Psychology & Counseling Books - Page 9

A Course in Miracles

Dr. Helen Schucman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 338 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A Course in Miracles begins...
Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.

As its title implies, the Course is arranged throughout as a teaching device. It consists of three books: Text, Workbook for Students, and Manual for Teachers. The order in which students choose to use the books, and the ways in which they study them, depend on their particular needs and preferences.

The curriculum the Course proposes is carefully conceived and is explained, step by step, at both the theoretical and practical levels. It emphasizes application rather than theory, and experience rather than theology. Although Christian in statement, the Course deals with universal spiritual themes. It emphasizes that it is but one version of the universal curriculum. There are many others, this one differing from them only in form. They all lead to God in the end.

The Text is largely theoretical, and sets forth the concepts on which the Course's thought system is based. Its ideas contain the foundation for the Workbook's lessons. Without the practical application the Workbook provides, the Text would remain largely a series of abstractions which would hardly suffice to bring about the thought reversal at which the Course aims.

The Workbook includes 365 lessons, one for each day of the year. It is not necessary, however, to do the lessons at that tempo, and one might want to remain with a particularly appealing lesson for more than one day. The practical nature of the Workbook is underscored by the introduction to its lessons, which emphasizes experience through application rather than a prior commitment to a spiritual goal:

Some of the ideas the workbook presents you will find hard to believe, and others may seem to be quite startling. This does not matter. You are merely asked to apply the ideas as you are directed to do. You are not asked to judge them at all. You are asked only to use them. It is their use that will give them meaning to you, and will show you that they are true.

Finally, the Manual for Teachers, which is written in question and answer form, provides answers to some of the more likely questions a student might ask. It also includes a clarification of a number of the terms the Course uses, explaining them within the theoretical framework of the Text.

The Course makes no claim to finality, nor are the Workbook lessons intended to bring the student's learning to completion. At the end, the reader is left in the hands of his or her own Internal Teacher, Who will direct all subsequent learning as He sees fit.

The Five Love Languages of Children

Gary Chapman, Ross Campbell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 59 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

I'll admit I was skeptical 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Ordinarily, the follow-on books are kind of flat. The Elizabeth George "After God's Own Heart" books seemed this way, although the first one, "A Woman After God's Own Heart" was excellent.

I was expecting the same sort of flatness from this book. I found a lot to apply in the original Love Languages book, and I'm still sneaking it into my marriage. It's one thing to tell your Quality-Time husband that you are a TOUCH wife, and a whole different thing to gently convince him to touch touch touch touch touch touch. It has brought me to a whole new level of positive reinforcement.

So I figured this one for kids would be a couple of hundred pages of telling parents that kids need *every* love language. And indeed, there was some of that.

But the book was full of clues for how to recognize your child's love language, how it may change over time, and how to communicate.

The book offered a lot. I thought the chapters on conflict were very worthwhile, and even on how to discipline in the different love languages. My kids are so different that I needed all the pointers I could get. And surprise -- thinking about love languages across generations has helped me communicate better with my parents, too -- off to a good start, anyway.

I read this 6 months ago. My eldest started talking more, to me and to other people, NOTICEABLY more, and it's bringing me some relief from one of my biggest parenting worries -- how remote this child has been. That has been the biggest and most immediate change in our family recently, and I can trace it to this book.

I would recommend you read the first Love Languages book first, and then this one to think specifically about your kids.

Oh, and for moms, definitely read A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George. It's family-enhancing.

Editorial Review:

According to the authors, each child expresses and receives love through one of five different communication styles. A parent's love language may be totally different from that of his or her child, which causes hurt feelings and misunderstandings. With the help of this book, adults can discover their child's primary language and learn what they can do to effectively convey unconditional feelings of respect, affection, and commitment that will resonate in their child's emotions and behavior.

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex

Mary Roach

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Total reviews: 80 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

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The best-selling author of Stiff turns her outrageous curiosity and infectious wit on the most alluring scientific subject of all: sex.

