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Life in Rewind: The Story of a Young, Courageous Man Who Persevered Over OCD and the Harvard Doctor Who Broke All the Rules to Help Him
by Edward E. Zine Terry Weible Murphy Michael A. Jenike“A surprising tale of success by medical science confronted with a nearly insurmountable disorder. Well-rounded, powerful, and inspirational.”—Kirkus Reviews In the vein of Manic and Girl, Interrupted, and the popular stories of Oliver Sacks, Life in Rewind is the captivating true story of promising young athlete Ed Zine’s sudden descent into severe mental illness, and the brilliant Harvard doctor, Michael A. Jenike, who broke through the boundaries of traditional medicine to save him. Written by Terry Weible Murphy with Zine and Jenike, Life in Rewind provides a shocking picture of severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and the surprising and unorthodox lengths to which a doctor goes to help his patient. The Washington Times calls this, “[An] extraordinary story.” It is that and much more.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values (Perennial Classics Ser.)
by Robert M PirsigTHE CLASSIC BOOK THAT HAS INSPIRED MILLIONSA penetrating examination of how we live and how to live betterFew books transform a generation and then establish themselves as touchstones for the generations that follow. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is one such book. This modern epic of a man’s search for meaning became an instant bestseller on publication in 1974, acclaimed as one of the most exciting books in the history of American letters. It continues to inspire millions. A narration of a summer motorcycle trip undertaken by a father and his son, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance becomes a personal and philosophical odyssey into fundamental questions on how to live. The narrator's relationship with his son leads to a powerful self-reckoning; the craft of motorcycle maintenance leads to an austerely beautiful process for reconciling science, religion, and humanism. Resonant with the confusions of existence, this classic is a touching and transcendent book of life.This new edition contains an interview with Pirsig and letters and documents detailing how this extraordinary book came to be.
The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth
by Gerald G. MayNow in paperback: a distinguished psychiatrist, spiritual counsellor and bestselling author shows how the dark sides of the spiritual life are a vital ingredient in deep, authentic, healthy spirituality. Gerald G. May, MD, one of the great spiritual teachers and writers of our time, argues that the dark 'shadow' side of the true spiritual life has been trivialised and neglected to our serious detriment. Superficial and naively upbeat spirituality does not heal and enrich the soul. Nor does the other tendency to relegate deep spiritual growth to only mystics and saints. Only the honest, sometimes difficult encounters with what Christian spirituality has called and described in helpful detail as 'the dark night of the soul' can lead to true spiritual wholeness. May emphasises that the dark night is not necessarily a time of suffering and near despair, but a time of deep transition, a search for new orientation when things are clouded and full of mystery. The dark gives depth, dimension and fullness to the spiritual life.
Addiction and Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions (Leader's Guide Ser.)
by Gerald G. MayAddiction and Grace offers an inspiring and hope-filled vision for those who desire to explore the mystery of who and what they really are.<P><P> May examines the "processes of attachment" that lead to addiction and describes the relationship between addiction and spiritual awareness. He also details the various addictions from which we can suffer, not only to substances like alcohol and drugs, but to work, sex, performance, responsibility, and intimacy. Drawing on his experience as a psychiatrist working with the chemically dependent, May emphasizes that addiction represents an attempt to assert complete control over our lives. Addiction and Grace is a compassionate and wise treatment of a topic of major concern in these most addictive of times, one that can provide a critical yet hopeful guide to a place of freedom based on contemplative spirituality.
The Obsession: Reflections on the Tyranny of Slenderness
by Kim CherninThe Obsession is a deeply committed and beautifully written analysis of our society's increasing demand that women be thin. It offers a careful, thought provoking discussion of the reasons men have encouraged this obsession and women have embraced it. It is a book about women's efforts to become thin rather than to accept the natural dimensions of their bodies--a book about the meaning of food and its rejection.
