Product Description
Dark Light is about seeing the world through imagination and stimulating our imagination about the world. It provides an imaginative account of how our daily lives are lived through us by larger forms and forces. The book reveals how these forms and forces play out in such ordinary experiences as ball games, television, relationships, violence, and race relations. In presenting the psychological and spiritual significance of death, Schenk details how our imaginations can help to reveal the soul, and allow us to live deeper lives. He puts forth three main ideas: (1) our everyday lives are shaped by patterns and images that link ordinary existence with the world of myth and spirit; (2) we can become aware of these patterns in our day-to-day experience by utilizing our imagination; (3) because the mysterious mythic elements usually work against our conscious ambitions and intentions, they may be felt as a sort of "death" while actually deepening our experience. In other words, while our will moves us toward one goal, larger, more mysterious influences take us in different directions. Accepting our life experiences imaginatively as psychological events affords us the opportunity to live our lives from a deeper place. ... Read more

Product Description
The use of complementary and alternative medicine(CAM) for mental health concerns, has dramaticallyincreased in adult, adolescent, and pediatricpopulations over the past decade.Professional aswell as popular literature identifies a strong trendtowards the widespread use of CAM for children withADHD by parents and medical providers.Ninety-twopsychologists completed a survey assessingfamiliarity, perceptions, and practices of CAMinterventions used for childhood ADHD. Most psychologists obtain information on CAM fromsources within the field and are not familiar withthe majority of interventions.Knowledge ofefficacy is fairly accurate, although, there appearsto be some pessimism for interventions where thereis minimal research.The majority of psychologistsdo not use CAM interventions for childhood ADHD anddo not vary in their beliefs about the etiology ofchildhood ADHD.Demographic variables were notrelated to awareness, knowledge, and practice ofusing these interventions.The implications forresearch and clinical practice are discussed. ... Read more

Product Description
About the Book:
Dynamic Energetic Healing®, Howard Brockman, MA, MSW, LCSW introduces a new psychotherapy model that creatively integrates ancient spiritual healing practices with modern psychotherapy.

Dynamic Energetic Healing® by Howard Brockman provides a non-traditional alternative for the millions of Americans frustrated with the over prescription of anti-depressants and countless hours of talk therapy.

In Dynamic Energetic Healing®, Brockman explains the DEH® model and its practical application, provides 17 case studies that illustrate the model s successful implementation, and assists readers in releasing and eliminating trauma caused by unidentified sources of anxiety, depression and relationship difficulties.

Through his extensive training in process-oriented psychology, core shamanism (since 1981), energy psychology, and more than 24 years of clinical experience as a psychotherapist in private practice, Brockman has created a synthesis of psychospiritual healing methods that awaken the power of applied human consciousness. These methods come together powerfully in his new book, Dynamic Energetic Healing®.

Awards:
* Finalist, Best Books 2006 for New Age, Non-Fiction; USA Book News.com. * Notable, 2007, The Eric Hoffer Book Award for Best New Writing in Health/Self-Help * Finalist, 2007 Nautilus Book Awards in the Health & Healing category * Silver Medalist, 2007 Independent Publisher Book Awards in Psychology/Mental Health category.

Reader Benefits:
1. Learn a powerful alternative to talk therapy. 2. Explore energy psychology as a new paradigm for client work and therapy today. 3. Discover how energy psychology integrates with traditional psychotherapeutic approaches. 4. Explore how Dynamic Energetic Healing® addresses the underlying origins of PTSD symptoms. 5. Learn how complex trauma can be identified and cleared from an originating event. 6. Explore how muscle testing techniques derived from Applied Kinesiology can enhance and inform client sessions 7. Discover interventions that promote powerful change with clients that are unresponsive to traditional therapy. 8. Learn a structured therapeutic model that integrates existing training into a creative new therapeutic framework 9. Discover a new understanding of the complexity of PTSD within the context of Dynamic Energetic Healing®. 10. Learn how "soul loss" is one of the most serious consequences of trauma. 11. Learn about shamanic healing practices. 12. Learn to access inner spiritual resources and raise your vibrational frequency. 13. Learn the protocol to ensure your connection to Source or Creator. 14. Find out how a regular energetic practice such as Qi Gong or meditation can awaken your extrasensory or psychic abilities. 15. Discover alternatives to the dangers and devastating side effects of antidepressants. 16. Learn about trainings to become a certified Dynamic Energetic Healing® facilitator.

