Psychology: states of consciousness Books

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Book SynopsisDreaming the Social uses social dreaming as a tool to explore aspects of contemporary life and examine how we can reverse social fragmentation and large-scale trauma.Since the attack on New York on 9/11, the world has been balanced on the edge of potential disaster, exacerbated in recent years by global warming, the Covid pandemic, and war in Ukraine. Since the first edition in 2009, these national and global events have come to dominate our lives in unforeseen ways. With this in mind, this new edition explores the potential of social dreaming to help access things we know but are unable to think, except through the complex activity of dreaming. Based on several research studies, group sessions, and mass dreaming experiments, the book explores peoples' experiences of dreaming during times of change, transition, and upheaval and discusses the insights that these dreams offer.Dreaming the Social will be of great interest to all professionals interested in dTrade ReviewPraise for the first edition: "This is the book I have been waiting to read. I have yearned for a book that would examine contemporary culture through the imaginative critique of psychoanalysis. I did not want a theory-poem, or authorial brilliance. I yearned for the sort of book that I knew would teach me something and which I could recommend to others. The authors’ passion embraces the subject matter in ways that is more than inspiring and hopeful. It is such a relief to read!" - Christopher Bollas, author of The Freudian Moment, The Infinite Question and Evocative Object World “We have long thought of dreams as a repository of the most private and inaccessible regions of unconscious experience. In this important and original book, the motifs and mechanisms of the dreaming unconscious - helplessness, sexual desire, denial, the pleasures and perils of knowing - are mined instead for their rich and layered social meanings. With fascinating new chapters on Brexit, Covid and Ukraine, Clare and Zarbafi show us dreams as carriers of urgent messages from and to our precarious world.” – Josh Cohen, Psychoanalyst, author and Professor of English at Goldsmiths College, University of LondonTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsForeword by W. Gordon LawrenceIntroductionPART IWhat is Social Dreaming?1. Social dreaming and the selfJohn Clare2. The night train of social dreamsAli Zarbafi PART IISocial Dreaming in practice3. Dreaming after 9/11John Clare and Ali Zarbafi4. Sweet honey in the rockJohn Clare and Ali Zarbafi 5. The end of the dance: Dreams at a literary festivalJohn Clare, appendum by Jane Storr 6. We are all slaves to babble—land: A mass dreaming experimentJohn Clare7. Dreaming in the inner cityJohn Clare and Ali Zarbafi8. Social Dreaming: A no-goal method?Ali Zarbafi PART IIIThe long matrix Hay-on-Wye 2009-239. Where are we going? John Clare10. Covid: The invisible invasionJohn Clare11. War in EuropeJohn Clare12. ConclusionJohn Clare and Ali ZarbafiGlossaryBibliographyIndex

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Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy: A Textbook is an engaging and comprehensive guide to integrative counselling, providing an explanation of the theoretical ideas underpinning person-centred, interpersonal, cognitive-behavioural (CBT) and hypnotherapeutic modalities.Divided in two major sections, this book first provides a detailed exploration of the key integrative concepts - presence, emotional and psychological processing, attachment, thinking, and the unconscious and then practically applies these concepts to the issues commonly brought by clients to therapy.With the help of case studies, exercises and chapter questions, Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy will be essential reading for students on integrative counselling and psychotherapy courses and for integrative practitioners.

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Book SynopsisTwo premier hypnotherapists collaborate on a new edition of this award-winning text, a collection of techniques and information about hypnosis that no serious student or practitioner should be without. A thorough and practical handbook of various hypnotherapeutic measures, it contains illustrative examples and logically argued selection methods to help practitioners choose the ideal method for a needed purpose. Section by section, it breaks out the various methods and phenomena of hypnosis into easily digested chunks, so the reader can pick and choose at leisure. An excellent practical guide and reference that is sure to be used regularly. The authors have a wide and longstanding experience on the subject and thus can stay on clinically approvable methods. Table of ContentsPreface. The History of Hypnosis and its Relevance to Present Day Psychotherapy. Hypnotic Phenomena. Theorizing About Hypnosis: Recent Breakthroughs Shed New Light. Hypnotizability. Introductory Techniques of Hypnotic Induction. Advanced Techniques of Hypnotic Induction. Deepening Hypnotic Trance. Placebo, Hypnotic Suggestion and the Hypnotherapist. Relieving Pain with Hypnosis. Hypnosis in Anesthesia and Surgery. Hypnosis for Childbirth Pain and Trauma. Mind-body Interaction I: Hypnosis in Internal Medicine. Mind-body Interaction II: Hypnosis in the Treatment of Dermatological Disorders. Meditation and Hypnosis for Health. Dental Hypnosis. Hypnosis for Specialized Problems. Hypnosis with Children. Hypnosis and Sports Performance.

