don’t buy a book, but don’t buy this one. I can’t even believe that the editors didn’t say, we can’t publish this. Is this something worth the value? I am pissed of as an avid reader and someone who have supported her work that she thought this was deserving of our attention, money, and time. I am also pissed off at the publishers taking advantage of readers with a popular author. I’m not even going to donate this book, I don’t want it to get in the hands other people.
  .
  Namaste
• 
  Steve Sanders

  Bernstein dials back on the mysticism of her earlier works enough to make Judgment Detox accessible even to skeptics like me. The book provides a simple yet effective technique for identifying and eradicating resentment and its toxic effects from your day to day life.
  
  (Docked one star for the shout out she gives to Joel Osteen who this Houstonian isn’t yet enlightened enough to forgive for keeping his church closed during Harvey.)
• 
  Erin

  I had high hopes for this read. She lost me when she said the pain of the far right was the same as oppressed groups in the US. This book drips in a white privileged worldview and is eye roll worthy.
• 
  Kirk

  I couldn’t finish it. Right out of the pen the book started casting normal human behavior (from a social psychology perspective) as potentially “toxic.” There’s a certain degree of naiveté you have to have in order to approach this book. I guess you could say I failed the judgment detox.
  
  I’m okay with that 👌
• 
  Mandi

  There have been a couple of Gabby’s books which literally were life changing for me. This wasn’t one of them. The first half felt forced and I almost didn’t finish it. I’m glad that I did, because I did feel that some of the last chapters were helpful.
• 
  Melissa

  I cannot get into this book. It's written like a church sermon - lots of discussion of prayer examples and 'going into the light'. Also, her examples are ludicrous. She lost me completely at page 39 in her example of how you might judge academic know-it-alls because when you where in 6th grade, the smart popular boy you had a crush on told you that you were stupid. I shut the book at that point and will happily return it to the library, the remaining pages unread.
  
  I definitely could use a judgment detox but this is not the book to help me do it. For the record, I believe this is the 3rd book in my entire life that I could not bring myself to finish.
• 
  Jess Macallan

  I've read most of Gabby Bernstein's books, and Judgment Detox will satisfy readers who love her forthright but loving teaching style. And like her other books, it will challenge readers to face plenty of uncomfortable thoughts and moments with the ultimate goal of freeing them from that unnecessary emotional weight.
  
  What I like best about this book is that she clearly and thoughtfully takes readers through techniques to acknowledge and address the judgments that hold them hostage. The tools are simple, but the results are not. I admit I experienced plenty of resistance when I first made my list and worked through the exercises. I love that she included EFT scripts, and I found those and the daily meditation practices helpful. This book isn't meant to be a quick read, but it's worth the time you'll invest in it.
  
  I received an e-copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Rachel

  This was my first time reading a Gabby Bernstein book. I took a look at it because of all the hype surrounding her work these days! I felt that there were some inspiring lines and good prompts to create positive change and inner freedom. I appreciated the themes of recognizing the wounds at the core of our judgments, embracing forgiveness, seeing each other through the compassionate lens of common humanity, and surrendering control. The book was very new-agey, so the advice felt mostly like getting a little burst of soul inspo from a modern yoga class or a social influencer's Instagram feed. It is a positive piece with good intentions of helping others embrace freedom from inner judgment, but it isn't deeply researched or spiritually sound. I found some of the perspectives troubling. I tried to simply appreciate the book for what it was, take a few notes of inspiration from it, and then set it aside.
• 
  Katie

  Did not realize that so much of this would be about not judging those who voted differently than you in the 2016 election. Sorry, but if you have no regrets about voting for someone who allows kids to be held in deplorable conditions worse than prisons and separated from their parents, I'm going to judge the hell out of you. Also, Gabrielle cites some really questionable people- Joel Osteen, Wayne Dyer- so I think I'm done reading anything by her.
• 
  Tab Cipuzak

  Very repetitive and redundant. AND repetitive. AND redundant.
  
  And repetitive.
• 
  Jen Blau

  This book is more powerful than we know. It was too powerful for my brain earlier in the year. I set it down after listing my judgments in the first chapter, thinking “I just can’t do this right now.” Turns out, I wasn’t ready to let go of those judgments. They still felt justified to me.
  
