Six Pillars of Self-Esteem by Nathaniel Branden

This episode is a discussion about Six Pillars of Self-Esteem by Nathaniel Branden. Here is a summary of the book:

Nathaniel Branden's book is the culmination of a lifetime of clinical practice and study, already hailed in its hardcover edition as a classic and the most significant work on the topic.  Immense in scope and vision and filled with insight into human motivation and behavior,The Six Pillars Of Self-Esteem is essential reading for anyone with a personal or professional interest in self-esteem. The book demonstrates compellingly why self-esteem is basic to psychological health, achievement, personal happiness, and positive relationships.  Branden introduces the six pillars-six action-based practices for daily living that provide the foundation for self-esteem-and explores the central importance of self-esteem in five areas: the workplace, parenting, education, psychotherapy, and the culture at large.  The work provides concrete guidelines for teachers, parents, managers, and therapists who are responsible for developing the self-esteem of others.  And it shows why-in today's chaotic and competitive world-self-esteem is fundamental to our personal and professional power."

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Our next discussion will be about In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Mate. Click here to RSVP and join us on 7th July 2013.

Getting Real: 10 Truths Skills You Need to Live an Authentic Life by Susan Campbell

A group conversation about the book Getting Real: 10 Truth Skills You Need to Live an Authentic Life by Susan Campbell Ph.D. Here is a summary of the book:

Everyone values honest communication, yet few people possess the requisite skills. Susan Campbell provides simple yet practical awareness practices — culled from her 35-year career as a relationship coach and corporate consultant — that require individuals to “let go” of the need to be right, safe, and certain. Such questions as “In what areas of my life do I feel the need to lie, sugarcoat, or pretend?” help guide the reader toward self-realization. The ten truth skills include Letting Yourself Be Seen, Taking Back Projections, Saying No, Welcoming Feedback, Expressing Taboo Thoughts and Emotions, Revising an Earlier Statement, Holding Differences, Sharing Mixed Emotions, and Embracing the Silence of Not Knowing.

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Author Interview: Hannah Braime on The Ultimate Guide To Journaling

Hannah is a regular contributor to the Psychology Book Club podcast and has just released a brilliant new book called The Ultimate Guide to Journaling. It is a must read for anyone who is interested in journaling. Whether you are new to the concept of journaling or a seasoned journaler, this book contains tips, techniques, and over 100 journaling suggestions and prompts that will take your journaling practice to new levels. Journaling is an important personal development tool that helps us deepen our connection with ourselves and expand our self-awareness. Find out more about Hannah and her work on her website, becomingwhoyouare.net

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Sex At Dawn by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha

This episode is a discussion about the book Sex at Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships.  Here is a summary of the book from the publishers:

 In this controversial, thought-provoking, and brilliant book, renegade thinkers Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha debunk almost everything we know about sex, weaving together convergent, frequently overlooked evidence from anthropology, archaeology, primatology, anatomy, and psychosexuality to show how far from human nature monogamy really is. In "Sex at Dawn", the authors expose the ancient roots of human sexuality while pointing toward a more optimistic future illuminated by our innate capacities for love, cooperation, and generosity.

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Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

This episode is a discussion about Malcolm Gladwell's bestselling book Outliers: The Story of Success. Here is a summary of the book:

Why do some people achieve so much more than others? Can they lie so far out of the ordinary? In his provocative and inspiring book, Malcolm Gladwell looks at everyone from rock stars to professional athletes, software billionaires to scientific geniuses, to show that the story of success is far more surprising, and more fascinating, than we could ever have imagined. He reveals that it's as much about where we're from and what we do, as who we are - and that no one, not even a genius, ever makes it alone. Outliers will change the way you think about your own life story, and about what makes us all unique. Like Blink, this is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate.

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Private Myths by Anthony Stephens

This episode is a discussion about Private Myths: Dreams and Dreaming by Anthony Stephens. Here is a summary of the book from the publisher:

Every night we enter a mythic realm, a dark, primordial world of fear and desire. What this world offers, Anthony Stevens suggests, may well be the key to understanding our waking mysteries--ourselves, our society, and our history. A prominent psychiatrist and practicing Jungian analyst, Stevens views dreaming from both psychological and neurological perspectives to show how dreams owe their origins as much to our evolutionary history as a species as to our personal history as individuals. 

 A work rich in symbolic and scientific insight, Private Myths traverses the course of dream interpretation from distant hunter-gatherer times to the present. This analysis is as authoritative as it is wide-ranging, including discussions of the biology of dreaming and the discovery of REM sleep, elaboration of the latest neuroscientific techniques in sleep research, and an assessment of the century-long legacy of analytic practice to dream interpretation. In a close look at the actual processes of dream formation, Stevens relates "dream work" to other creative capacities such as language, poetry, storytelling, memory, play, symptom-formation, magic, and ritual. He draws on his many years of experience to analyze key historical dreams, such as Freud's dream of Irma's injection and Hitler's dream of being buried alive, and enriches this discussion with analyses of his own and his patients' dreams. 

 Remarkable in its breadth, Private Myths makes the principles of dream interpretation accessible to scientists, the findings of dream science accessible to analysts, and the discoveries of both available to anyone intrigued by the mysteries of dreams and dreaming.