Endorsements:
DEH® helps to bridge the gap between Eastern and Western medicine, offering us new ways to approach client work and our common goal of planetary healing. Alberto Villoldo, Ph.D., author of Shaman, Healer, Sage

Provides a wealth of information, creatively synthesizing ancient spiritual healing practices with modern psychotherapy to create a holistic approach to healing. This book contains powerful healing! Sandra Ingerman, MA, author of Soul Retrieval and Medicine for the Earth.

Creatively bridges shamanism and body oriented psychological healing practices to create new methods to heal trauma and help integrate body, mind, and spirit. This book is easily read and very practical for both therapists and clients. Arnold Mindell, Ph.D., author of The Quantum Mind. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Brockman is a teacher from whom we have much to learn
Howard Brockman is a social worker who also studied Ethics/ Religious Studies, Shamanism, and Energy Psychology, including Emotional Freedom Techniqae and Tapas Acupressure Technique. He does a creditable job of discussing the blend of these elements that he developed in his practice, with a clarity and depth that will be helpful to experienced therapists as well as newcomers to wholistic healing.

Items I found of particular interest:

- Brockman muscle tests (asks questions using Kinesiology) around issues of clients who are not fully grounded in their bodies, and helps them to be fully embodied. He finds that this corrects a common block to full release of chronic symptoms.

- He finds that inviting involvement of clients' higher self is helpful:

... Clients tell me their problems, of course, and I then ask them to list their therapeutic goals. After further discussion, I ask them to prioritize what feels most important to address first. When they have done this, I ask them the following questions through manual muscle testing: "From your soul, is this indeed your highest priority goal at this time?" and "Is it in your `highest good' to pursue this goal at this time?" When the client's muscle testing answers affirmatively, we proceed on the chosen goal. When the client's muscle testing indicates no, together we test to determine if any of their other therapeutic goals meet the criteria of these two questions. Sometimes their soul chooses a goal they have already identified as a starting point. In other cases, however, the client's starting therapeutic goal is something completely different from whet the client initially listed consciously. In either case, we discuss their `chosen' starting point to ensure that the client is in accord with the entire therapeutic process..." (p. 71)

... Being in physical form means that we define ourselves by our physical body and separate egoic self-identify. Spirit is a dimension that is boundless, nonmaterial, and timeless. Yet in spite of being corporeal, we are also Spirit.

Our task is to resolve this paradox by integrating the two aspects of being through our awareness and our unique free will. In order to do this, we must have a self-validating, empirically based, firsthand experience that generates a reliable internal reference point. This reference point becomes an accessible inner resource for creating an instant link to Spirit. Unless we are blessed with a spontaneous, archetypal mystical experience, it is typically only through some kind of spiritual practice or discipline that we are able to make this link. Otherwise, our tendency as unique and separate human beings is to shift our thoughts away from Spirit and orient to ego, where conscious connection to the power of intention is lost. (pp 74-75)

The above is also an example of Brockman's clarity in addressing therapy issues, a clarity that is helpfully present throughout this book.

- Using shamanic approaches, he invites clients to connect with compassionate spirits who can be helpful in dealing with their issues. Noting that many in our society are skeptical about this aspect of therapy, he observes that discussions are insufficient to be convincing to many; only experiential understanding of spirit realms can be convincing to them. He also addresses curses, intentional and unintentional, that may contribute to psychological and physical problems and suggests ways to deal with these.

Many more nuggets, anecdotes and discussions make this a highly recommended book. Brockman is a teacher from whom we have much to learn.

a miracle has arrived
2 days before I purchased this book I had an interesting thought. I was wishing that there was a way to "marry" the ancient shamanic ways with more modern techniques such as Energy Medicine. I have background/experience with both.
2 days later I found this book quite by accident (?). Anyway..as a healer this book has been invaluable in showing both ancient and modern ways of dealing with things like psychic attack, soul retrieval, intrusions, etc.
The book is huge, packed with wonderful info/options on how to handle a variety of spiritual issues that may be confronting you or a client. I now consider it one of my bibles that I will refer to again and again. I only wish Mr. Brockman wasn't so far away, but then.. I'd be on his front doorstep looking for training.

A different approach to a healthy, happy life
While this book can be taken simply as a prescription for improving your life, it is in fact much more.





