Society and culture: general Books

Book SynopsisAn honest and accessible insight into the often closed world of psychotherapy. This book is a memoir of the author's professional life as a psychologist and psychotherapist. It shows his progression from a hard-nosed behaviour therapist with a strong commitment to science to a psychodynamic therapist with an interest in narrative. Along the way he shows the way the main schools of psychotherapy (behavioural, cognitive, psychodynamic) work, drawing on case material from his professional practice. He shows the mistakes he made and the lessons he eventually learned from his patients. His focus on clinical cases enables readers to see psychotherapy in operation and get drawn into the ups and downs of trying to help some fascinating and often tricky people who rarely conform to what is expected of them. The book is free of jargon and can be enjoyed without any prior knowledge of psychology or psychotherapy. It is designed to entertain and inform the general readership about the mysterious world of psychotherapy, what goes on behind the consulting room door. It will be of particular interest to the increasing number of people who encounter psychotherapy either through their own experience of seeking help or the experiences of family and friends or through reading of popular books such as those of Oliver James and Irving Yalom. It should also prove invaluable for those interested in training as a clinical psychologist, counsellor or psychotherapist.Table of ContentsAUTHOR’S NOTE PREFACE SECTION I: GETTING MY HANDS DIRTY CHAPTER ONE - Beginnings CHAPTER TWO - A suitable case for treatment CHAPTER THREE - Getting my hands dirty CHAPTER FOUR - How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb? CHAPTER FIVE - Fail again. Fail better CHAPTER SIX - “Whatever happened to flaming June?” SECTION II: MICROBES IN THE VAST UNIVERSE CHAPTER SEVEN - Speaking prose CHAPTER EIGHT - “I think I’m wasting your time” CHAPTER NINE - Going cognitive CHAPTER TEN - Microbes in the vast universe CHAPTER ELEVEN - “The heart has reasons that reason cannot know” CHAPTER TWELVE - The power of negative thinking SECTION III: GETTING PERSONAL CHAPTER THIRTEEN - Crossing the Rubicon CHAPTER FOURTEEN - Dipping my toe in the water CHAPTER FIFTEEN - “I’m so grateful for all your help” CHAPTER SIXTEEN - “I’ve told you all I know” CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - Not waving but drowning CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - Getting personal SECTION IV: SO IT GOES CHAPTER NINETEEN - Working under time pressure CHAPTER TWENTY - Thinking and feeling CHAPTER TWENTY ONE - “I’ve been told you’re an expert in anxiety management” CHAPTER TWENTY TWO - Getting too personal CHAPTER TWENTY THREE - Unanswerable questions CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR - So it goes ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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Book SynopsisThis book, by a well established author previously writing in a quite different genre, that of psychoanalysis, psychotherapy and counselling, is written for an entirely different readership. Patrick Casement has put together a fascinating account of his strange journey from a privileged background, through schools and national service, and then through university, avoiding throughout the wishes of his family for him to join the Royal Navy. Instead, he leaves university with a degree but heads straight into becoming a bricklayer's mate. From there, eventually, he gets through the vicissitudes of probation and social work, and the hilarious experiences of trying to furnish his first flat. He thus moves into what he describes as the "real" world - getting what his family would regard as a "real job" (or two). But despite that, he continues on his unpredictable journey - into becoming a psychotherapist and then a psychoanalyst: what his mother thought was "training to become a psychotic." This book is filled with laughter - that of the author laughing at himself as he invites the reader to laugh along with him in his journey through the vicissitudes of life.

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Book SynopsisAn engaging book that charts the turbulent journey from childhood to adulthood of a well-known psychoanalyst. "Our human task is to be lived by Life. Life as a transcendent principle. It seems to me that a reliable test of whether we have lived worthwhile lives is this: is the world a better place for my having lived in it?" Neville Symington has written a dozen books about psychoanalysis but this one is different from all the others. It is an emotional autobiography that starts with his own birth and gives a character sketch of his mother and father and his upbringing in Portugal, with a two year period in Canada, and takes the reader through to the age of 45 by which time he was a qualified psychoanalyst, married with two sons and, at the time, living in London. This sounds like the story of a peaceful journey from childhood through to his chosen career in adulthood. However, the author takes the reader through the period of his earlier career in the Church in a parish in the East End of London and the turbulent period of change that led him to take leave of this first career, seek psychoanalysis and finally to become a psychoanalyst himself. This is an engaging book that charts the emotional storms and the ups and downs that beset the life's journey of a well-known psychoanalyst.Table of ContentsCONTENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR ix CHAPTER ONE Father 1 CHAPTER TWO Mother 49 CHAPTER THREE School and after school 69 CHAPTER FOUR Nightmare in Lisbon 101 CHAPTER FIVE The seminary 119 CHAPTER SIX The birth of subjectivity 149 CHAPTER SEVEN In exile 201 CHAPTER EIGHT Disaster and recovery 261

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Book SynopsisPagan Kennedy first captured the hearts of America with her personal zine Pagan's Head. Drawing from this source, she presents not only the zine-world standards, but also includes some helpful dating tips, such as "Pretend to go to the bathroom and never come back." Cruise through this book only if you want an extremely entertaining read and the opportunity to develop an unhealthy fixation on the fabulous Ms. Kennedy. Originally published in 1997, this new edition features "Where are they now" updates.Trade Review"Pagan is that nutty, fun-loving, friendly, bicycle-riding, committed-to-recycling, pop-culture-crazed creature we thought the media had invented so it could use the label 'Generation X' only she really exists." Mademoiselle

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