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Love's Executioner by Irvin Yalom

This episode is 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.

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The Myth of Mental Illness by Thomas Szasz

This episode is a discussion about The Myth of Mental Illness by Thomas Szasz. Here is a summary of the book from Amazon.com:

The most influential critique of psychiatry ever written, Thomas Szasz's classic book revolutionized thinking about the nature of the psychiatric profession and the moral implications of its practices. By diagnosing unwanted behavior as mental illness, psychiatrists, Szasz argues, absolve individuals of responsibility for their actions and instead blame their alleged illness. He also critiques Freudian psychology as a pseudoscience and warns against the dangerous overreach of psychiatry into all aspects of modern life.

In the discussion we also refer to the book The Assault on Truth by Jeffrey Moussaieff Mason.

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Falling In Love by Ayala Malach Pines

In this episode, we're discussing "Falling in Love: Why We Choose the Lovers We Choose" by Ayala Malach Pines. Here is a summary of the book from Amazon:

Falling in Love is the first book to unlock the mysteries of how and why we fall in love. Renowned psychologist Ayala Pines shows us why we fall for the people we do, and argues convincingly that we love neither by chance nor by accident. She offers sound advice for making the right choices when it comes to this complicated emotion. Packed with helpful suggestions for those seeking love and those already in it, this book is about love's many puzzles.

The second edition furthers the work of the popular and successful first edition. With expanded research, theory, and practice, this book once again provides one of a kind understandings of the experience of love. The new edition offers updated references to recent research, new chapter exercises, and "case examples" of romantic stories to begin each chapter.

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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.

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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". 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".

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

This episode is 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

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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.

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A General Theory of Love By Thomas Lewis et al

This episode is a discussion about the book "A General Theory of Love by Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon.  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.

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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 book, The Stranger in The Mirror: Dissociation- The Hidden Epidemic. Here is the book's summary from Amazon.com:

Discover groundbreaking findings on a hidden epidemic -- and why it so often is misdiagnosed.

You peer into the mirror and have trouble recognizing yourself. You feel as if you're going through the motions of life or you're watching a movie of yourself.

These are all symptoms of dissociation -- a debilitating psychological condition involving feelings of disconnection that affects 30 million people in North America and often goes untreated. The Stranger in the Mirror offers unique guidelines for identifying and recovering from dissociative symptoms based on Dr. Marlene Steinberg's breakthrough diagnostic test. Filled with fascinating case histories of people with multiple personalities, this book provides enlightening insights into how all of us respond to trauma and overcome it. Her innovative method of treatment will benefit anyone in search of a healthier sense of self and a heightened capacity for joy.

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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.


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Journal to the Self by Kathleen Adams

In this episode we talk about Journal to the Self by Kathleen Adams, 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.  


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Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg

In this episode, we're discussing Marshall Rosenberg's book Nonviolent Communication. Here is a summary of the book:

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. 


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The Philosophical Baby by Alison Gopnik

In this episode, we're discussing Alison Gopnik's book The Philosophical Baby.

"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."

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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. 

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Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type by Isabel Briggs Myers

In this episode, we discuss Gifts Differing by Isabel Briggs Myers & Peter B. Myers. Here is a summary of the book from Amazon:

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. 



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Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman

In this episode, we're discussing Martin Seligman's influential positive psychology book, Authentic Happiness. Here is the book's summary from Amazon.com:

A national bestseller, Authentic Happiness launched the revolutionary new science of Positive Psychology—and sparked a coast-to-coast debate on the nature of real happiness.

According to esteemed psychologist and bestselling author Martin Seligman, happiness is not the result of good genes or luck. Real, lasting happiness comes from focusing on one’s personal strengths rather than weaknesses—and working with them to improve all aspects of one’s life. Using practical exercises, brief tests, and a dynamic website program, Seligman shows readers how to identify their highest virtues and use them in ways they haven’t yet considered. Accessible and proven, Authentic Happiness is the most powerful work of popular psychology in years. 

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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. Here is the book's description from Amazon.com:

In this book one of America's most distinguished psychologists describes his experiences in helping people to discover the path to personal growth through an understanding of their own limitations and potential. What is personal growth? Under what conditions is it possible? How can one person help another? What is creativity, and how can it be fostered? These are some of the issues raised, which challenge many concepts of traditional psychology.

Contemporary psychology derives largely from the experimental laboratory, or from Freudian theory. It is preoccupied with minute aspects of animal and human behaviour, or with the mentally ill. But there are rebels, of whom the author counts himself as one, along with Gordon Allport, Abraham Maslow and Rollo May, who feel that psychology and psychiatry should be aiming higher, and be more concerned with growth and potentiality in man. The interest of such a psychology is in the production of harmoniously mature individuals, given that we all have qualities and possibilities infinitely capable of development. Successful development makes us more flexible in relationships, more creative, and less open to suggestion and control.

This book, philosophical and provocative, summarizes Dr Rogers' experience.Non-technical in its language, it is not only for psychologists and psychiatrists, but for teachers and counsellors, religious and social workers, labour-management specialists and anyone interested in 'becoming'. 

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