Love's Executioner by Irvin Yalom

A discussion about the book "Love's Executioner: & Other Tales of Psychotherapy" by Irvin D. Yalom. Here is a summary of the book from the publisher:
The collection of ten absorbing tales by master psychotherapist Irvin D. Yalom uncovers the mysteries, frustrations, pathos, and humor at the heart of the therapeutic encounter. In recounting his patients' dilemmas, Yalom not only gives us a rare and enthralling glimpse into their personal desires and motivations but also tells us his own story as he struggles to reconcile his all-too human responses with his sensibility as a psychiatrist.

Podcast Episode

The Myth of Mental Illness by Thomas Szasz

A discussion about "The Myth of Mental Illness" by Thomas Szasz.  Thomas Szasz's classic book revolutionised thinking throughout the world about the nature of the psychiatric profession and the moral implications of its practices. By diagnosing behaviour problems as 'mental illness', psychiatry, Szasz argues, absolves the individual of responsibility for his actions, placing blame instead on the illness. In "The Myth of Mental Illness", he attacks Freudian psychology as a dangerous pseudo-science and critiques the overreach of psychology into all aspects of modern life. In the discussion we also refer to the book "The Assault on Truth" by Jeffrey Moussaieff Mason.

Podcast Episode

Falling In Love by Ayala Malach Pines

An international group of psychology enthusiasts discuss "Falling in Love: Why We Choose the Lovers We Choose" by Ayala Malach Pines. This is an influential recent book about the psychology of love and romance. In the discussion we compare Pines' theories with other books on love, including "Getting the Love You Want" by Harville Hendrix, "Real-Time Relationships: The Logic of Love" by Stefan Molyneux, "Toward Truth: A Psychological Guide to Enlightenment" by Daniel Mackler and "The Road Less Traveled" by M Scott Peck.

Podcast Episode

Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine

A discussion of Cordelia Fine's book "Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference". Here is a summary of the book from the publisher:

This is a vehement attack on the latest pseudo-scientific claims about the differences between the sexes - with the scientific evidence to back it up. Sex discrimination is supposedly a distant memory. Yet popular books, magazines and even scientific articles increasingly defend inequalities by citing immutable biological differences between the male and female brain. Why are there so few women in science and engineering, so few men in the laundry room? Well, they say, it's our brains. Drawing on the latest research in developmental psychology, neuroscience, and social psychology, "Delusions of Gender" rebuts these claims, showing how old myths, dressed up in new scientific finery, help perpetuate the status quo. Cordelia Fine reveals the mind's remarkable plasticity, shows the substantial influence of culture on identity, and, ultimately, exposes just how much of what we consider 'hardwired' is actually malleable. This startling, original and witty book shows the surprising extent to which boys and girls, men and women are made - and not born.

Podcast Episode

Self Therapy by Jay Early

A discussion of Jay Early's book "Self-Therapy: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Wholeness and Healing Your Inner Child Using IFS, A New, Cutting-Edge Psychotherapy". This book deals with the concept of Internal Family Systems, based on the book Internal Family Systems Therapy by Richard Schwartz, which we have also covered in a previous episode. Here is a summary of "Self Therapy" from the book:

"This book can help you bring a new sense of compassion and healing to yourself without having to be in therapy. Through Jay's user-friendly description of the Internal Family Systems approach, you will begin to change how you do "self talk," or internal dialogue. As you relate to even your most shameful emotions and impulses with curiosity rather than judgment and with caring rather than disgust, you will find that these parts of you are not what they seem. They are valuable inner resources that have been distorted by difficult life experiences. Even more uplifting, you will learn that you have a core, an essence, that is untouched by life's traumas. What IFS calls the Self is in every one of us; it is a source of wonderful qualities from which we can lead our inner and outer lives. In this way, the book releases our self concepts from the pathological and pessimistic way we have been taught to view ourselves. It proposes a new, optimistic, and edifying vision of the mind and shows how easily it can change and heal."

In the podcast we refer to recent scientific advances in the understanding of memory- more information about this can be found here and here. We also refer to Jay Earley's other book "Self-Therapy for Your Inner Critic".