First of all, Brockman is a terrific writer.He takes readers through his own personal journey of the quest for meaning, freedom, and health --- both physical and spiritual.The account of his own travails and questions is reminiscent of the writings of Huxley, Hesse, and Jung.So it's an exciting adventure of a read from that standpoint alone.





But beyond that, this book provides a veritable collection of recipes from which one can develop one's own mix of methods that will serve to alleviate trauma, find one's unique purpose in life, improve relationships, and ultimately find true peace of mind.





If you're initially put off by some of the notions that may strike you as speculative or unproven, please read on.The essence of the book is pragmatic testing.You can try any of the methods and determine for yourself the validity of their efficacy.Drawing from ancient wisdom traditions and modern cutting edge scientific research, Brockman asks only that you see for yourself if you do not find his studies and experiences to be useful.

Valuable toolkit for all mental health professionals
I found"Dynamic Energetic Healing" to be a thought provoking and original approach to psychotherapy and energy-based healing. As a shamanic practitioner and Reiki channel, the energy psychology information was new to me and something I had not heard about before. I found Brockman's descriptions of integrating shamanic healing into a therapy framework that uses muscle testing along with tapping chakras and acupressure points fascinating, while at the same time surprisingly effective. The illustrations of his various "interventions" are easy to interpret as are his instructions for using them. I found them helpful in guiding me to try them out. I have experimented with a number of them and I have been totally amazed by how quickly they have brought me to a calm emotional place when I was feeling anxiety. I also loved his descriptions of Mindell's process orientation in his many examples of working with people. Particularly interesting are his descriptions of cultivating "second attention" awareness as a way to increase one's intuitive capabilities. I especially recommend that you read his case histories. The ones about resolving supernatural intrusions and physical illness like cancer were very inspiring. His writing style makes it easy to understand and follow how he tracks each client's process to resolve their particular issues. If you are open to stretching your current ideas about healing, especially from the traditional talk therapy approach, I highly recommend this book! It is a new and what I might consider progressive way of approaching emotional and spiritual issues.

A "must have" book for any psychotherapist working with trauma, anxiety,or depression!!!
Dynamic Energetic Healing is a must have book for every psychotherapist- especially those who work with trauma, loss, or any of the hard to clear presentations of anxiety and depression.

THIS IS A FANTASTIC BOOK- clinically sound, innovative, and clearly written!!!

I bought it 8 months ago and have been working its practices into my sessions little by little and my work is exploding with results! Clients are asking for more of it. Trauma and crisis are being resolved - often quickly! Clients are feeling empowered, some experiencing happiness and hope for the first time in their lives. Interventions generating from the work are synthesizing into practices clients can use in their day-to-day lives, accompanied by a renewed "curiousness about life and their place in it"!

Even if you have never considered working energetically, Howard Brockman delivers a compelling synthesis of how energetic interventions and core shamanic practices facilitate the unpacking of complex trauma and allows access to material that often lies out of reach of most clinical interventions. Within its pages he offers an array of practical healing interventions that will support the compassionate facilitating of your client's process.

Divided into four parts, the book is clearly written, easy to follow, and presented in a way that is easily comprehendible by both professional and lay readers.

Part one chronicles Mr. Brockman's quest to integrate sound psychological practice with compassionate spiritual practices and how this evolved into the synthesis of energy psychology and core shamanism he calls DEH.Part two offers nine chapters depicting DEH healing interventions. Part three offers DEH healing protocols - including a very well written chapter dealing with clearing the phenomenology of trauma. Part four offers seventeen case histories that depict a variety of clinical presentations and how the model works to facilitate the process that is opening within the client.

The book is well laid out, indexed, illustrated, and is very easy to use when I need to reference a particular topic while working with a client.

An advanced and clinically adept practitioner of traditional psychotherapeutic approaches, Mr. Brockman offers an approach that is clinically sound and straightforward for both therapist and client. Guided and informed by clinical intention, DEH uses manual muscle testing to follow a series of protocols that negotiate the conscious and unconscious experience of the client in clearing and solidifying their energy field in pursuit of actualizing the desired clinical intention.

What is refreshing about DEH is that it sponsors "a process oriented psychotherapy" that allows for an active naming of the phenomenology of the therapy experience - both in what is being cleared and what is being accessed as a resource for the client.