  Two weeks ago and after a LOT of rough patches of life this year, I picked it up again wanting to Love over Hate. Note: I still felt like my judgments were justified, but I was WILLING to set a different intention.
  
  I’m in no way healed just because I read the book and used the tools. I’m ARMED. And that is our best defense in life.
  
  Because of Gabby’s work, I feel a little better and I know that love and truth is the Real Answer to a life that feels good. I’m willing to work in that direction.
• 
  Peg Samuel

  The concept of judgement holding us back is thought-provoking, Gabby makes it relatable & easy to understand giving a toolbox full of actionable directions to guide us back to a joyful & serene existence.
• 
  Richard Haynes

  Read the book, my new mantra is "Today I will judge nothing that occurs". Off to a good start. Thanks.
• 
  Kathryn

  A relatable, unexpectedly relevant follow up to ‘A New Earth;’ which I finished a few weeks back. I’m so glad I found this gem. I loved Eckhart Tolle’s wisdom, but putting things into practice on a relatable level is something this book guides you through with simplicity and approachability. As I stumbled through Gabby’s 6 steps of judgement detox, I could almost instantly feel the freedom associated with forgiveness, which was much needed. There was some intense underlying emotional issues I had buried waiting for me as I took Bernstein’s advice in trying to clear away some past grievances. I will continue to work on them based on her Rx, and I can’t wait until I finally push through certain grievances for good. From one self awareness junkie to another, trust me, this works. I will be keeping this book close for future reference. A relief.
  
  Edit: what I think this book is missing is some clarity on when certain types of judgement are okay. Going through life never judging (even about what might be right for yourself) isn’t realistic. I would have liked to hear Bernstein’s take on that.
• 
  Laurie

  Every few years, I come upon a book that is life changing. I read this at the right time for me. All the puzzle pieces are clicking into place. The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) exercises, the prayers, the meditations and the journal that comes with it all have transformed how I am living my life.
  
  At first I thought, how can I do this? Not judge anyone for anything? Jeez. That is impossible. Especially self judgment. I am my harshest critic. But the more I let go of judgment and accept people for who they are (and myself with all of my flub ups and mistakes), the better I feel. There are also exciting miracles. When I let go of the judgments, people feel it and they respond to me differently. It is so fascinating.
  
  I realize how damaging judgement has been for me--physically and emotionally.
  
  Judgment is indeed an addiction and to let go of it (again and again) has brought so much peace and joy into my life and the opportunity for the first time in many, many years to be totally in the present moment. I am over the moon happy that I have read it and now comes the hard work of continuing to put the principles into practice for the rest of my life.
  
  If everyone read this book and put the principles into practice, the world would be a completely different place. Thank you Gabrielle Bernstein for putting this out into the world.
• 
  Johanna

  Like others say, it's difficult to judge a book about judgement. I think when it is uncomfortable, it is a really good sign that we need to dig deeper within ourselves why we feel this way. What do we need to work on? What needs to change? How can we improve? I listened to this book on audible and probably would have preferred to read the physical book too, to facilitate the exercises better. But there is nothing wrong with the audio version. This is a book you have to digest over time and come again to a few times to benefit most. If you listen/ read in one sitting, you will need to come back, you'll want to come back as you let judgement go...
  
  Some of the examples, I had trouble identifying with. It's hard to put yourself in another's shoes. Sometimes we also see things differently. In any event, I did not find that this book was just a repeat of previous books. A compliment perhaps,to skills learned in other books.
  
  I think people can sometimes confuse religion and spirituality... With which the confusion in itself breeds judgement. For those that don't consider yourself Spiritual/Religious, try to interchange a phrase like "your spirit" with "your soul." Keep in mind that it is about the outcome and change, not necessarily the specific word. You'll go far and won't regret reading this book.
• 
  Eliza

  For six weeks, I immersed myself in Gabby’s Judgment Detox. I took notes, said the prayers, and performed the meditations. Some parts made me nod in agreement; some parts made me cry.
  
  All in all, this book & its method reshaped my life.
  
  I confronted my triggers. I realized that my trademark petty came from a place of inadequacy, fear, and attack. I forgave my first love. I talked to my father for the first time in years.
  
  And I’m not even close to done implementing the lessons I learned during this process.
  