When Parents Hurt: Compassionate Strategies When You and Your Grown Child Don't Get Along
by Joshua ColemanThis unique book supports parents who are struggling with the heartache of having a teenager or an adult child who is troubled, angry, or distant. Such rifts can cause unspeakable sorrow that parents too often must bear alone. Psychologist and parent Joshua Coleman, Ph.D., offers insight, empathy, and perspective to those who have lost the opportunity to be the parent they desperately wanted to be and who are mourning the loss of a harmonious relationship with their child. Through case examples and healing exercises, Dr. Coleman helps parents: Reduce anger, guilt, and shame Learn how temperament, the teen years, their own or a partner's mistakes, and divorce can strain the parent-child bond Come to terms with their own and their child's imperfections Maintain self-esteem through difficult times Develop strategies for rebuilding the relationship or move toward acceptance of what can't be changed Understand how society's high expectations of parents contribute to the risk of parental wounds By helping parents recognize what they can do, and let go of what they cannot, Dr. Coleman helps families develop more positive ways of healing themselves and relating to each other.
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)
by Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiPsychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's famous investigations of "optimal experience" have revealed that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called flow. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. In this new edition of his groundbreaking classic work, Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates the ways this positive state can be controlled, not just left to chance. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience teaches how, by ordering the information that enters our consciousness, we can discover true happiness and greatly improve the quality of our lives.
Letters to a Bullied Girl: Messages of Healing and Hope
by Olivia Gardner Emily Buder Sarah BuderOlivia Gardner, a northern California teenager, was severely taunted and cyber-bullied by her classmates for more than two years. News of her bullying spread, eventually reaching two teenage girls from a neighboring town, sisters Emily and Sarah Buder. The girls were so moved by Olivia's story that they initiated a letter-writing campaign to help lift her spirits. It was a tender gesture of solidarity that set off an overwhelming chain reaction of support, encouragement, and love.In Letters to a Bullied Girl, Olivia and the Buder sisters share an inspiring selection of messages that arrived from across America—the personal, often painful remembrances of former targets, remorseful bullies, and sympathetic bystanders. Letters to a Bullied Girl examines our national bullying epidemic from a variety of angles and perspectives, and includes practical guidance from bullying expert Barbara Coloroso, author of The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander. Though addressed to Olivia, the letters speak to all young people who have been bullied, offer advice and hope to those who suffer, and provide a wake-up call to all who have ever been involved in bullying.
Mars and Venus in Love: Inspiring and Heartfelt Stories of Relationships That Work
by John GrayStraight from the heart -- real-life couples share inspiring, edifying stories of Mars and Venus in love. Millions of readers have learned about relationships from John Gray's previous bestsellers, such as Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, Mars and Venus on a Date; and Mars and Venus in the Bedroom. Inspired by this enthusiasm, Gray asked a number of readers to share their own stories of how they've put his principles to work in their relationships. The result is this amazing collection of first-person accounts-along with Gray's own enlightening commentary-that will have you laughing, crying, and nodding in recognition. Gray's contributors answer such questions as: What problems have you had in your relationship, and how have you overcome them? What special things do you and your partner do for each other? How do you best communicate with each other? How do you practice what you've learned? How does your love feel different now from how it felt before? Their answers illustrate more eloquently than any textbook how to use Gray's advice and counsel to create your own fulfilling, healthy, and loving relationships.
Mars and Venus in Love
by John GrayStraight from the heart -- real-life couples share inspiring, edifying stories of Mars and Venus in love.Millions of readers have learned about relationships from John Gray's previous bestsellers, such as Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, Mars and Venus on a Date; and Mars and Venus in the Bedroom. Inspired by this enthusiasm, Gray asked a number of readers to share their own stories of how they've put his principles to work in their relationships. The result is this amazing collection of first-person accounts-along with Gray's own enlightening commentary-that will have you laughing, crying, and nodding in recognition.Gray's contributors answer such questions as: What problems have you had in your relationship, and how have you overcome them? What special things do you and your partner do for each other? How do you best communicate with each other? How do you practice what you've learned? How does your love feel different now from how it felt before?Their answers illustrate more eloquently than any textbook how to use Gray's advice and counsel to create your own fulfilling, healthy, and loving relationships.
