The fundamental concern of psychotherapy is change. While practitioners are constantly greeted with new strategies, techniques, programs, and interventions, this book argues that the full benefits of the therapeutic process cannot be realized without fundamental revision of the concept of change itself. Applying cybernetic thought to family therapy, Bradford P. Keeney demonstrates that conventional epistemology, in which casue and effect have a linear relationship, does not sufficiently accommodate the reciprocal nature of causation in experience. Written in an unconventional style that includes stories, case examples, and imagined dialogues between an epistemologist and a skeptical therapist, the volume presents a philosophically grounded, ecological framework for contemporary clinical practice.
Why attractive things work better and other crucial insights into human-centered design Emotions are inseparable from how we humans think, choose, and act. In Emotional Design, cognitive scientist Don Norman shows how the principles of human psychology apply to the invention and design of new technologies and products. In The Design of Everyday Things, Norman made the definitive case for human-centered design, showing that good design demanded that the user's must take precedence over a designer's aesthetic if anything, from light switches to airplanes, was going to work as the user needed. In this book, he takes his thinking several steps farther, showing that successful design must incorporate not just what users need, but must address our minds by attending to our visceral reactions, to our behavioral choices, and to the stories we want the things in our lives to tell others about ourselves. Good human-centered design isn't just about making effective tools that are straightforward to use; it's about making affective tools that mesh well with our emotions and help us express our identities and support our social lives. From roller coasters to robots, sports cars to smart phones, attractive things work better. Whether designer or consumer, user or inventor, this book is the definitive guide to making Norman's insights work for you.
Since Descartes famously proclaimed, "I think, therefore I am," science has often overlooked emotions as the source of a person’s true being. Even modern neuroscience has tended, until recently, to concentrate on the cognitive aspects of brain function, disregarding emotions. This attitude began to change with the publication of Descartes’ Error in 1995. Antonio Damasio—"one of the world’s leading neurologists" (The New York Times)—challenged traditional ideas about the connection between emotions and rationality. In this wondrously engaging book, Damasio takes the reader on a journey of scientific discovery through a series of case studies, demonstrating what many of us have long suspected: emotions are not a luxury, they are essential to rational thinking and to normal social behavior.
Exploring the Complexities of Human Action offers a bold theoretical framework for thinking systematically and integratively about what people do as they go about their lives. Raeff sets the stage for conceptualizing human action by first constructively questioning some conventional practices and assumptions in psychology, such as fragmenting, aggregating, and objectifying. She then articulates an alternative systems conceptualization of action that emphasizes multiple and interrelated processes, and characterizes human action in terms of the complexities of holism, dynamics, variability, and multi-causality. The book also applies this theoretical framework to varied human issues, including mind-body connections, art, diversity, extremism, and freedom. This approach provides a vision of humanity that promotes complex and empathic understanding of human beings that can bring people together to pursue common goals.
After a long period of neglect, emotions have become an important topic within literary studies. This collection of essays stresses the complex link between aesthetic and non-aesthetic emotional components and discusses emotional patterns by focusing on the practice of writing as well as on the impact of such patterns on receptive processes. Readers interested in the topic will be presented with a concept of aesthetic emotions as formative both within the writing and the reading process. Essays, ranging in focus from the beginning of modern drama to digital formats and theoretical questions, examine examples from English, German, French, Russian and American literature. Contributors include Angela Locatelli, Vera Nünning, and Gesine Lenore Schiewer.