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Book SynopsisThere has been an explosion of work on consciousness in the last 3040 years from philosophers, psychologists, and neurologists. Thus, there is a need for an interdisciplinary, comprehensive volume in the field that brings together contributions from a wide range of experts on fundamental and cutting-edge topics. The Routledge Handbook of Consciousness fills this need and makes each chapter's importance understandable to students and researchers from a variety of backgrounds. Designed to complement and better explain primary sources, this volume is a valuable first-stop publication for undergraduate or graduate students enrolled in any course on Consciousness, Philosophy of Mind, or Philosophy of Psychology, as well as a valuable handbook for researchers in these fields who want a useful reference to have close at hand. The 34 chapters, all published here for the first time, are divided into three parts: Part I covers the History and Background MetapTrade Review "Keeping up with work on consciousness is becoming harder and harder. Luckily The Routledge Handbook of Consciousness alleviates this headache. The thirty four chapters collectively give a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the field, written by leading specialists. A must-have for researchers and serious students alike." --Alex Byrne, Professor of Philosophy, MIT "The editor’s choice of entries in this Handbook reflects the complexity and marvel of consciousness. Expert philosophers and psychologists offer a wide range of approaches to studying consciousness. Students and researchers looking for eastern or western perspectives will find both represented here." -Susanna Siegel, Harvard University "This exceptionally comprehensive and highly accessible survey of topics in the multidisciplinary study of consciousness stands out as an excellent introduction to the field. t is a helpful guide through the thickets of interwoven debates and an essential collection for researchers working in any area of consciousness who want a reliable and illuminating overview of the big picture. This book will be a marvelous resource for anyone beginning their study of consciousness and for expert researchers alike." --Andrew Bailey, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Associate Dean (Research & Graduate Studies), University of Guelph, Canada Table of ContentsList of Figures. List of Contributors. Acknowledgments. Introduction. Part I. Consciousness: History and Background Metaphysics 1. Consciousness, Personal Identity, and Immortality 2. Consciousness in Western Philosophy 3. Materialism 4. Dualism 5. Idealism, Panpsychism, and Emergentism: The Radical Wing of Consciousness Studies 6. Consciousness, Free Will, and Moral Responsibility 7. Consciousness and the Mind-Body Problem in Indian Philosophy Part II. Contemporary Theories of Consciousness 8. Representational Theories of Consciousness 9. The Global Workspace Theory 10. Integrated Information Theory 11. The Multiple Drafts Model 12. The Intermediate Level Theory of Consciousness 13. The Attention Schema Theory of Consciousness 14. Biological Naturalism and Biological Realism 15. Sensorimotor and Enactive Approaches to Consciousness 16. Quantum Theories of Consciousness Part III. Major Topics in Consciousness Research 17. The Neural Correlates of Consciousness 18. Consciousness and Attention 19. Consciousness and Intentionality 20. Consciousness and Conceptualism 21. Consciousness, Time, and Memory 22. Consciousness and Action 23. Consciousness and Emotion 24. Multisensory Consciousness and Synesthesia 25. Consciousness and Psychopathology 26. Post-Comatose Disorders of Consciousness 27. The Unity of Consciousness 28. The Biological Evolution of Consciousness 29. Animal Consciousness 30. Robot Consciousness 31. Consciousness and Dreams: From Self-Simulation to the Simulation of a Social World 32. Meditation and Consciousness: Can we Experience Experience as Broken? 33. Consciousness and End of Life Ethical Issues 34. Consciousness and Experimental Philosophy