DEH frees the therapist of having to operate from the position of all knowing and invites them to work as a "facilitator" of client process, greatly freeing the therapist to work from an intuitive position. The client, free of the pejorative descriptions of traditional psychotherapy, is freed to speak in the language of their many ages and experiences, promoting a process that is both generative and intuitively grounded in their animate soul in pursuit of their therapeutic intention.

What develops is a true collaboration between therapist and client as DEH allows the conversation to move in the direction of experience/energy that needs to be cleared - both horizontally through time and space and vertically through the thought and emotional field of the body.

Thus, splitting and dissociation, often process stoppers in most psychotherapy sessions are readily handled by DEH, as what is in the highest good for the client at that moment in the therapy is simultaneously engaged with which "client ego state" needs to be actively guiding the process- using manual MT, conversation, and energy clearing --- without missing a beat or disrupting the process--- and often rendering an expression in the client's eyes that says "finally someone is listening to who I am and is going to get it". As a clinician who has worked for over 20 years with sexually abused and traumatized clients this is astounding to see. Indeed DEH delivers!

I was delightfully surprised that reading and using the book dispelled my initial fears that energy work would somehow be this woo woo experience that would not hold up to the scrutiny of my clinical standards or the demands of client presentations.

In the 8 months that I have been practicing from the book I have never found the DEH model to fail to operate with clinical integrity. Delightfully, clients of all ages, backgrounds, and faiths have embraced its use, because as they say - "its simple and straightforward, the taping works, and I am feeling better".

But what is perhaps most amazing about DEH is that it offers a means that is clinically sound for each client to develop"practices of being" into their lives - of creating a life based in sound psychological practices that incorporates the spiritual practices of the client, in a way that is generative, ever evolving, and full of spirit.

To top all of this off- using the model is fun! It seems like I am on a
"healing adventure" with my clients! I never leave a DEH session feeling drained - but rather energized, open and warm to the experience of life, and "full of Spirit"!!!

Howard Brockman has written an exceptional book! Anyone interested in healing, of opening to their greatest potential, of knowing and living from the true depths of their soul, will gratefully benefit from using this book. I highly recommend it!!!

... Read more

Product Description
Hailed in the New York Times as "entertaining and immensely educational," Snake Oil Science is not only a brilliant critique of alternative medicine, but also a first-rate introduction to interpreting scientific research of any sort. The book's ultimate goal is to illustrate how the placebo effect conspires to make medical therapies appear to be effective--not just to consumers, but to therapists and poorly trained scientists as well. Bausell explores this remarkable phenomenon and explains why research on any therapy that does not factor in the placebo effect (and other placebo-like effects) will inevitably produce false results. Moreover, as the author shows in an impressive survey of research from high-quality scientific journals, studies employing credible placebo controls do not indicate positive effects for alternative therapies beyond those attributable to random chance. Readers will come away from this book with a healthy skepticism of claims about the latest "miracle cure," be it St. John's Wort for depression or acupuncture for chronic pain. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

Amazing
It's a great book about research on alternative medicine and how each branch in the area tries to forego the fact that it's science based, but has no better effect than placebo according to science.

Incongruous Title For a Deeply Informative Book
R. Barker Bausell is the Immanuel Kant of research methodologists, albeit with a considerably better sense of humor and lucidity of prose than Kant displayed in his writings.With the implacability of a Sherman tank, Bausell does an amazing, and possibly unparalleled, job of categorizing and describing the various treatments and theories that comprise complementary and alternative medicine, then relentlessly applies the highest methodological standards of research to examine the effectiveness of CAM therapies.Result?Many CAM therapies DO work, with no more and no less effectiveness than placebos.It's a fine but important distinction that Bausell makes in this somewhat dry, somewhat repetitive, and nonetheless highly informative book:he is NOT saying that CAM therapies don't work, he is saying that they work as well as, and probably because of, the placebo effect.And placebos do give relief of symptoms in often dramatic, but time-limited fashion.

Bausell, as an employee of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, notes that the insistence on funding only high quality scientifically rigorous controlled clinical trials of CAM therapies induced "a crisis that has occurred many times in the history of science:a collision between science and belief".This book tells that tale.