Podcast Episode

They F*** You Up: How to Survive Family Life by Oliver James

A discussion of Oliver James' book They F*** You Up: How to Survive Family Life Here is a summary from Amazon:

In this groundbreaking book, clinical psychologist Oliver James shows that it is the way we were cared for in the first six years of life that has a crucial effect on who we are and how we behave. Nurture, in effect, shapes our very nature. In a remarkable analysis of science and popular culture, James combines the latest research with revealing case studies, interviews, and biographies with the likes of Michael Jackson, Mia Farrow, and Prince Charles to prove his point. James explains how the findings he presents can be a source of liberation in our lives. Through the use of provocative questions and insightful examples, he helps readers better understand the way their childhood past is affecting their present and how to "be your own scriptwriter." He also argues that his findings could have huge implications for society as a whole. A top-seller and recipient of significant attention in the U.K., They F*** You Up is an opinionated, entertaining read which causes us to ponder the origins of our present behaviour.


The title of the book comes from the poem by Philip Larkin: - This Be The Verse
Podcast Episode.

The Truth Will Set You Free by Alice Miller

A discussion of Alice Miller's book "The Truth Will Set You Free: Overcoming Emotional Blindness and Finding Your True Adult Self". Here is a summary of the book from Amazon:

Swiss psychoanalyst Alice Miller's writings have changed the way many people view themselves and their world. In simple but powerful prose, the deeply moving "The Drama of Being a Child" showed how parents unconsciously form and deform the emotional lives of their children. In "The Truth Will Set You Free" Miller returns to the intensely personal tone and themes of her ground-breaking work. She says, "I simply refuse to see obedience as a virtue, curiosity as a sin, and ignorance of good and evil as an ideal state". Only by embracing the truth of our past histories can any of us hope to be free of pain in the present, she argues. Miller's vivid true stories reveal the perils of early-childhood mistreatment and the dangers of mindless obedience to parental will. Drawing on the latest research on brain development, she shows how spanking and humiliation produce dangerous levels of denial. This denial, necessary for the child's survival, leads to emotional blindness and finally to mental barriers that cut off awareness and the ability to learn new ways of acting. If this cycle repeats itself, the grown child will perpetrate the same abuse on later generations, warns Miller. "The Truth Will Set You Free" should provoke and inform all readers who want to know Alice Miller's latest thinking on this important subject.

Special guests on this episode are Daniel Mackler, psychologist, writer and filmmaker whose website is iraresoul.com and Stefan Molyneux, philosopher and host of Freedomainradio.com  Podcast Episode

Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View by Stanley Milgram

A discussion of Stanley Milgram's classic book "Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View". Here is a summary from the publisher:

Volunteers are invited to a scientific laboratory under the pretence of participating in a study about the effects of punishment on learning. They are instructed by an experimenter to administer an electric shock of increasing intensity to a 'learner' every time he makes a mistake. How many, if any, would go right up the scale to 450 Volts?


The implications of Stanley Milgram's extraordinary findings are devastating. From the Holocaust to Vietnam's My Lai massacre, from Bosnia to Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, Obedience to Authority goes some way towards explaining how ordinary people can commit the most horrific of crimes if placed under the influence of a malevolent authority.

This episode includes special guest Stefan Molyneux, host of Freedomainradio.com based in Mississauga, Canada.

Podcast Episode

Between Two Worlds by Elizabeth Marquardt

A group of psychology enthusiasts discuss "Between Two Worlds: The Inner Lives of Children of Divorce", a book about the lasting psychological impact of childhoods spent in split families. Here is a summary of the book from the publisher:

Is there really such a thing as a good divorce? Determined to uncover the truth, Elizabeth Marquardt herself a child of divorce conducted, with Professor Norval Glenn, a pioneering national study of children of divorce, surveying 1,500 young adults from both divorced and intact families between 2001 and 2003. In Between Two Worlds, she weaves the findings of that study together with powerful, unsentimental stories of the childhoods of young people from divorced families.