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Book SynopsisThe contributions to this book, containing talks given at the Conference in Vienna on 'Dream and Fantasy in Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy', focus on the close connection between children's imaginative world, their dream life, and play. Is it a dream that a child is recounting or is it rather a fantasy to be regarded as equivalent to a dream? Children's play, too, presents important material that allows us to draw inferences about the subconscious. Indeed dreams, daydreams, fantasies and play were originally treated as of equal importance in child analysis.How do child analysts work with dreams at the practical and theoretical levels? In the practice of child analysis today do we find analysis of dreams and the classic differentiations between manifest and latent content? Is attention accorded to the mechanisms of condensation, displacement etc. described by Freud? The current discussion on working with children's dreams and their equivalents in today's practice of child psychoanalysis forms the central focus of the contributions collected in this book.Trade Review'This invaluable book tackles a topic of psychoanalysis that is much in need of more in-depth exploration and offers receptive readers new ways of thinking about dreaming. Since the classic Freudian model, we have entered into the universe of reveries, the dream process whereby sensory stimuli are transformed into the unconscious, transformations in dreaming, and co-dreaming the sessions. This is a book that leads its readers through new territory and invites them to enjoy the fascination and wonder of the unknown. It is a brave book that dares to dream new dreams for psychoanalysis.'--Antonino Ferro, member of the Societa Psicoanalitica Italiana and APsaA'Is it possible that we see an increasing interest in the psychoanalytical understanding of dreams - in an era of neuroscientific discoveries and the development of psychotherapy techniques that pay little attention to the unconscious? The authors, all experienced child psychoanalysts, answer in the affirmative. The reason is that they, like most of today's psychoanalysts, see the dream as the prototype of a kind of deep thinking that modern man is eager to rediscover. However, accounts and reflections on dreams are often surrounded by embarrassed and pseudo-rational attitudes. One would expect this to be less salient with children, but often they do not report dreams spontaneously. The authors explore the reasons for this and how dreams, nevertheless, may be used in child therapy. This fine book is of interest to anyone who seeks to explore at depth the minds of children.' --Bjorn Salomonsson, MD, PhD, Psychoanalyst (IPA) and researcher at the Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 'An amazing book on children's dreams and fantasies, presenting different points of view by child and adolescent analysts from many nations. It shows the complexity, diversity and complementarity of different approaches. Any person working with children or adolescents in a psychoanalytic way will benefit from reading this book.'--Dieter Burgin, psychoanalyst for children, adolescents and adults

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Book SynopsisThis book aims to present a study on the actuality and empirical value of Freuds dream theory, even if through the analysis of a specific part of it - the hypotheses about childrens dreams. It provides a systematic description of Freuds observations on child dreaming and presents the results obtained from four empirical studies on childrens dreams that the author conducted during the span of a decade. These studies (two conducted in school settings, one in a home setting, and one based on a questionnaire completed by parents) allow an empirical judgment on Freuds main hypotheses on child dreaming: the hypotheses on formal aspect of childrens dreams, the relationship between dream bizarreness and development of the superego functions, and the issue of wish-fulfilment dreams. The author concludes that it is possible to test empirically Freuds hypothesis on the early forms of dreaming and that this test is not irrelevant for an empirical judgment of certain more general statements of Freuds dream theory (e.g. the dream censorship hypothesis). Finally, the implications of the studies on childrens dreams for modern dream research and theory are discussed.Trade Review'OK, psychoanalytic ideas are too complicated to test, right? Claudio Colace is a member of the vanguard of neuropsychoanalysts who are establishing metapsychology's scientific base. In a brilliantly conceived and executed series of studies Colace shows how superego development between ages three and eight changes the nature of dreams from clear wish fulfillment to bizarrely disguised expressions of motivation.'- Brian Johnson, Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA'The study of dreams poses intriguing problems about relations between philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience. Claudio Colace's book is one of the most original and significant works in recent dream science. Colace has undertaken a sophisticated programme of research on young children's dreams over a period of ten years: he argues convincingly that central psychoanalytic hypotheses, on topics such as narrative complexity, bizarreness, and motivation in dreams, can thus be rigorously tested. This rich and provocative book will interest historians and philosophers of science, developmental psychologists, affect theorists, neuropsychoanalysts, and all students of dreaming.'- John Sutton, Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.ContentsPart One: An Attempt of Systematic Description of Freud's Observations on Children's Dreams1 An Overview of Freud's Writings on Children's Dreams2 How Freud Studies Child Dreams: Methodology and Samples3 The Characteristics of Children's Dreams Described by Freud4 Are Freud's Hypotheses on Child Dreams Empirically Controllable?Part Two: Actuality and Empirical Evaluation of Freud's Observations on Children's Dreams5 Modern Dream Research in a Developmental Age: Methodological and General Aspects6 Studies on Dreams in The Developmental Age: 1989-19997 Formal Characteristics of Children's Dreams8 Bizarreness in Children's Dreams and the Development of Superego Functions9 Wish Fulfilment in Children's Dreams10 Child Dream Evolution: a Longtitudinal Observation11 ConclusionsAbout the AuthorTable of ContentsIntroduction: Freud’s dream theory and modern dream research -- An Attempt to Systematically Describe Freud’s Observations on Children’s Dreams -- An overview of Freud’s writings on children’s dreams -- How Freud studied children’s dreams: method and samples -- The characteristics of children’s dreams described by Freud -- Are Freud’s hypotheses on children’s dreams empirically testable? -- Empirical Evaluation of Freud’s Observations on Children’s Dreams -- Dream research in children: general and methodological aspects -- Four studies on children’s dreams -- Formal characteristics of children’s dreams -- Bizarreness in children’s dreams and the development of superego functions -- Wish-fulfilment in children’s dreams -- Child dream development: a longitudinal observation -- Implications for dream research and theory