Snake Oil Science is superlative when respectfully discussing the many unconscious biases that distort the pursuit of verifiable medical knowledge.Contrary to the negative connotations of the title of his book, Bausell is quite respectful of the practitioners of CAM, and those who seek such treatments. His quest has nothing to do with the vilification of those who believe in CAM related arts, and everything to do with whether or not CAM offers anything beyond the placebo effect.A highly qualified juggernaut in his field of research methodology, Bausell's description of the history of the scientific method, and the excellent methods that have been developed to rate the quality of any given study that is published, is fascinating.Though I'm a family physician that reads studies by the bushel, I had never heard of the Jadad Quality Scale, or the CONSORT standards, both of which can be used as standards for the evaluation of the quality a given study.Though I do use the invaluable Cochrane reviews in attempts to separate valuable medical wheat from the profligate chaff of industry sponsored research, readers unfamiliar with the historical significance of the Cochrane Collaboration will get a warm and thorough introduction to it in Snake Oil Science.

Bausell's book is highly unusual, if not unique, in the gentility with which the powder keg subject of complementary and alternative medicine is approached.The author eschews sarcasm and condescension in his quest for the truth about CAM, though his frustration with demands that CAM be applied to a different (less rigorous) standard of evaluation than other areas of medicine is sometimes evident.

Weaknesses?I have to think that Bausell's editor was asleep at the switch, allowing the book to derail into a sometimes tiresome repetitiveness as well as a pacing that plods when the average reader has grasped the point and has sprinted onward.The title of the book belies its contents:the use of words "snake oil" strongly implies shysterism and fraud, while the contents of the book barely touch on this subject.Though the field of CAM certainly has its share of shysters, so does my own allopathic branch of medicine.Why is this important?Snake Oil Medicine, shortened and retitled, has the capacity to change the minds of many people that lack a scaffolding to use when evaluating the worth of any particular medical therapy. The ideal way to spread knowledge is not to preach to the choir, but to reach people where they intellectually live.This book has some unrealized potential in this respect.

It is probably fair to say that all humans seek some form of the truth.It is also without question that humans use very different standards when they apply the word "TRUE" to a hypothesis.Our everyday lives are filled with examples of the resulting confusion.Using one standard of verifiability allows authors to write many volumes (which happen to sell fairly well) about angels, without having to bother about the distinction between fiction and non-fiction.Using a more rigorous standard of verifiability, the only non-fiction thing one can say about angels is that there is no evidence for their existence that would conform to CONSORT standards, or any studies documenting the existence of angels that can get out of the basement on the Jadad Quality Scale.

Humans that seek truth with their metaphorical hearts, and then reason backward to a conclusion, best not bother with this book.Those who have sworn allegiance to scientific method, or are inclined to lean on scientific method to temper the yearnings of the heart, will find richness in this book despite its flaws.Health care providers that have felt shackled by the political incorrectness of asking whether CAM is pseudo-science will feel freed to speak again.Those that lack an agenda, but are simply seeking a reliable way of establishing efficacy of treatments will be deeply rewarded by the effort expended in reading this highly valuable book.

An important book
Sadly, not enough people will read this outstanding book. The author takes a subject that can be very dry - statistics and research methods-and makes them both entertaining and illuminating.

In short: it's easy to fool yourself. It's also easy when you live in a time where the terrifying diseases of the past have largely been eradicated to pooh-pooh mainstream medicine - toforget and fail to appreciate what has brought us out of the dark ages. While we still haven't been able to "eradicate" cancer, depression or other challenging diseases, CAM certainly hasn't either.

As Carl Sagan once said, science delivers the goods. Of course, it's not perfect,- we sometimes look back on medicines or treatments that in hindsight may have hurt us- but the scientific method is really the best that we have. Over a reasonable length of time, science is self-correcting, unlike wishful thinking and delusion.

Great content, poor construction
This is an informative, easily accessible, and enjoyable book.My only complaint is directed toward the publisher (Oxford), the binding completely fell a part before I was even half way through the book (2nd day of use).I've never seen a book so poorly bound regardless of price.