The study of sexual physiology—what happens, and why, and how to make it happen better—has been a paying career or a diverting sideline for scientists as far-ranging as Leonardo da Vinci and James Watson. The research has taken place behind the closed doors of laboratories, brothels, MRI centers, pig farms, sex-toy R&D labs, and Alfred Kinsey's attic.

Mary Roach, "the funniest science writer in the country" (Burkhard Bilger of The New Yorker), devoted the past two years to stepping behind those doors. Can a person think herself to orgasm? Can a dead man get an erection? Is vaginal orgasm a myth? Why doesn't Viagra help women—or, for that matter, pandas? In Bonk, Roach shows us how and why sexual arousal and orgasm, two of the most complex, delightful, and amazing scientific phenomena on earth, can be so hard to achieve and what science is doing to slowly make the bedroom a more satisfying place. 16 illustrations.

Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness

Jon Kabat-Zinn

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Total reviews: 50 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Kabat-Zinn, founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, is perhaps the best-known proponent of using meditation to help patients deal with illness. (The somewhat confusing title is from a line in Zorba the Greek in which the title character refers to the ups and downs of family life as "the full catastrophe.") But this book is also a terrific introduction for anyone who has considered meditating but was afraid it would be too difficult or would include religious practices they found foreign. Kabat-Zinn focuses on "mindfulness," a concept that involves living in the moment, paying attention, and simply "being" rather than "doing." While you can practice anything "mindfully," from taking a walk to cleaning your house, Kabat-Zinn presents several meditation techniques that focus the attention most clearly, whether it's on a simple phrase, your breathing, or various parts of your body. The book goes into detail about how hospital patients have either improved their health or simply come to feel better despite their illness by using these techniques, but these meditations can help anyone deal with stress and gain a calmer outlook on life. "When we use the word healing to describe the experiences of people in the stress clinic, what we mean above all is that they are undergoing a profound transformation of view," Kabat-Zinn writes. "Out of this shift in perspective comes an ability to act with greater balance and inner security in the world." --Ben Kallen

The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Bollingen Series)

Joseph Campbell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 111 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A journey blending modern psychology with comparative mythology 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Collector's Edition of this keepsake represents a fine presentation of a classic first released in 1949. THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES is a journey blending modern psychology with comparative mythology, and this edition offers new audiences a fine hardcover packed with black and white illustration and detail.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Very Helpful 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book was very helpful in my own spiritual journey. It's worth all the time you'll spend reading it.

Editorial Review:

Originally written by Campbell in the '40s-- in his pre-Bill Moyers days -- and famous as George Lucas' inspiration for "Star Wars," this book will likewise inspire any writer or reader in its well considered assertion that while all stories have already been told, this is *not* a bad thing, since the *retelling* is still necessary. And while our own life's journey must always be ended alone, the travel is undertaken in the company not only of immediate loved ones and primal passion, but of the heroes and heroines -- and myth-cycles -- that have preceded us.

Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why

Laurence Gonzales

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Total reviews: 155 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

An ABSOLUTE MUST READ for tackling adversity 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book is mandatory reading for anyone faced with extreme adversity. It very effectively sets forth a layperson's blueprint for the survivor mentality - affording you a no-risk peek into the edges of survival without having to float at sea for seventy-one days to understand what is "normal" under those circumstances. "Deep Survival" is a brilliant look into understanding your mind and learning how to adapt: finding sanity and survival in situations where "herd" thinking would lead you to believe you are afforded none. I am not into the deep sciences, but I was riveted to his presentation of matters that in other contexts would probably lose my attention. Gonzales is a gifted, entertainingly punky, writer who's on top of his topic. One takes away his meticulous, first-hand research into these disasters and appreciates his some twenty years of study in this area. "Deep Survival" is definitely a psychological book illustrated with adventure stories, rather than the converse. Some readers are either not ready for the book's message or are presented with an unexpected text and turn off. If you are just looking for an adventure book, you would do well to read some of the books citied in here first: "Adrift," "Into Thin Air" or "Red Sky in the Mourning" (sic).