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Book SynopsisThis book includes papers on the dream space and countertransference, the dream space, the analytic situation and eating disorders, dreams of borderline patients and the 'oracle' in dreams: the past and the future in the present.Trade Review'In the past decade, there has been something of a renaissance in psychoanalysis of the privileging of dreams, not only as the "royal road" to the unconscious, but as a fundamental (perhaps the fundamental) function of the unconscious. Dreaming and Thinking brings together an unusually rich set of essays which illustrate a range of approaches to dream analysis in contemporary analytic practice. This collection, drawn from public lectures delivered by members of the British Psycho-Analytical Society, is remarkable both for the clarity of thinking and the freedom from analytic jargon and ideology demonstrated by the authors.'- Thomas Ogden, M.D., Member of the International Psychoanalytical Association, Supervising and Training Analyst'Distilled in this little book is a great deal of contemporary wisdom regarding the importance of dreams in clinical practice, written and given as lectures by psychoanalysts of the British Society. The devotion and intelligence applied to deepening our understanding of the unconscious makes for rewarding reading.'- Paul Williams PhD, Joint Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Psychoanalysis'This clever and modest book about current views of dreams is striking because it manages to convey so much in just a few pages, without losing depth of thought or resorting to traditional psychoanalytical jargon. It focuses on what is really essential without being partisan to any specific school. This book is essential reading for both analysts and academics interested in present day psychoanalysis.'- Elias M. da Rocha Barros, Editor for Latin America of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, Supervising and Training AnalystTable of ContentsIntroduction -- Non vixit: a ghost story -- The dream space and counter-transference -- The dream space, the analytic situation and the eating disorder: clinging to the concrete -- Dreams, symbolic impoverishment, and the question of the other -- Dreams of borderline patients -- The “oracle” in dreams: the past and the future in the present

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Book SynopsisBy showing how to apprehend inner experience in high fidelity, this book aims to transform your view of your own inner experience and to reframe your thinking about psychological and consciousness science. It provides provocative views of inner experience in bulimia, adolescence, the elderly, schizophrenia, Tourette's syndrome, virtuosity and more.Trade Review“Professor Hurlburt was among the early pioneers in the scientific study of ongoing thought. Now he has extended his technique to capture the most basic elements of the phenomenon. This book is a careful and self-critical presentation of his discoveries with the Descriptive Experience Sampling procedures. It will intrigue and challenge consciousness researchers including a new generation of neuroscientists using brain imaging to study the cerebral default-system.” – Jerome Singer, Yale University"...the book is well written, engaging, and full of humorous retorts..." –Dr. Henderikus Stam and Basia D. Ellis, University of Calgary, PsycCRITIQUESTable of Contents1. Moments of truth; 2. Fragmented experience in bulimia nervosa with Sharon Jones-Forrester; 3. Apprehending pristine experience; 4. Everyday experience; 5. Moments are essential; 6. Experience in Tourette's syndrome with Michael J. Kane; 7. The moment (not): happy and sad; 8. Subjunctification; 9. Before and after experience?: Adolescence and old age; 10. Iteration is essential; 11. Epistemological q/a; 12. A consciousness scientist as DES subject; 13. Pristine experience (not): emotion and schizophrenia; 14. Multiple autonomous experience in a virtuoso musician with Ricardo Cobo; 15. Unsymbolized thinking with Sarah A. Akhter; 16. Sensory awareness with Chris Heavey and Arva Bensaheb; 17. The radical nonsubjectivity of pristine experience; 18. Diamonds vs. glass; 19. Into the floor: a right-or-wrong-answer natural experiment with Chris Heavey; 20. The emergence of salient characteristics; 21. Investigating pristine inner experience.