Shane Comes Home
by Rinker BuckOn March 21, 2003, while leading a rifle platoon into combat, Marine Lieutenant Shane Childers became the first combat fatality of the Iraq War. In this gripping, beautifully written personal history, award-winning writer Rinker Buck chronicles Shane's death and his life, exploring its meaning for his family, his fellow soldiers, and the country itself. It is the story of an intelligent, gifted soldier who embodied the soul of today's all-volunteer warrior class; of the town of Powell, Wyoming, which had taken Shane into its heart; and of the Marine detail sent to deliver the news to the Childers family and the extraordinary connection that formed between them.At once an inspiring account of commitment to the military and a moving story of family and devotion, Shane Comes Home rises above politics to capture the life of a remarkable young man who came to symbolize the heart of America during a difficult time.
Going Sane
by Adam Phillips“Phillips has made psychoanalytic thought livelier and more poetic than ever… One of [his] finest and most broadly appealing books.” — New York Times“Phillips offers a detailed description of what sanity can mean today.” — Los Angeles Times“Beautifully written…clever and funny, and properly profound…A lovely addition to Phillips’ guides to living a happier life.” — GQ“Phillip’s arguments, both thought provoking and provocative, may affect future definitions of sanity and madness.” — Publishers WeeklyAs surely as vanilla is a flavor, sanity is a property, and this book delineates its parameters with considerable erudition.” — Andrew Solomon, author of THE NOONDAY DEMON, winner of the National Book Award“Bracing and provocative. Should be enough alone to make whole shelvesful of parenting guides self-destruct.”-- — The Observer“Wise and subtle. Going Sane has some superbly suggestive things to say about childhood, depression, autism and schizophrenia.”-- — Irish Times“Winningly articulate, enlightening but never patronising, [Adam Phillips] is a born writer…Going Sane is written with elegance and zest.” — Arena“Challenging and inspiring …Going Sane is an indispensable guide to what wisdom means today.” — John Gray, professor of political thought at the London School of Economics“Phillips is, as ever, an original and lucid spirit, a buzzing intellectual gadfly in the ointment of our easy answers.” — Daphne Merkin, author of DREAMING OF HITLER: Passions and Provocations“Adam Phillips has written an extraordinarily generous and subtle book...beautiful, unfussily important and emotionally brilliant.” — Jorie Graham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Dream of the Unified Field“Probing ... Challenges the reader to reconsider the taken-for-granted notion that sanity is just another word for mental health.” — Kirkus Reviews“Well-argued and stunningly thought-provoking. Phillips has tackled a ‘big idea’ in a sophisticated yet spirited way.” — Library Journal“Erudite and absorbing, oozes intelligence - and charm. [Phillips is] adept at making the complex comprehensible.” — Independent
Side Effects
by Adam PhillipsPsychoanalysis works by attending to the patient's side effects, "what falls out of his pockets once he starts speaking." Undergoing psychoanalytic therapy is always a leap into the dark—like dedicating our hearts and intellect to a powerful work of literature, it's impossible to know beforehand its ultimate effect and consequences. One must remain open to where the "side effects" will lead.Erudite, eloquent, and enthrallingly observant, Adam Phillips is one of the world's most respected psychoanalysts and a boldly original writer and thinker—and the ideal guide to exploring the provocative connections between psychoanalytic treatment and enduring, transformative literature. His fascinating and thoughtful Side Effects offers a valuable intellectual blueprint for the construction of a life beholden to no ideology other than the fulfillment of personal promise.