Snake oil sciece:a review
This entertaining, well written, and informatiave little book basically asks two questions:Is there a placebo effect? and how do "complementary alternative medical" treatments compare to the placebo effect?He answers both questions very well and with a lot of humor.The author is a biostatistician with considerable experience in conducting and supervising clinical trials, yet this is not a dry statistical book.In fact it is an easy read that science naive readers will find useful as a tool to evaluate the myriad of "cams" being touted in the media and from friends.It should be required reading for anyone who opted out of science in high school.But it is also fun. ... Read more

Product Description
Univ. of Keele, UK. Revised and updated edition of Time, Energy, and the Psychology of Healing, c1990. Examines perspectives and approaches to healing from all over the world. Divides treatments into 'timely interventions' and 'energy medicine.' For professionals. Softcover, hardcover not simultaneously published. ... Read more

Product Description

Steven E. Hodes, M.D., initially trained in traditional, high-caliber medical programs that led him through graduation at the Albert Einstein Medical School and to a fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital. But many years later, he saw something vital missing in his approach to healthcare. I was trained as a physician, not a healer…taught to view the patient as a machine suffering from some mechanical failure. My purpose was to be the best diagnostician possible, he explains. Then events occurred that opened the eyes of this now veteran physician to deep insights about the mind-body-spirit connection. That awakening moved him to a metaphysical view of health—a view more spiritual than religious, but still firmly grounded in science. Embracing his role as a metaphysician, he also began to see himself as a meta-physician, or doctor transformed (meta) by this new awareness. In this book, Hodes describes his journey to becoming a metaphysician on call. He points out profound, yet simple, observations and beliefs that affect our perception of the nature of reality—metaphysics—which, in turn, can largely affect our well-being in all senses—body, mind, and spirit. We all can and should take responsibility for our own well-being on all levels, he explains. This book is designed to inspire us to ask our own questions, and gather our own evidence to enhance all areas of our lives and well-being, and so find healing and peace.

Customer Reviews (2)

Fascinating
Fascinating personal journey of a traditionally trained doctor who uncovered the world of spirit.He shows how this knowledge can change your life for the better. Great!

Dr. Steve Is the Doctor We All Wish We Had
It is so rare that you find a physician who cares about your soul as much as he does your physical health... but that is what Dr. Steven Hodes is all about. His message is that we all must learn to take charge of our own healing and well-being. In a series of easy to follow chapters that are like his prescriptions for living, he imparts snippets of wisdom on a wide range of topics --from explaining metaphysics and healing, to sharing his controversial view that death is not the big deal we make it into in this culture. He also shares his very interesting research into the world of guidance from "the other side" and other Extraordinary Phenomenon. He believes our understanding of the spiritual dimension to reality can heal us. He has a way of sharing insights that is very empowering and easy to understand! ... Read more

Product Description
Topics Covered:
Essential Oil For Sports Nutrition: The Supplements
Heat Stroke Prevention: An Important Factor in Japanese Sports Nutrition
Natural Sports Nutrition: Diet for Champions
Sports Nutrition and Quick Food Fixes
Sports Nutrition Products: A Need or Just a Marketing Invention?
Sports Nutrition: Energy Levels and High-Vitamin Diets
... Read more

Product Description
Psychologists and other mental health practitioners frequently work with patients whose symptoms only partially respond to psychotherapy. Even when their patients are satisfied with improvements, the therapist wishes to see their recovery complete. Other patients may have been diagnosed with a medical illness and need help coping with both the illness and its treatment. In these and other cases, the therapist may wish to consider interventions from what are collectively known as complementary and alternative therapies.

This book describes the most common complementary and alternative therapies that have empirical support from peer-reviewed journals and provides guidance on which therapies have been most useful for which psychological and medical issues. In chapters that cover massage and acupressure, acupuncture, tai chi, yoga and pilates, exercise, music and aroma therapy, hypnosis, biofeedback, progressive relaxation, meditation, and the use of imagery, the author documents the positive emotional, behavioral, physiological, and biochemical effects of these therapies as well as proposed mechanisms of change. Additional information is provided on two major psychotherapies that have been shown to successfully integrate several of complementary therapies into traditional frameworks. Although focused primarily on adults, the book offers data and guidance on pediatric populations as well.