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Book SynopsisA detailed and scholarly history of the phenomena, practice and theory of mesmerism, hypnotism and multiple personality disorder, tracing the history of these movements and the ideas and influence of leading figures.Trade Review' a useful reference tool …'. Roger Cooter, British Medical Journal' for those who want a complete history of the early phase of hypnotism, this book is well worth reading.' P. J. Whorwell, Lancet'…massive, authoritative and erudite … will surely remain the standard history of hypnotism for a long time to come.' Society for Psychical ResearchTable of ContentsPrologue: Franz Anton Mesmer; Part I. The Successors of Mesmer: 1. The Royal Commissions and the pamphlet war; 2. Puységur; 3. Phenomena and speculations 1784–1789; 4. Mesmerism in the German-speaking countries; 5. Kluge; 6. The revival of magnetism in France; 7. Mesmerism and the medical profession in France 1820–1840; 8. Mystical magnetism: Germany; 9. Mystical magnetism: France; 10. Mesmerism in the United States; 11. Mesmerism in Britain; 12. Topics from the Zoist; 13. Animal magnetism: retrospect and reflections; Part II. The Heyday of Hypnotism: 14. Precursors of hypnotism; 15. Hypnotism and scientific orthodoxy 1875–1885; 16. The Nancy school; 17. Pierre Janet and his influence; 18. Dipsychists and polypsychists; 19. Hypnotism and multiple personality in the United States; 20. Hypnotism and suggestion at the turn of the century I: preliminary considerations; 21. The turn of the century II: hypnotic phenomena; 22. The turn of the century III: uses and applications of hypnotism; 23. The turn of the century IV: states ostensibly related to hypnosis; 24. The turn of the century V: theories of hypnosis; 25. The decline of hypnotism; Epilogue: hypnotism today: Barber and beyond.

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Book SynopsisThis study of the emergence of a psychology of the 'unconscious' in the Romantic period provides a fascinating account of the rise and role of the 'unconscious' in modernity. It draws together interdisciplinary research that will appeal to readers from psychology, psychoanalysis, philosophy, Romanticism and intellectual history.Trade Review'… persuasive, well argued and intellectually ambitious - this is an impressive piece of work.' Matthew Bell, King's College London'… an impressive contribution to the history of philosophy and the history of psychoanalysis.' John Forrester, University of Cambridge'It has long been recognised that Freud did not discover the unconscious and that the modern concept originated in philosophy not psychology. In his meticulous work, Ffytche traces the concept back to the German idealist philosopher Friedrich Schelling. Most original is the argument that the concept served a political function: to confer moral autonomy on the individual. Brilliant.' Robert A. Segal, The Times Higher Education Supplement'Ffytche's excellent book sets a new standard for philosophically sensitive historical writing on the concept of the unconscious.' Tom Eyers, Radical Philosophy'A thoughtful and intricate historiography of the unconscious … Ffytche's study will be useful to researchers and postgraduates engaged in contemporary theoretical speculations about the relationship between concepts of subjectivity, political life and the legacy of the Enlightenment.' BooknotesTable of ContentsIntroduction: the historiography of the unconscious; Part I. The Subject before the Unconscious: 1. A general science of the I: Fichte and the crisis of self-identification; 2. Natural autonomy: Schelling and the divisions of freedom; Part II. The Romantic Unconscious: 3. Divining the individual: towards a metaphysics of the unconscious; 4. The historical unconscious; 5. Post-idealism and the Romantic psyche; Part III. The Psychoanalytic Unconscious: 6. Freud: the Geist in the machine; 7. The liberal unconscious; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisThe first systematic collaboration between cognitive scientists and sports psychologists considers the mind-body relationship from the perspective of athletic skill and sports practice.This landmark work is the first systematic collaboration between cognitive scientists and sports psychologists that considers the mind-body relationship from the perspective of athletic skill and sports practice. With twenty-six chapters by leading researchers, the book connects and integrates findings from fields that range from philosophy of mind to sociology of sports. The chapters show not only that sports can tell scientists how the human mind works but also that the scientific study of the human mind can help athletes succeed. Sports psychology research has always focused on the themes, notions, and models of embodied cognition; embodied cognition, in turn, has found striking confirmation of its theoretical claims in the psychological accounts of sports performance and athletic skill. Ath