The hard truth, she says, is that while divorce is sometimes necessary, even amicable divorces sow lasting inner conflict in the lives of children. When a family breaks in two, children who stay in touch with both parents must travel between two worlds, trying alone to reconcile their parents often strikingly different beliefs, values, and ways of living. Authoritative, beautifully written, and alive with the voices of men and women whose lives were changed by divorce, Marquardt s book is essential reading for anyone who grew up between two worlds.
Podcast Episode

A General Theory of Love By Thomas Lewis et al

A group of international psychology enthusiasts talk about the book "A General Theory of Love. Here is a summary of the book:
Three eminent psychiatrists tackle the difficult task of reconciling what artists and thinkers have known for thousands of years about the human heart with what has only recently been learned about the primitive functions of the human brain. The result is an original, lucid, at times moving account of the complexities of love and its essential role in human well-being. A General Theory of Love draws on the latest scientific research to demonstrate that our nervous systems are not self-contained: from earliest childhood, our brains actually link with those of the people close to us, in a silent rhythm that alters the very structure of our brains, establishes life-long emotional patterns, and makes us, in large part, who we are.

Podcast Episode

Parent Effectiveness Training by Thomas Gordon

A group of psychology enthusiasts discuss Thomas Gordon's classic book "Parent Effectiveness Training". P.E.T. began almost forty years ago as the first national parent-training program to teach parents how to communicate more effectively with kids and offer step-by-step advice to resolving family conflicts so everybody wins.
Podcast Episode

The Psychology Book Club Experience

Here is a very short podcast about the experience of reading and sharing thoughts on psychology books from members of the book club. I hope you get involved! Podcast Episode

The Stranger In The Mirror by Marlene Steinberg

A group discussion about Marlene Steinberg's fascinating and helpful book about dissociative identity disorders, "The Stranger in The Mirror: Dissociation- The Hidden Epidemic"

Podcast Episode

Author Interview: Daniel Mackler on Toward Truth

This episode is an interview with author Daniel Mackler about his book "Toward Truth: A Psychological Guide to Enlightenment". Daniel is a filmmaker, musician and lover of life. For 10 years he was a psychotherapist in New York City. He writes extensively on healing childhood trauma and reclaiming the true self.  Here is a summary of his book:

Toward Truth offers the reader a radical psychological guide to healing childhood trauma- both the extreme echelon of damage and the other 99% that flies below the radar and is considered normal. Daniel Mackler sides with the truth of the child, not the lies of the parents, and traces the roots of trauma in the family. Toward Truth takes the groundbreaking work of psychologist Alice Miller to the next level and in doing so offers a vision of deep, permanent, non-dissociative hope.


Podcast Episode

Journal to the Self by Kathleen Adams

In this episode we talk about a book that helps you explore the rich inner world through journalling.

Kathleen Adams' life is journal keeping and this book reflects the passion she has for using writing to enrich our lives. Whether this is your first venture into journaling or you are a veteran journaler, you will find fresh ideas and satisfying reading in "Journal to the Self". The book is full of journaling prompts and techniques that will have you feeling as though the author is holding your hand. Kathleen is the Director of the Center for Journal Therapy in Colorado, and the author of several journaling texts, including a workbook that accompanies this book. 
Review from Amazon

This episode's special guest is Hannah, founder of the personal development website http://www.becomingwhoyouare.net/ based in London, England.
You can buy Journal to the Self on Amazon.

Podcast Episode

Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg

A discussion of Marshall Rosenberg's book "Nonviolent Communication" by a group of psychology enthusiasts from around the world.

An enlightening look at how peaceful communication can create compassionate connections with family, friends, and other acquaintances. The book uses stories, examples, and sample dialogues to provide solutions to communication problems both at home and in the workplace. Guidance is provided on identifying and articulating feelings and needs, expressing anger fully, and exploring the power of empathy in order to speak honestly without creating hostility, break patterns of thinking that lead to anger and depression, and communicate compassionately. These non-violent communication skills are fully explained and can be applied to personal, professional, and political differences. Included in this new edition is information on how to compassionately connect with oneself.
Publisher's summary

You can find the book on Amazon in both print format and as an audiobook.