Clear information on the training and credentials of complementary and alternative therapy practitioners and contact information on professional associations is provided, so that psychotherapists can have confidence in making referrals to and then working with these other practitioners in the context of psychotherapy. The information presented throughout is easily accessible to graduate students and to novice and seasoned clinicians and researchers. ... Read more

Product Description
The Western medical tradition is underpinned by systematic investigation and an apparent clarity of medical research and has thus largely remained unquestioned, being greatly preferred in our culture to the mysteries of self-cure which have traditionally been dismissed as inferior or even "primitive". The possibility that medicine is looking in the wrong place has rarely been considered, until fairly recently when, despite its many advances, it has become clear that throughout the Western world there is a profound crisis in medicine, and a growing disillusionment and dissatisfaction with health care, not least among those who provide it. This book challenges the popular structural or economic explanations for the current crisis, proposing a more fundamental approach. It argues that the crisis is neither structural nor economical in origin, but rather a direct result of an outdated and fundamentally flawed world view.While the physical sciences have recognized this and have attempted to revise this model - along lines which are strikingly similar to those of Oriental and ancient traditions, - medicine has ignored these developments, leaving it with an antiquated set of guiding beliefs. The author argues that if modern medicine is to be in the vanguard of scientific progress, there needs to be a general recognition and acceptance of alternative approaches to healing as being complementary to scientific medicine and as in need of serious consideration. The author gives accounts of various complementary methods of healing and the perspectives on which they are based, providing a synthesis of current trends in this field, indicating future developments and providing a concise integrative framework for the widely diverse concerns embraced by the psychology of healing. ... Read more

Product Description

In this book, Julie Stone demonstrates that ethical issues are no less relevant to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners than they are to any other group of health professionals and provides a detailed framework for CAM practitioners for thinking constructively about how ethics impact on their work. An Ethical Framework for Complementary and Alternative Therapists, encourages critical and reflective practice, suggests practical solutions to common problems, includes illustrative scenarios of ethical dilemmas and summarizes key points.

Product Description
“The Sensitive Person's Survival Guide is an outstanding contribution to body-mind healing and has our highest recommendation. Dr. Mesich explains the relationship between emotional sensitivity and psychic awareness in clear, accessible language, showing that such abilities should not be discredited but rather developed as genuine gifts.”—Patricia Kaminski, Executive Director, The Flower Essence Society

The Sensitive Person's Survival Guide presents a radically new way of looking at emotional sensitivity, chronic depression and anxiety. Through her own experiences and courageous research, Dr. Kyra Mesich, a traditionally-trained psychologist, found that psychic sensitivity is the underlying key to understanding emotional sensitivity.

“People suffer in countless ways from their sensitivity, depression being the most common, and most are never properly diagnosed, only medicated. The Sensitive Person’s Survival Guide gave me a ray of hope that the day is coming when the maladies of empathic people will be taken seriously and treated in a more realistic way.”—Echo Bodine, author of Echoes of the Soul ... Read more

Customer Reviews (31)

A Revelation
It's easy to say, "I wish I could have known all this sooner," but be that as it may... this book is so helpful for those of us who have sincerely tried to figure out or manage how we seem to "feel" differently than others.

For me, this book offers an alternate, or should I say, complementary, explanation for reactions I'm familiar with, e.g. seeming to sponge up others emotions, and not realizing they are not necessarily mine - a common reaction of a person who might be considered "sensitive." (I acknowledge there are many intepretations of this word, and Ms. Mesich has a particular one.)

This book put a lot of pieces together for me, and made them make sense.I finished the book feeling empowered and hopeful.

Great Resource For Empathic or Highly Sensitive Individuals
I am empathic, a gift I've rarely shared with my husband and have hidden from my friends.Dr. Meisch's years of research, along with her openness about her personal experiences, answered many of my questions, assured me of my sanity, and offered understanding, acceptance and protection at a time I desperately needed it.Thank you Dr. Meisch!For those who are suffering from their sensitivity butwant to avoid "woo-woo" books, this one felt very mainstream, even though the subject matter is not.

Patricia Kaminski Flower Essence Repertory

Feels right to me!
Dr. Mesich's book is concise, articulate and to the point.Through her own experience as a psychologist, she began "taking on" as her own the emotions of some of her clients; she didn't recognize her empathetic nature, nor fully understand its implications.She was in the perfect training ground with her practice.Those of us who have struggled with an empathic nature, gain from Dr. Mesich's growth and understanding of what empathy is all about.Best of all we don't have to slog through a tome to find some suggestions as to how to heal our boundaries and move to embracing the positive aspects of empathy.I haven't tried the flower essences yet, so can't speak to that.I understand it has helped many, and been ineffective for a few.In my mind, her meditations are geared to the beginner, which is good in the long run.As a spiritually seasoned woman, I'm most interested in the flower essence information and her writing about empathy in general.If you don't suffer from long term depression, don't be put off by that word in the title as I almost was.You don't have to suffer from long bouts of depression to benefit from Dr. Mesich's words.I highly recommend the book.