Snobs: The Classic Guidebook to Your Friends, Your Enemies, Your Colleagues, and Yourself
by Russell LynesIn this classic work by the renowned wit and pundit whom the New York Times has lauded as "one of America's foremost arbiters of taste and mores . . . an acclaimed expert on what was highbrow, what was lowbrow, and what was no brow at all," the inimitable Russell Lynes flaunts (rather snobbishly, perhaps) his unparalleled expertise on all things snobbish. Since the Social Snob—with his raised nostrils and air of intolerable intolerance—has long since gone underground, it falls to a true connoisseur to identify the myriad faces of snobbery. Whether it be the Regional, Political, or Moral Snob, the Sensual or Sex Snob, or that most virulent of genus, the Reverse or Anti-Snob Snob, Lynes shines an illuminating light that will enable us to more easily recognize the pervasive pretentiousness surrounding us . . . and perhaps within us as well.
SuperSense: How the Developing Brain Creates Supernatural Beliefs
by Bruce M. HoodThe majority of the world's population is religious or believes in supernatural phenomena. In the United States, nine out of every ten adults believe in God, and a recent Gallup poll found that about three out of four Americans believe in some form of telepathy, déjà vu, ghosts, or past lives. Where does such supernatural thinking come from? Are we indoctrinated by our parents, churches, and media, or do such beliefs originate somewhere else? In SuperSense, award-winning cognitive scientist Bruce M. Hood reveals the science behind our beliefs in the supernatural. Superstitions are common. Many of us cross our fingers, knock on wood, step around black cats, and avoid walking under ladders. John McEnroe refused to step on the white lines of a tennis court between points. Wade Boggs insisted on eating a chicken dinner before every Boston Red Sox game. President Barack Obama played a game of basketball the morning of his victory in the Iowa primary and continued the tradition on every subsequent election day.Supernatural thinking includes loftier beliefs as well, such as the sentimental value we place on photos of loved ones, wedding rings, and teddy bears. It also includes spiritual beliefs and the hope for an afterlife. But in this modern, scientific age, why do we hold on to these behaviors and beliefs?It turns out that belief in things beyond what is rational or natural is common to humans and appears very early in childhood. In fact, according to Hood, this "super sense" is something we're born with to develop and is essential to the way we learn to understand the world. We couldn't live without it!Our minds are designed from the very start to think there are unseen patterns, forces, and essences inhabiting the world, and it is unlikely that any effort to get rid of supernatural beliefs, or the superstitious behaviors that accompany them, will be successful. These common beliefs and sacred values are essential in binding us together as a society because they help us to see ourselves connected to each other at a deeper level.
Living Well with Anxiety: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You . . . That You Need to Know (Living Well)
by Carolyn Chambers ClarkA complete guide to the side-effects and treatments for anxiety disordersHigh anxiety is an unfortunate byproduct of this world, and for approximately 20 million American adults a year, anxiety becomes a debilitating part of their lives. The psychological can become physical, causing dizziness, stammering, heart palpitations, trembling, shaking, and other symptoms. Unlike other books on anxiety disorders, Living Well with Anxiety offers a holistic approach to minimizing anxiety, presenting both conventional psychiatric and psychological approaches to anxiety conditions, as well as patient anecdotes, and nutrition, herbal, environmental, exercise and other healing measures to combat this disorder. Living Well with Anxiety contains helpful advice for a wide range of anxiety disorders, including social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and various phobias that cause anxiety. With a comprehensive resource section that contains websites, doctors, and helpful articles, this book, like all of the titles in the successful Living Well series, offers positive and far-reaching solutions to building a healthier life, both emotionally and physically.
How Can I Forgive You?
by Janis A. SpringUntil now, we have been taught that forgiveness is good for us and that good people forgive. Dr. Spring, a gifted therapist and the award-winning author of After the Affair, proposes a radical, life-affirming alternative that lets us overcome the corrosive effects of hate and get on with our lives--without forgiving. She also offers a powerful and unconventional model for genuine forgiveness--one that asks as much of the offender as it does of us. This bold and healing book offers step-by-step, concrete instructions that help us make peace with others and with ourselves, while answering such crucial questions as these: How do I forgive someone who is unremorseful or dead? When is forgiveness cheap? What is wrong with refusing to forgive? How can the offender earn forgiveness? How do we forgive ourselves for hurting another human being?