  My ego is still loud (probably always will be), but the lessons from Judgment Detox taught me to turn the sound of my soul up. I know I’ll come back to this book and my journal of notes throughout the rest of my life - it’s THAT vital.
  
  Five stars isn’t enough. This book saved me from myself.✨
• 
  Marta

  This book was published in early 2018. The first chapter uses the 2016 US election as an example of how people judge each other, and at one point centres a woman that voted Republican. “Tone-deaf” doesn’t even begin to describe what this feels like reading it at the beginning of 2019. I can’t imagine what a person of colour or LGBTQ+ would think. Who cares if a middle aged white lady feels judged for voting in a bigoted administration?
  
  Bernstein’s Add More Ing to your Life was quite good and it was my gateway to meditation. But this book...don’t bother. The absolutely cringe-inducing first chapter, plus the raving about Joel Osteen (seriously?!?)...there are more useful books, including her own.
• 
  Daria Zeoli

  I am judgmental, a grudge-holder. I strive to be more compassionate with myself and others. This book gives six steps that, when practiced, lead one away from judgment and towards live.
  
  While I’ve not begun my own judgment detox, having read this book over the past week, I plan to go back and follow the steps. Journaling and meditation are two practices I’ve long wanted to do successfully, and tapping has interested me after hearing about it over the past year or two. Bernstein’s approach - giving real life examples, then easy to follow instructions - makes this an accessible guide to the reader.
  
  Thank you to NetGalley for a review copy of this book.
• 
  Maria

  If you’re looking at this cover and thinking “Nah, I’m good. I don’t need to read this,” that means you should! Excellent book with tips you can apply immediately. Release your judgment through the powerful tapping exercise. I was surprised to find myself crying as I did it. What a release! Judgment - especially self judgment - is a work in progress, but this book will help you let some of that $hi* go. 🙌🏻
• 
  Angela Jones

  Full disclosure--I haven't finished this yet. I may never finish this book. It may not be the sort of book a person is ever meant to finish and shelve away. This book is hard. It requires you to go deep within yourself and evaluate your own judgement--without judging. See? Hard. This book makes me realize how often I judge myself and other people and how reliant I have been upon judgement to numb my pain.
  
  What this book does is makes you aware of who you judge and asks you to delve deep into why you judge them. You have to list the people and groups you judge and then think about how they make you feel. Did I mention that this stuff is hard? It's hard. It will require you to become very self-aware. It will require you to not only be willing to forgive people who have hurt you but to pray for them and to let go of the things they have done to hurt you. It will require you to see people with whom you vehemently disagree as...*gasp*..humans. And not just as humans, but as more like you than you really want to admit.
  
  Judgement is nothing more than a shield. It protects us from being hurt further--or so we think. In actuality, all it does is further separate us, hold us back and block us from having loving, rich relationships. "We use judgment to insulate ourselves from the pain of feeling inadequate, insecure or unworthy. It’s easier to make fun of, write off or judge someone for a perceived weakness of theirs than it is to examine our own sense of lack."
  
  This book was written, in part, as a response to the divisiveness within our country caused by the last Presidential election. The author addresses the anger and the rancor that has pervaded the national dialogue for over a year now. She talks about how the judgement cycle must be broken for there to ever be unity and wholeness. The answer to anger is not more anger. It's empathy. Even if you disagree with a person on issues, the feelings behind the issues are very much the same. A person who fears having their rights taken away or denied is the same no matter which rights they are protecting. When we look beneath the surface, past the talking points and the surface emotion, we see the person, we see their journey, we see their humanity. We can even learn to love the person and love is the antidote to judgement. But we have to each be willing to break the addiction to judgement in our own lives. We have to be willing to say, "I don't care who you voted for. I care who you are," and then listen rather than jump to conclusions and generalizations. This book isn't about healing the whole country though. It's about healing yourself.
• 
  Kat

  I have complex feelings (you might call them judgements) on this book.
  
  The core message of this book is sound. I've definitely spent far too much time judging people, which only makes me feel lousy and sucks up a lot of mental energy while they keep on being their messy selves. Releasing judgement can be more for yourself than letting the other person off the hook for their choices.
  