Special guest this week is Heiko, psychotherapist and philosopher from Germany. His youtube channel is http://www.youtube.com/user/heikophilo


Podcast Episode

Toxic Parents by Susan Forward

A skype discussion about the New York Times #1 bestseller, "Toxic Parents" by Susan Forward. Participants are psychology enthusiasts from around the world.

Millions of lives are damaged by the legacy of parental abuse. Parents who ignored their children's needs or overburdened them with guilt. Parents who were alcoholic or addicted to drugs. Parents who were exploitative and cruel, or simply indifferent and inadequate. When these children reach adulthood the damage done by their toxic parents manifests itself in depression, or difficulties with relationships, careers and decision-making. This book confronts this painful legacy and shows why it is so difficult to put the past behind you. She offers alternatives for achieving inner peace and for freeing yourself from the frustrating patterns of your relationships with your parents. Filled with case histories and testimony from adult children of toxic parents, this book also offers the self-help techniques Dr Forward has developed to change the lives of her patients.
Internet summary of the book

Special guest this week is Heiko, psychotherapist and philosopher from Germany. His youtube channel is http://www.youtube.com/user/heikophilo

Podcast Episode

The Philosophical Baby by Alison Gopnik

Psychology enthusiasts from around the world discuss Alison Gopnik's book "The Philosophical Baby" on skype.

The last decade has witnessed a revolution in our understanding of infants and young children. Scientists used to believe that babies were irrational, and that their thinking and experience were limited. Recently, they have discovered that babies learn more, create more, care more, and experience more than we could ever have imagined. And there is good reason to believe that babies are actually cleverer, more thoughtful, and even more conscious than adults.
This new science holds answers to some of the deepest and oldest questions about what it means to be human. A new baby's captivated gaze at her mother's face lays the foundations for love and morality. A toddler's unstoppable explorations of his playpen hold the key to scientific discovery. A three-year-old's wild make-believe explains how we can imagine the future, write novels, and invent new technologies.
Alison Gopnik - a leading psychologist and philosopher, as well as a mother - explains the groundbreaking new psychological, neuroscientific, and philosophical developments in our understanding of very young children, transforming our understanding of how babies see the world, and in turn promoting a deeper appreciation for the role of parents.
Publisher's summary

Special guest this week is Heiko, psychotherapist and philosopher from Germany. His youtube channel is http://www.youtube.com/user/heikophilo

Podcast Episode

The Road Less Travelled by M. Scott Peck

This episode is a discussion of M. Scott Peck's bestseller, "The Road Less Traveled". Here is a summary from Wikipedia:

The Road Less Traveled, published in 1978, is Peck's best-known work. It is a description of the attributes that make for a fulfilled human being, based on his experiences as a psychiatrist and a person.  In the first section of the book Peck talks about discipline, which he considers essential for emotional, spiritual and psychological health, and which he describes as "the means of spiritual evolution". The elements of discipline that make for such health include the ability to delay gratification, accepting responsibility for oneself and one's actions, a dedication to truth and balancing. In the second section, Peck considers the nature of love, which he considers the driving force behind spiritual growth. The section mainly attacks a number of misconceptions about love: that romantic love exists (he considers it a very destructive myth), that it is about dependency, that true love is not "falling in love".', it is a feeling. Instead "true" love is about the extending of one's ego boundaries to include another, and about the spiritual nurturing of another. The final section describes Grace, his concept of a force originating outside human consciousness that nurtures spiritual growth in human beings.

Podcast Episode

Healing The Child Within by Charles Whitfield

A lively skype conversation by people from many countries about a classic psychology book.

Have you ever heard of your inner child? This is the classic book that started it all. In 1987, Charlie Whitfield's breakthrough concept of the child within—that part of us which is truly alive, energetic, creative and fulfilled—launched the inner child movement. Healing the Child Within describes how the inner child is lost to trauma and loss, and how by recovering it, we can heal the fear, confusion and unhappiness of adult life. Eighteen years and more than a million copies sold later, Healing the Child Within is a perennial selling classic in the field of psychology. And it is even more timely today than it was in 1987. Recent brain research, particularly on the effects of trauma on the brain of developing children, has supported Whitfield's intuitive understanding as a psychiatrist.
Google Books Review

This episode includes special guest Stefan Molyneux, philosopher and host of Freedomainradio.com based in Mississauga, Canada. We would love to hear your thoughts about the book and our discussion- feel free to add comments to this page.