Right Track, Wrong Train of Thought
I'm happy this book was of some help to others; however, it was not of much use to me.The author starts off with personal experiences of pain and illness that were very familiar to me.I thought I had found someone who understood, and even better, a treatment method that might actually work.Don't get me wrong, her theory that certain illnesses might be linked to empathy makes a great deal of sense to me.It's her recommended treatment, the use of flower essences, that seemed to fall short (again, I'm only speaking of myself; if it works for you, fantastic!)In my case, the flower essences made me so ill that I was forced to seek traditional medical attention.Also, her recommendation of meditation makes a great deal of sense - but don't put it off until after you've used the flower essences, as the author recommends.The sooner you can get a grip on your stress level, rampant emotions, and overactive empathy, the better.
With all due respect to the author and to the people she has helped, I cannot in good conscience recommend this book.

Managing Empathy for Mental and Emotional Health
When the world bogs you down too easily you are an empath. You take on other people's emotions and your internal anchor is easily thrown by strong feelings around you. If you have difficulty distinguishing between your emotions and that of others you need to shield yourself.This is what is meant by energetic boundaries. Don't be prey to others emotions and manage your own. These are great techniques and an arsenol against too much of other people's stuff. ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Sensory deprivation or perceptual isolation is the deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Simple devices such as blindfolds or hoods and earmuffs can cut off sight and hearing respectively, while more complex devices can also cut off the sense of smell, touch, taste, thermoception (heat-sense), and 'gravity'. Sensory deprivation has been used in various alternative medicines and in psychological experiments (e.g., see Isolation tank).Short-term sessions of sensory deprivation are described as relaxing and conducive to meditation, if sometimes boring; however, extended or forced sensory deprivation can result in extreme anxiety, hallucinations, bizarre thoughts, depression and death. ... Read more

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This is an absolutely indispensable resource for anyone working in the area of alcoholism treatment and research.Its focus is to match the client with the treatment program most suited to that specific client.Eleven of the most widely studied treatment approaches are covered in separate chapters, each written by an expert author or team in the modality.This is the most comprehensive review of alcohol treatment outcomes available anywhere.It discusses advances in evaluation, motivation, treatment outcomes, and protocols in treatment as well as practical suggestions and recommendations for assessment and treatment.Clinical Psychologists and Alcohol Treatment Specialists.A Longwood Professional Book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Nice
New knowledge regarding recovery is very important in order to assist people in changing their lives.
Aaron Bryant: BSW, CSACAuthorA Synchronous Memoir of Addiction and Recovery

The Best!
If you are in the field of Substance Abuse, this is a must read.For decades confrontational style counseling has been the norm in Substance Abuse.There are finally studies to show that confrontational counseling does not work, it actually harms the client. This books points towards treatment methods that have been shown to be effective. These methods have been researched thoroughly by some of the most credentialed people in the field. Many counselors do not want to let go of the confrontation style of counseling even though research shows that it is ineffective. Unfortunately, many of these counselors are bringing their own issues into the counseling relationship, and they need the authoritarian style counseling to met their own needs. This book reviews many different modalities of treatment, and how to incorporate them into your practice.It is one of the most up to date books available to the professional in the substance abuse field.As professionals we should all practice ethically, and that means keeping up to date on the latest research in our field.That way, we are acting in the best interests of our clients.And isn't that the most important goal in the end?
READ THE BOOK!

Ethical must read material for addictions professionals
Well researched and well written.If you work in the field of addiction treatment you have an ethical obligation to read this book.If you are contemplating seeking treatment, you should know what you are getting. "Caveat Emptor, let the buyer beware" should be the warningposted at the entrance of most addiction treatment centers in the US.This book offers the most up to date research which strongly suggests thattraditional treatment in the US maybe worse or no better than no treatmentat all.It has chapters outlining effective alternatives such as BriefSolution Focused Therapy, Community Reinforcement Approach, and SocialSkills Training.Frankly if you are an addictions professional in the USand haven't read this book or understand this material, you should read itor go get a job selling used cars. ... Read more

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Providing an understanding of the nature of the archetypal form-patterns that express themselves in the similarity between substance and psychosomatic dynamics, this collection explores why this similarity is a basic factor in the healing process. ... Read more