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Book SynopsisAn in-depth exploration of the interaction between mind and material world, mediated by language, image, and making—in design, the arts, culture, and science.In Material and Mind, Christopher Bardt delves deeply into the interaction of mind and material world, mediated by language, image, and the process of making. He examines thought not as something “pure” and autonomous but as emerging from working with material, and he identifies this as the source of imagination and creative insight. This takes place as much in such disciplines as cognitive science, anthropology, and poetry as it does in the more obvious painting, sculpture, and design. In some fields, the medium of work is, in fact, the very medium of thinking—as fabric is for the tailor. Drawing on the philosophical notions of the “extended mind” and the “enactive mind,” and looking beyond the world of material-based arts, Bardt investigates the realms in wh

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Book SynopsisAvailable again, an influential book that offers a framework for understanding visual perception and considers fundamental questions about the brain and its functions.David Marr''s posthumously published Vision (1982) influenced a generation of brain and cognitive scientists, inspiring many to enter the field. In Vision, Marr describes a general framework for understanding visual perception and touches on broader questions about how the brain and its functions can be studied and understood. Researchers from a range of brain and cognitive sciences have long valued Marr''s creativity, intellectual power, and ability to integrate insights and data from neuroscience, psychology, and computation. This MIT Press edition makes Marr''s influential work available to a new generation of students and scientists. In Marr''s framework, the process of vision constructs a set of representations, starting from a description of the input image and culminating with a descr

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Book SynopsisForbes Robbins Blair has been teaching and performing hypnosis since 1997 and has a certification in clinical hypnotherapy. He also facilitates dream groups and teaches classes on dream analysis. He has made numerous appearances on radio and television. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

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Book SynopsisThis is a hands-on manual for anyone who is interested in dreams. At the same time, it is the story of a personal journey through the dream world by the author and several of his patients and students. Robert Bosnak offers exercises and strategies for studying dreams, including:    •  Remembering and recording dreams    •  Analyzing a written dream text    •  Studying a series of dreams for its underlying themes    •  Using the techniques of active imagination and amplification    •  Working on dreams alone, in pairs, and in groups Through this Little Course in Dreams it becomes clear that the imagination is a powerful force that simultaneously "poisons" us and provides the remedies to the soul''s ills. Dreamwork thus opens the way to the healing and transformation of the soul.

