Book Description
This mediation how-to manual brings together the collective wisdom of two of the field's most renowned founders, John Michael Haynes and Larry Sun Fong. The book not only covers a range of mediation cases, but also uniquely provides feedback from the clients as they reflect on the sessions and report on what worked best for them. Beginning with a review of the theoretical underpinnings of the Haynes model of mediation, the book then presents six case studies with each demonstrating one or more of the organizing principles of mediation. The sessions examined reflect the different mediation areas currently being practiced-business, employment, neighborhood, adoption, education, and family. The book goes beyond simply reporting what mediators experience as it shares the insights and motivations of Fong and Haynes. This well-rounded approach includes the exploration of the clients' thoughts, helping readers to incorporate successful organizing principles into their own mediation practices. ... Read more

Book Description
Outlines how a new working partnership between psychologists and evolutionary systems scientists can help create a more humanistic evolutionary theory. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great reading
I confess I came to this book not as an expert of evolutionary theory, but as a person with a deep passion for futures and the development of the human species. In particular, my personal research relates to educational futures and the futures of consciousness. Thus the critique that follows cannot stand as that of an "impartial" expert's opinion, but merely as the considerations of a relative layman in the field of evolutionary theory. Considering my particular research foci, I found much in the volume to enthuse about.
The contributors to this volume are all members of the General Evolution Research Group. This was formed in 1986, and its purpose is "to bring together a small group of scholars from a variety of disciplines and nations to explore possibilities for the development of a general...evolution theory" (p.304). Ervin Laszlo is its primary founder and leader, with World Futures: the Journal of General Evolution being its mouthpiece.
Let me begin by stating that this is not only a well-written volume, but a necessary one. As Loye points out in the concluding chapter regarding the idea of "evolution," the mindsets of most scientists (and indeed the layperson), have been seized so thoroughly by the concepts of natural selection and blind chance that anyone challenging this idea with suggestions of "normative or developmental goals and ideals as well as standards and benchmarks for what constitutes evolution" is confronted by the reaction that "this is not only heresy but naïve and stupid." (p.281)
Yet most futurists are all too aware of the limitations of a purely biological and mathematical depiction of evolution. As Loye himself points out, conceptions of "ideal goals" are routine in futures (p.281). In futures there is generally an implicit representation of development and evolution which incorporates conceptions that exist above and beyond the merely physical and biological. Each of the contributors adds an extra dimension or two to the idea of evolution, until the total picture is one that is inclusive not only of the cosmic, chemical/Physical and biological dimensions that currently dominate the neo-Darwinian hegemony, but also includes developments in brain science and psychology, as well as cultural, social, economic, political, technological, educational, moral, spiritual, and consciousness evolution. To this is added the necessity for an action-oriented approach (p.277). The tools that are offered to move us forward are also somewhat heretical: including love (Eisler, Loye, Goerner, Bradley, Bausch and Christakis); partnership (Eisler, Goerner); communication and creativity (Goerner, Montuori, Combs and Richards); human agency (Bradley, Loye); creative action (Eisler, Goerner, Loye); and spiritual and consciousness evolution (Bausch and Christakis, Eisler, Goerner, Loye).
There is not room here to comment upon all 11 articles individually, but Loye's "Darwin, Maslow, and the Fully Human Theory of Evolution" is worth mentioning, as it encapsulates much of the spirit of the book, and will be an eye-opening piece for those unfamiliar with Loye's work. He argues that Darwin has been almost completely misrepresented by the neo-Darwinists. He points out that Darwin only wrote of "survival of the fittest" twice in The Decent of Man, whilste writing of love, moral development, and mind/consciousness hundreds of times in total. Yet the latter are totally ignored in mainstream evolutionary theory, a case of what Loye calls "the mind-binding and blinding power of paradigm." (p.23) Loye goes on to argue that Darwin actually presaged the development of transpersonal, positive and humanistic psychology, and indeed the relevance of moral development and "a spirituality freed of deism and dogma" ( p.23).
This book is aptly named. It contains an exciting array of research at the frontier of evolutionary theory. It may annoy purists of mainstream evolutionary theory for the same reason it excites the more speculative and adventurous amongst us, especially at the times that it moves into the explorative domains of evolutionary theory. Bradley's contribution stands out here, with his piece "Love, power, brain, mind, and agency." His endogenous construction of human evolution, heavily influenced by Pribram's holographic theory of perception, is predicated upon the rather prolix notion of a:

principle of organisation that governs any whole...(which) is non-local, distributed throughout the system and enfolded into its parts. It is this same notion of field, of a distributed order of socioaffective connection mediating the transformation of biological energy into psychosocial order that is the basis for ...(my) account...(p.140).