Whether you are tackling overwhelming financial times or you break your leg on a mountain at 12,000 feet, you will exponentially increase your ability to cope with those situations for having understood this book. Unfortunately, it benefits the average person's comprehension to have gone through great adversity, or to be going through it, to fully appreciate the levels that this book works on. I have given this to military commanders, psychologists, fellow outdoor adventurers and friends going through divorce. I get one solid response: An exceptional work.

Editorial Review:

WILD WEEKENDS IN UTAH

The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections

Amanda Blake Soule

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Total reviews: 42 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

When you learn to awaken your family’s creativity, wonderful things will happen: you’ll make meaningful connections with your children in large and small ways; your children will more often engage in their own creative discoveries; and your family will embrace new ways to relax, play, and grow together. With just the simple tools around you—your imagination, basic art supplies, household objects, and natural materials—you can transform your family life, and have so much more fun!

Amanda Soule has charmed many with her tales of creativity and parenting on her blog, SouleMama. Here she shares ideas and projects with the same warm tone and down-to-earth voice. Perfect for all families, the wide range of projects presented here offers ideas for imaginative play, art and crafts, nature explorations, and family celebrations.

This book embraces a whole new way of living that will engage your children’s imagination, celebrate their achievements, and help you to express love and gratitude for each other as a family.

To learn more about the author, Amanda Soule, visit her blog at www.SouleMama.com.

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Pages 58–59



Pages 60–61



Pages 62–63

Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

Douglas R. Hofstadter

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Total reviews: 244 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Twenty years after it topped the bestseller charts, Douglas R. Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid is still something of a marvel. Besides being a profound and entertaining meditation on human thought and creativity, this book looks at the surprising points of contact between the music of Bach, the artwork of Escher, and the mathematics of Gödel. It also looks at the prospects for computers and artificial intelligence (AI) for mimicking human thought. For the general reader and the computer techie alike, this book still sets a standard for thinking about the future of computers and their relation to the way we think.

Hofstadter's great achievement in Gödel, Escher, Bach was making abstruse mathematical topics (like undecidability, recursion, and 'strange loops') accessible and remarkably entertaining. Borrowing a page from Lewis Carroll (who might well have been a fan of this book), each chapter presents dialogue between the Tortoise and Achilles, as well as other characters who dramatize concepts discussed later in more detail. Allusions to Bach's music (centering on his Musical Offering) and Escher's continually paradoxical artwork are plentiful here. This more approachable material lets the author delve into serious number theory (concentrating on the ramifications of Gödel's Theorem of Incompleteness) while stopping along the way to ponder the work of a host of other mathematicians, artists, and thinkers.

The world has moved on since 1979, of course. The book predicted that computers probably won't ever beat humans in chess, though Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov in 1997. And the vinyl record, which serves for some of Hofstadter's best analogies, is now left to collectors. Sections on recursion and the graphs of certain functions from physics look tantalizing, like the fractals of recent chaos theory. And AI has moved on, of course, with mixed results. Yet Gödel, Escher, Bach remains a remarkable achievement. Its intellectual range and ability to let us visualize difficult mathematical concepts help make it one of this century's best for anyone who's interested in computers and their potential for real intelligence. --Richard Dragan

Topics Covered: J.S. Bach, M.C. Escher, Kurt Gödel: biographical information and work, artificial intelligence (AI) history and theories, strange loops and tangled hierarchies, formal and informal systems, number theory, form in mathematics, figure and ground, consistency, completeness, Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry, recursive structures, theories of meaning, propositional calculus, typographical number theory, Zen and mathematics, levels of description and computers; theory of mind: neurons, minds and thoughts; undecidability; self-reference and self-representation; Turing test for machine intelligence.