Podcast Episode

Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type by Isabel Briggs Myers

A skype conversation by an international group of psychology enthusiasts about the most widely used model of personality type. Here is a summary of the book:

Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type is a well-known book, written by Isabel Briggs Myers with Peter B. Myers, which describes the insights into the psychological type model originally developed by C.G. Jung as adapted and embodied in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality test. The book explains the many practical applications of this typological model using four categories of psychological type differences - Extraversion / Introversion; Sensing / Intuition; Thinking / Feeling; Judging / Perceiving. The book also suggests how different combinations of these characteristics tend to influence the ways people perceive the world and how they both respond to and interact with it. Type tables show how type preferences tend to correlate with occupational interests. Profiles of the sixteen types also suggest how people of each type tend to act and relate to people with other type dynamics. Every year over 2.5 million people take the MBTI assessment and it has become the most widely used personality questionnaire in history. Over 150,000 copies of Gifts Differing have been sold.
Wikipedia Summary

We would love to hear your thoughts about the book and our discussion- feel free to add comments to this page.

Podcast Episode

Internal Family Systems Therapy by Richard C. Schwartz

A fascinating skype conversation about a radical new theory of personality. Psychology enthusiasts from around the world discuss Richard Schwartz's book "Internal Family Systems Therapy". The discussion includes an inspiring account of the experience of getting in touch with your own internal family system by a knowledgeable practitioner from New York.

Here is a review of the book:
"Each of us is lobbied by a clamor of disembodied inner voices. In his clinical work, Richard Schwartz engages with each of these voices asthough it were a full, living member of a small, discordant, yet loyal parliament, one in which the core self of the client permanently presides. By applying family systems approaches to this interior assembly, Schwartz enables the client to comprehend and grapple effectively with many problems, even with such bedeviling maladies asbulimia and self-mutilation. His brilliantly imaginative methods feel natural and immediately acceptable to most individuals and families. The clear, intelligent exposition makes this enchanting book equally accessible to students and experienced clinicians." 
--Richard Chasin, MD, Family Institute of Cambridge; Associate Clinical Professor ofPsychiatry, Harvard Medical School; President, American Family Therapy Academy

This episode includes special guest Stefan Molyneux, philosopher and host of Freedomainradio.com based in Mississauga, Canada. We would love to hear your thoughts about the book and our discussion- feel free to add comments to this page.

Podcast Episode

Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman

In this episode, a group of international psychology enthusiasts meet on skype to talk about Seligman's influential book and explore its relevance for happiness in their own lives.  Seligman is the leading figure in the growing field of "positive psychology".

We would love to hear your thoughts about the book and our discussion- feel free to add comments to this page.

Podcast Episode

On Becoming A Person by Carl Rogers

Psychology enthusiasts from around the world meet on Skype to talk about Carl Rogers' great book "On Becoming A Person" and its relevance for their personal lives.


"Carl Rogers (January 8, 1902 – February 4, 1987) was an influential American psychologist and among the founders of the Humanistic approach to psychology. Rogers is widely considered to be one of the founding fathers of psychotherapy research and was honored for his pioneering research with the Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions by the American Psychological Association in 1956. The Person-centered approach, his own unique approach to understanding personality and human relationships, found wide application in various domains such as psychotherapy and counseling (Client-centered therapy), education (Student-centered learning), organizations, and other group settings. For his professional work he was bestowed the Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Psychology by the APA in 1972. Towards the end of his life Carl Rogers was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with national intergroup conflict in South Africa and Northern Ireland. In an empirical study by Haggbloom et al. (2002) using six criteria such as citations and recognition, Rogers was found to be the sixth most eminent psychologist of the 20th Century and among clinicians, second only to Sigmund Freud."
Wikipedia

This episode includes special guest Stefan Molyneux, philosopher and host of Freedomainradio.com based in Mississauga, Canada. We would love to hear your thoughts about the book and our discussion- feel free to add comments to this page.

Podcast Episode