Feel Better. . .Live Better Scientific discoveries are unlocking the mysteries of our emotional lives. Every week brings us new information on the environmental, hormonal, genetic, and chemical factors that affect our feelings, and an ever-expanding repertoire of methods to manage specific emotional conditions. But how can we apply this cutting-edge research to our own lives? In The Emotional Revolution, Norman E. Rosenthal, psychiatrist, researcher, and specialist in the fields of psychopharmacology and psychobiology, offers a comprehensive guide to these exciting breakthroughs. He explores the latest findings about the body mechanisms that create emotions--and why our feelings can sometimes go out of control. He also offers simple self-help strategies and evaluates dozens of the newest treatments--both traditional and alternative--that can help with everything from depression and addiction to anxiety and excessive anger. Here is fascinating, up-to-the-minute information you won't find in any other single resource, including: • Clues to the biological basis of monogamy • A new link between depression and heart disease, and what this means for the treatment of both conditions • How simple patterns of eye movements can help alleviate painful memories • How taking a commonly-used blood pressure medication can help you cope with trauma • How lying in the dark releases a hormone that can alleviate anxiety and craving • The surprising health benefits of friendship and religion • The deadly dangers of anger • The health-promoting powers of love The first book to combine scientific research with prescriptive guidelines for the general reader, The Emotional Revolution is your guide to understanding the complexities of human feelings--and improving your life. "A well-researched, clearly-written, and absorbing book. Highly recommended for anyone who's ever seen a psychiatrist--or who hasn't!" --Dean Hamer, Ph.D., author of The Science of Desire Norman E. Rosenthal, M.D., is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University. A practicing psychiatrist, Dr. Rosenthal has been listed in The Best Doctors in the U.S. For twenty years, he was a senior researcher in psychiatry and psychobiology at the National Institute of Mental Health. He has appeared on 20/20, CNN, National Public Radio, The Today Show, CBS Morning News, and Good Morning, America. Dr. Rosenthal lives and practices in Rockville, Maryland. Visit his Web site at www.normanrosenthal.com.
What if society wasn't fundamentally rational, but was motivated by insanity? This thought sets Jon Ronson on an utterly compelling adventure into the world of madness. Along the way, Jon meets psychopaths, those whose lives have been touched by madness and those whose job it is to diagnose it, including the influential psychologist who developed the Psychopath Test, from whom Jon learns the art of psychopath-spotting. A skill which seemingly reveals that madness could indeed be at the heart of everything . . . Combining Jon Ronson's trademark humour, charm and investigative incision, The Psychopath Test is both entertaining and honest, unearthing dangerous truths and asking serious questions about how we define normality in a world where we are increasingly judged by our maddest edges. 'The belly laughs come thick and fast – my God, he is funny . . . provocative and interesting' – Observer
This book presents a new approach that can be applied to complex, integrated individual and social human processes. It provides an alternative means of addressing complexity, better suited for its purpose than and effectively complementing traditional strategies involving isolation and separation assumptions. Network-oriented modeling allows high-level cognitive, affective and social models in the form of (cyclic) graphs to be constructed, which can be automatically transformed into executable simulation models. The modeling format used makes it easy to take into account theories and findings about complex cognitive and social processes, which often involve dynamics based on interrelating cycles. Accordingly, it makes it possible to address complex phenomena such as the integration of emotions within cognitive processes of all kinds, of internal simulations of the mental processes of others, and of social phenomena such as shared understandings and collective actions. A variety of sample models – including those for ownership of actions, fear and dreaming, the integration of emotions in joint decision-making based on empathic understanding, and evolving social networks – illustrate the potential of the approach. Dedicated software is available to support building models in a conceptual or graphical manner, transforming them into an executable format and performing simulation experiments. The majority of the material presented has been used and positively evaluated by undergraduate and graduate students and researchers in the cognitive, social and AI domains. Given its detailed coverage, the book is ideally suited as an introduction for graduate and undergraduate students in many different multidisciplinary fields involving cognitive, affective, social, biological, and neuroscience domains.
Is personality "in the genes"? Do our infant experiences matter, even though we can’t remember them? Why do patterns repeat within the lives of individuals and families? The Stages of Life provides answers to these and other intriguing questions, and presents a refreshingly readable introduction to human development from birth to death. The book synthesises those theories and research findings that are most helpful in explaining the paradoxes and complexities of human personality and human problems. The book provides a thought-provoking discussion of several important topics, including: how personality evolves in response to both genetic and social influences how individuals differ and what this means for them how some problems tend to develop at particular stages of the life course, from early childhood through to midlife and old age. Throughout the book, Hugh Crago relates both ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’ to the challenges individuals must face from early childhood through to old age. He draws attention to often-ignored clinical findings about ‘cross generational repetition’ in families, and shows how recent developments in epigenetics may supply an explanation for such mysterious phenomena. Written without jargon, and full of new and provocative ideas, the book will be of great interest to students of counselling and psychotherapy, and it is also has much to offer the general reader. With its engaging examples from history, literature and the author’s own life, readers will find that The Stages of Life illuminates puzzles in their own lives and opens a road to self-acceptance.