Real Life: Preparing for the 7 Most Challenging Days of Your Life

Dr. Phil McGraw

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Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

What if you could see around the corners of your life? Wouldn't it help to know what the most challenging days of your life would be like BEFORE they hit?

There are certain days in life that stand out because they are among the toughest that you or someone you love will experience. Your quality of life and your experience on the journey through this world are a function of how you handle these days when they arrive. Will you be ready? Will you be strong? Will you survive and be better for it, or will you cave?

In Real Life: Preparing for the 7 Most Challenging Days of Your Life, bestselling author and talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw is here to help you prepare to confront what he believes are the seven most common critical days that you or a loved one are likely to face. This book helps make it possible for you to be there for yourself or to be the calm in the middle of the storm for someone you love when any of these difficult days arrive.

• Loss -- the day that you or someone you love has their heart shattered by death, divorce, or losing something of great value.
• Fear -- the day that you realize you have lived your life as a sellout and that every choice you have made up until this point was dictated by other people's expectations, not based on your own goals and desires.
• Adaptability Breakdown -- the day that the pressures of balancing your responsibilities and needs, along with life's demands, have become way too overwhelming, and you realize that you are in way over your head.
• Physical Health -- the day that your body or that of someone you love breaks down because of illness, trauma, or disease.
• Mental Health -- the day that the mind breaks down and betrays you or someone you love.
• Addiction -- the day that addiction takes over, and you or your loved one look a powerful destroyer in the face and realize that you are not in control.
• Existential Crisis -- the day that you or someone you love lose the purpose, compass, and connection to meaning in life and have no answer to the question "Why?"

Encountering these days can feel like hitting a brick wall. But while they will change your life, they do not have to ruin it. Dr. Phil's step-by-step plan for getting through the worst days is designed to help you feel prepared when it really matters -- in the midst of a crisis. Dr. Phil provides wisdom and resources that will guide you toward a solution that is right for you, showing you how to minimize disruption and maximize the recovery.

This book is not just about giving you a crisis-mode plan. It will also show you how to change your life now, before you get into a crisis, so that you are not behind the power curve when any of the seven days hit. You will be able to be a leader to someone you love during their crisis because you will know what to do. Dr. Phil says there are no exceptions: with the right attitude and the right information, every challenging day can be turned into a valuable life experience.

Influence: Science and Practice (5th Edition)

Robert B. Cialdini

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Total reviews: 131 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Read Chapters 1-3 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Overall this was an enjoyable read, but it almost felt like two separate books to me: chapters 1-3, then chapters 4-8.

The first three chapters were very interesting and, in my copy, are covered in sticky notes, underlines, and highlights. It's not that the book shared anything particularly new, but it presented it in an organized fashion that directly related to many of my current business endeavors. If you have any project that involves selling/marketing - whether writing web copy or attending networking events - there will be some good tips, or at least friendly reminders, in these first three chapters.

The rest of the book was pure pop psychology, along the lines of "Stumbling on Happiness" - well-written, with many illustrative examples, but not all that useful. I only highlighted three phrases in all of chapters 4-8. If you like pop psychology, the rest of the book is an easy and enjoyable read, but hard to justify as work-related research.

Editorial Review:

Influence: Science and Practiceis an examination of the psychology of compliance (i.e. uncovering which factors cause a person to say "yes" to another's request). Written in a narrative style combined with scholarly research, Cialdini combines evidence from experimental work with the techniques and strategies he gathered while working as a salesperson, fundraiser, advertiser, and in other positions inside organizations that commonly use compliance tactics to get us to say "yes." Widely used in classes, as well as sold to people operating successfully in the business world, the eagerly awaited revision of Influence reminds the reader of the power of persuasion. Cialdini organizes compliance techniques into six categories based on psychological principles that direct human behavior: reciprocation, consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity.