Entries tagged with psychology toolkit

A wife pretends to hang herself in the basement so she can time how long it will be before her husband comes to rescue her. . . .a woman whose dead aunt was made into a mummy so the family could better grieve her passing and on occasion dine with her at family gatherings . . . a man wants his nose cut off to escape an annoying smell that haunts him . . . a teenage boy would only come to therapy if he could bring his pet snake

These and other fascinating and revealing stories are told by some of the most famous therapists in the world. Collected in this extraordinary book, well known practitioners recount the most memorable case histories of their illustrious careers. Engaging and surprising stories of human behavior are dramatically and often humorously portrayed. Each chapter gives a behind-the-scenes look at how therapists work with clients whose problems and behaviors aren't found in standard psychology textbooks. The book also shows how these eminent therapists often cure these apparently intractable problems and learn something about themselves in the process.

I can not say enough about how much I enjoyed this book. It is uplifting and fun, educational and touching. It details challenging and unique cases from famous therapists along with what they learned from their experiences. The collection journeys from sexual fetishes through death and dying, religious exploration, gender, fear, trauma, pain and celebration. The experience showcased for me how much variation there is in the human reaction to stress and pain. I learned that a therapist's best tool is to be unflappable and unafraid to meet the client where he is. I realized that not every person can be helped and some are helped despite not seeming so to the therapist's eyes.

Kottler and Carlson do a very good job of telling the stories without injecting themselves into them. The focus is very much on the various clients and the emotional and psychological reactions each clinician had to them. I have always found this kind of case study to be an amazing learning tool because it allows me to get inside the mind of a working therapist and test my own reactions to cases against theirs. Its a good and fun read for therapists and non therapists alike and should be a part of the library of any person who enjoys true life portrayals of real people's journeys.

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. (Publisher's Discription- Amazon.com)

In my masters program I was afforded the opportunity to work with one of the members of the Positive Psychology Network out of the University of Pennsylvania. In that classroom experience I learned a new way to look at self esteem and self immage. It reshaped my view of psychology and taught me to view each client as a whole person and to view them through an existential humanist framework. Seligman's book is a rich exploration of the concepts of positive psychology. It teaches you how to harness the powers of your strengths and look for meaning, gratification, and empowerment.

The book is based on the research done by the Positive Psychology Center at U Penn and offers information, exercises, and personal stories to help you understand positive psychology and change the way you look at happiness and at psychology itself. The goals of positive psychology are to move away from the focus on diagnosis and the othering of clients and focus more upon the inner world of each individual and the creation of an empowered satisfying life. The equation that Seligman puts forward postulates that happiness is equal to your genetic set point plus your circumstances of life and the voluntary contributions you make to it. Since we can not modify our genetics, and circumstances are often largely out of our control (for example, going out to change your job, get a new religion or get married are not things most people can chose to do on a whim), the book focuses primarily on our voluntary contributions to our own happiness.

I like this book both as a read for helping professionals and a tool to give to clients to help them become empowered within their own lives. Along with the companion website which offers short online questionnaires and digital versions of various tools to explore self esteem and self worth, the book helps you to reexamine and re-prioritize life in order to optimize enjoyment and meaning. This could be used with high functioning clients or those who are at major crossroads in order to guide them through those times of change. It could also be used to help a lower functioning client struggling with chronic issues to accept their struggle and examine what is important to them. Often those chronic clients are made to feel like victims of their disorder and of the system. A book like this may be a tool to help replace that victim-hood with strength and empowered self directed choices. I strongly recommend this or any of Seligman's books.

Kottler and Carlson's The Mummy at the Dining Room Table

Martin Seligman's Authentic Happiness