How Can I Forgive You?
by Janis A. SpringUntil now, we have been taught that forgiveness is good for us and that good people forgive. Dr. Spring, a gifted therapist and the award-winning author of After the Affair, proposes a radical, life-affirming alternative that lets us overcome the corrosive effects of hate and get on with our lives--without forgiving. She also offers a powerful and unconventional model for genuine forgiveness--one that asks as much of the offender as it does of us.This bold and healing book offers step-by-step, concrete instructions that help us make peace with others and with ourselves, while answering such crucial questions as these:How do I forgive someone who is unremorseful or dead?When is forgiveness cheap?What is wrong with refusing to forgive?How can the offender earn forgiveness?How do we forgive ourselves for hurting another human being?
Napoleon's Privates: 2,500 Years of History Unzipped
by Tony PerrottetWhen Tony Perrottet heard that Napoleon's "baguette" had been stolen by his disgruntled doctor a few days after the Emperor's death, he rushed out to New Jersey. Why? Because that's where an eccentric American collector who had purchased Napoleon's member at a Parisian auction now kept the actual relic in an old suitcase under his bed.The story of Napoleon's privates triggered Perrottet's quest to research other such exotic sagas from history, to discover the actual evidence behind the most famous age-old mysteries: Did Churchill really send condoms of a surprising size to Stalin? Were champagne glasses really molded upon Marie Antoinette's breasts? What was JFK's real secret service? What were Casanova's best pickup lines? Napoleon's Privates is filled with offbeat, riotously entertaining anecdotes that are guaranteed to amaze, shock, and enliven any dinner party.
Mirage: Napoleon's Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt
by Nina BurleighTwo hundred years ago, only the most reckless or eccentric Europeans had dared to traverse the unmapped territory of the modern-day Middle East. But in 1798, more than 150 French engineers, artists, doctors, and scientists—even a poet and a musicologist—traveled to the Nile Valley under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte and his invading army. Hazarding hunger, hardship, uncertainty, and disease, Napoleon's "savants" risked their lives in pursuit of discovery. The first large-scale interaction between Europeans and Muslims in the modern era, the audacious expedition was both a triumph and a disaster, resulting in finds of immense historical and scientific importance (including the ruins of the colossal pyramids and the Rosetta Stone) and in countless tragic deaths through plague, privation, madness, or violence.Acclaimed journalist Nina Burleigh brings readers back to the landmark adventure at the dawn of the modern era that ultimately revealed the deepest secrets of ancient Egypt to a curious continent.
Manifest Your Destiny: The Nine Spiritual Principles for Getting Everything You Want
by Wayne W. DyerFrom the inspirational leader and author of the international bestsellers Your Sacred Self and the classic Your Erroneous Zones comes this mind-awakening guidebook for making your desires reality. Based on ancient principles and spiritual practices, Manifest Your Destiny introduces the Nine Spiritual Principles that will help you overcome the barriers--both within and around you--that prevent you from getting what you want, including:Developing spiritual awarenessTrusting yourselfReconnecting to your environmentAttracting your desiresAccepting your own worthinessPracticing unconditional loveMeditating to unlock the power within youLetting go of demandsFilled with warmth and insight, this invaluable book will help you achieve your goals--and take you to a level higher than you've ever dreamed.
The Locked Garden
by Gloria WhelanIt's the year 1900, the dawn of a new century and a chance for a new beginning for Verna and Carlie, whose mother died two years ago. They are headed to their new home-the grounds of an asylum for the mentally ill. Their father, a doctor, has been hired to treat its patients while the girls are under the strict and watchful eye of their aunt Maude. The towering asylum, the murmuring patients with their tormented pasts, the exquisite locked garden at the center of the grounds-Verna perceives forbidden mystery and enchantment everywhere. Even Aunt Maude's temper will not keep her from striking out on her own exciting adventures. But is Verna ready to confront all the secrets and emotions that have been locked within-even those of her own heart?