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Book SynopsisPsilocybin, the active ingredient found in psychedelic mushrooms, is an invaluable natural resource for spiritually revivifying the human psyche and reconnecting us to the biosphere and the vast intelligence of Nature. Interweaving the most recent scientific studies in the United States and Britain, more than 25 years of sacred mushroom exploration, and behind-the-scenes details on the political wars against psychedelics, Simon G. Powell offers a guide to safely navigating and maximizing the healing and spiritual potential of psilocybin. Powell explores the ecopsychological effects of wild psychedelic mushrooms, including enhanced biophilia, expanded awareness, mystical visions, and eco-shamanic encounters. He reveals how the beings and otherworldly teachers common in psilocybin experiences are actually emissaries from our higher consciousness that emerge when the floodgates of perception have been opened. He shares vivid descriptions from many of his own psilocybin journeys and shows how the mushroom offers a path of return to the ancient wisdom binding all life on Earth, a wisdom conveyed through tutorial visions and higher modes of perception. Illustrating psilocybin's healthful properties, now acknowledged by mainstream science, Powell describes his activism in the fight to keep psilocybin mushroom use legal in the U.K. and shows that an irrational rejection of scientific evidence underlies the harsh war against psychedelic states of consciousness. Laying the groundwork for a new relationship with our biosphere, Powell shows how the Earth's psychedelic medicines can reconnect us to the spirituality and wisdom of Nature and bring the human race back from the brink of ecological and existential disaster.Trade Review“Here is the thought-provoking description of the author’s spiritual quest, his profound discoveries, and their implications for renewed research with psychedelic substances, reawakening us to the sacredness of nature and life itself. In and through the pitfalls and pinnacles of his journey is the transformation of a curious and courageous young man into a mature modern prophet and social critic. Fascinating read!” * William A. Richards, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins School of Medicine *Simon’s book discusses all these highly charged ideas in a charming, easily understood, humorous, and utterly engaging manner that will resonate with experienced psilocybin explorers and that may just open the eyes of those who are not (yet) experienced to the possibility that nature is richly blessed with unimagined realms of intelligence, mystery, and complexity. With this book, his third, Simon has knocked it right out of the park (or perhaps right into the park, since parks seem to be the frequent home of his little fungal friends).” * Dennis McKenna, Ph.D., ethnopharmacologist, cofounder of the Heffter Research Institute, and author *“Simon G. Powell, a credible psychonaut, has written a book that should be welcomed as our overpopulated species attempts to transition to sane drug policies and respect for native wisdom, integration with nature, and, ultimately, planetary maturity and ecological stability.” * Dorion Sagan, American science writer, essayist, and theorist *“The author informs, muses, and amuses as he chronicles his psilocybin explorations and insights into natural intelligence. He writes in joyfully plain English, tells compelling stories, and gets excited by all of life. Definitely outside the box.” * Jeremy Narby, author of The Cosmic Serpent *“Simon G. Powell’s most profound insight is that nature is intelligent, not in the way that we think of intelligence as confined to the human mind, but that intelligence is an intrinsic property of the whole of nature. He calls for a new science of ‘psilocybinetics’ that views life anew under the ‘perceptual lens’ afforded by the mushroom. It is an interesting and provocative read!” * David E. Nichols, Ph. D., president and cofounder of the Heffter Research Institute *Table of ContentsForeword by Rick Doblin, President of MAPS Prologue: A Question of Substance 1 Mushroom Fever 2 Avalonia Psychedelica 3 Natural Intelligence 4 The Powell Report 5 The Sacred Pattern 6 Idris Nemeton About the Author

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Book SynopsisHypnotherapist and experienced doula Sophie Fletcher shares with you the secrets to having a safe, natural and positive birth. Using a powerful combination of mindfulness, hypnosis and relaxation techniques, Sophie will ensure you feel genuinely excited and completely prepared for birth.With stories from women who have successfully used the tools in this book, as well as exclusive hypnosis and relaxation tracks, discover how to:- use your mind and body together to stay focused and in control- draw on visualisation and breathing techniques to help birth progress- feel positive and empowered, before, during and after you give birthReassuring, practical and based entirely on what works, Mindful Hypnobirthing is your essential guide to giving birth the way you want to.

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Book SynopsisGrowing numbers of people are fascinated by the dream world. From psychological scholars and analysts to spontaneous groups and cults, the dream has a compelling voice. I make the point in this book that our dreams are our most creative inner source of wisdom and hope. The criterion for selection is simply that each one illustrates a common human life experience that all readers have had or are likely to have. -- From the Introduction by the Author

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Book SynopsisDreams have profound implications for the physical and spiritual realm, for the body as well as for the psyche. The innovative dream-work procedures developed in this book are instruments that help illuminate such connections, allowing for symbolic elaboration of psychosomatic symptoms that favour their transformation and resolution. The procedures of Dream Processing, Body-Active-Imagination and Contemplative Dream Experience are described and investigated and illustrated with manifold examples. They are valuable tools for the therapeutic professional and for any of us wishing to interact with dreams to harmonise with the profound process that orients us to the path of our lives. Learning from Dreams is the result of many years of research within Dream-Experience-Groups. This Jungian dreamwork methodology broadens the traditional individual setting and offers new perspectives for the professional practice and theory.

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