  This book just makes that message so unnecessarily long and mushy. The same things get said over and over and over and over. It's pretty clear Bernstein was just trying to hit a word count like me writing a 6 page paper in college when all the information could be given in 3. I don't have much patience for books that waste my time, so I ended up skipping paragraphs because they added no value.
  
  There was also a whole lot of "ask spirit to help you forgive" type of stuff. I just don't feel like it needed that much woo, the message would have gotten across just fine without it. Then there is the part when she says not to judge bigots who voted a particular way in 2016. Nah I'm still gonna judge them, thanks tho!
  
  Overall it delivered morefluff than actual wisdom and put me off reading Bernstein's other books.
• 
  Jen

  1. This book could have been a tidy outline when it comes to workable suggestions for reducing judgmental behavior. There is no reason for a full-size book. Extremely repetitive.
  2. The author comes off as the ultimate Mean Girl. And yes, this is a judgement. The examples that she gives of her own judgmental behaviors are truly horrifying. She humiliates another woman in
  public, treats service desk workers with disrespect, and (regularly?) yells at her own father over the phone. This is horrifying behavior on anyone's part, but especially someone who suggests that they are a spiritual teacher.
  3. There are portions of this book that discuss politics in a way that is very naïve about the real-world repercussions of decisions by people in power. Sometimes we need to judge a situation or a person in power in order to stop perpetuating hateful, hurtful cycles.
  4. This is my 3rd attempt at a book by Gabby, and I'm going to say it's my last. She totally lost me with her horrifying behavior towards others and her lack of understanding around necessary political action.
• 
  ABAgail

  What can I say about this book? Where can I begin?
  
  Personally, I loved it. I've read several law of attraction and self-help books, and never before now have I read one that indicates that occurrences like racism stem from a lack of love. From my experience, it's usually a topic that I crave the author's perspective on, but never truly get. This was a topic that Bernstein touched on and I was a fan. She brought in present day issues and explained how lack of judgement can rid us of all that garbage. ;)
  
  This book intimates that love casts out judgement; love can heal the world. I'm looking forward to making the practices in the book a permanent part of my life, as I'm a person that holds on to small issues for long periods of time, which wastes my time and brings me no benefit into my life.
  
  I highly recommend this book. It answered several questions that I've had for years!
  
  Happy reading!
• 
  Amanda

  I’ve been reading this through slowly to try and process the information as well as to stop myself from hurling it at the wall at times. I’ve got fairly mixed feelings about it.
  
  On the one hand, it presents an interesting perspective on how to catch yourself in judgement and how to shift your views. On the other hand, a lot of the advice was to offer it up to the spirit/universe/God/flying spaghetti monster and let them take care of the rest.
  
  As other reviewers mentioned, the first half felt a bit forced and rushed while the second half was filled with a lot of quotes from other books and experts.
  
  Not my cup of tea.
• 
  Donna

  This was the first Gabrielle Bernstein book that I have read. I found the concepts very interesting and it was a great guide for me into starting to meditate more. I think this book is a great complement to your faith, whatever it is, and helps you connect to yourself on more of a spiritual level. ---To find yourself spiritually. I love the concept of the inner spirit guide and I found the tapping technique to release negative energy and judgement very beneficial. The book is just there to get you started on the pathway and then you need to decide to keep it up from there out. In my opinion, it is worth the read. I am looking forward to reading her earlier books.
• 
  Elaine Moore

  A spiritual activist, Bernstein writes that the act of judgment or judging others is an addiction response to deep-rooted trauma. By choosing this fear and separation instead of love, we become disassociated from our truth. This leads to an obsession with an outward projection of who we think we are.
  By healing judgment we're forced to live in reality and accept unconditional love. Bernstein offers a series of steps such as meditation that lead to this healing.
  I think that judgment is a learned response that we learn as children and while trauma may reinforce this, it's more of a bad habit that awareness of it can help break.
• 
  Kimberly Yeager - Bowden

  Threw me when she started talking about Joel Osteen and receiving an important message from him through a program on tv she happened to turn on, but I got over it quickly. One of the things I love about Bernstein is that she does not promote Christianity or any other set religion, only to be open to the Universe. Joel Osteen makes me want to gag, but I can also see that messages can be provided to us in ways we may least expect. I was forced to look at my own judgement at this point in the book. Ironic, right?