If You Had Controlling Parents
by Dan NeuharthDo you sometimes feel as if you are living your life to please others? Do you give other people the benefit of the doubt but second-guess yourself? Do you struggle with perfectionism, anxiety, lack of confidence, emotional emptiness, or eating disorders? In your intimate relationships, have you found it difficult to get close without losing your sense of self? If so, you may be among the fifteen million adults in the United States who were raised with unhealthy parental control. In this groundbreaking bestseller by accomplished family therapist Dan Neuharth, Ph.D., you'll discover whether your parents controlled eating, appearance, speech, decisions, feelings, social life, and other aspects of your childhood--and whether that control may underlie problems you still struggle with in adulthood. Packed with inspiring case studies and dozens of practical suggestions, this book shows you how to leave home emotionally so you can improve assertiveness, boundaries, and confidence, quiet you "inner critics," and bring more balance to your moods and relationships. Offering compassion, not blame, Dr. Neuharth helps you make peace with your past and avoid overcontrolling your children and other loved ones.
Feeling Strong: How Power Issues Affect Our Ability to Direct Our Own Lives
by Ethel S. PersonIn Feeling Strong, noted psychoanalyst Ethel S. Person redefines the notion of power. Power is often narrowly understood as the force exerted by the politicians and business leaders who seem to be in charge and by the rich and famous who monopolize our headlines. The whiff of evil we often catch when the subject of power is in the air comes from this one conception of power-- the drive for dominance over other people, or, in its most extreme form, an overriding and often ruthless lust for total command. But this is far too limited a definition of power.Pointing to a more fulfilling sense of self-empowerment than is being touted in pop-psychology manuals of our time, Feeling Strong shows us that power is really our ability to produce an effect, to make something we want to happen actually take place. Power is a desire and a drive, and it central in our lives, dictating much of our behavior and consuming much of our interior lives.We all have a need to possess power, use it, understand it and negotiate it. This holds true not just in mediating our sex and love lives, our family lives and friendships, our work relationships but in seeking to realize our dreams, whether in pursuit of our ambitions, expression of our creative impulses, or in our need to identify with something larger than ourselves. These separate kinds of power are best described as interpersonal power and personal power, respectively, and they call on different parts of our psyche. Ideally, we acquire competence in both domains.Drawing from her expertise honed in clinical practice, as well as from examples in literature and true-life vignettes, Person shows how we can achieve authentic power, a fundamental and potentially benevolent part of human nature that allows us to experience ourselves as authentically strong. To find something that matters; to live life at a higher pitch; to feel inner certainty; to find a personality of your own and effectively plot our own life story -- these are the forms of power explored in the book. To achieve and maintain such empowerment always entails struggle and is a life-long journey. Feeling Strong will lead the way.
The Divided Mind
by John E. SarnoThe book that will change the way we think about health and illness, The Divided Mind is the crowning achievement of Dr. John E. Sarno's distinguished career as a groundbreaking medical pioneer, going beyond pain to address the entire spectrum of psychosomatic (mindbody) disorders. The interaction between the generally reasonable, rational, ethical, moral conscious mind and the repressed feelings of emotional pain, hurt, sadness, and anger characteristic of the unconscious mind appears to be the basis for mindbody disorders. The Divided Mind traces the history of psychosomatic medicine, including Freud's crucial role, and describes the psychology responsible for the broad range of psychosomatic illness. The failure of medicine's practitioners to recognize and appropriately treat mindbody disorders has produced public health and economic problems of major proportions in the United States. One of the most important aspects of psychosomatic phenomena is that knowledge and awareness of the process clearly have healing powers. Thousands of people have become pain-free simply by reading Dr. Sarno's previous books. How and why this happens is a fascinating story, and is revealed in The Divided Mind.