Yet as Loye points out in the introduction, Bradley's contribution is worth persisting with, despite its broad scope of theory and difficult language. Other contributions in the volume, it should be pointed out, are far more layman-friendly. The contributors generally manage to convey their understandings in easy-to-comprehend form, and considering the cross-disciplinary nature of the volume, this is a key component of its value to its potential audience.
As Loye argues, evolutionary theory "requires a massive updating, integrating and streamlining if it is to meet the needs of the twenty-first century, if not our survival itself over the long run." (p.21) This is no small task, but Loye and his colleagues are doing an invaluable job of getting the ball rolling. ... Read more

Book Description
Accepting relentless impermanence as the ground of human experience, Words from the Soul derives a spiritual psychology from the mystery and poignancy of time-passage itself. Drawing from Wittgenstein, Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Foucault, Dostoyevsky, Buddhism, kundalini yoga, and twenty-five years of clinical/mediation experience, the author's epigrammatic insights into our struggles with mortality, gratitude, apology, and forgiveness make this book relevant to psychotherapy and conflict resolution in a wide range of professional settings.

In his exploration of the furthest-reaches of human development, Stuart Sovatsky reveals the deepest potentials of the ensouled body, transforming our views of language, sexuality, ecstatic spiritualities, and of the human life cycle. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Humanist, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2006. The length of the article is 4340 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The evolutionary psychology of religion.(Cover story)
Author: Steven Pinker
Publication: The Humanist (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 66Issue: 5Page: 10(6)

Article Type: Cover story

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Lucid, Approachable & Comprehensive Book on Synchronicity
I found this book comprehensive and readable in regards to Jung's theories on Synchronicity/Religion - and learned more
about Jung's general concepts of psychology (such as the unconscious and individuation) through this book than many other books I have read on Jung (or even books by Jung himself).

The scholarly presentation of the book by Aziz, who spent many years preparing the work I found outstanding.The introduction of fundamental concepts, leading into other Jungian theories, backed up by examples and other psychological real-world parallels is impressive in the book.

Overall, any serious student of the great psychologist Carl Jung or student of Synchronicity/Dreams I think should waste no time ordering this book! (heh)And even the casual layman who is curious about what Jung meant by "Synchronicity" - Aziz is emminently approachable because of his clear writing style.

This book perhaps may well be the most up-to-date scholarly work on Jung that appears solidly authentic, rational, and clear-headed on Jung's very serious approach to religion - synchronicity - and the "objective" autonomous unconscious.

... Read more

Book Description

Originally published in 1978, this work sets forth the revolutionary existential-humanistic theory of human beings upon which experiential psychotherapy is based.

Book Description
A thoroughly revised and updated edition of what is generally acknowledged as the best introduction to humanistic psychology. ... Read more

Book Description
In Haunted Children Arthur F. Roemmelt, M.D., relates stories of his years as a child psychiatrist, sharing the experiences of children with a variety of psychiatric disorders and emphasizing the intensive and creative relationship necessary for the children to develop in a healthy fashion. The author discusses the movement of psychiatry away from psychotherapy toward strategic interventions and pharmacology and the consequences of this transformation. He argues that, although the latter treatment is seen as more efficient and available, it can also promote certain maladies such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and child abuse. Roemmelt concludes that what essentially is troubling many children is better confronted in therapy rather than treated with medications. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A BOOK OF SUBSTANCE WITH FASCINATING CASE STUDIES
Roemmelt presents some fascinating case studies of children whose lives were distorted by family and environment; children very difficult to reach, but for whom the force of a human relationship with Roemmelt was enough tokeep them from a life of medicated confusion and increasingfragmentation.

This book is a counter argument against the belief thatall neurotic behavior, or most, has a biological component that should bemanipulated medically to correct emotional problems and inner conflict.

In the spirit of Karen Horney and others, Roemmelt takes the positionthat neurosis is essentially a problem in human relationship-- that manydeep inner problems are rooted in conflicts arising from relationshipsbetween ideals ( the fact of what we are vs. what we 'ought to be'), self,and others.

Clearly some problems of neurosis and many of psychosis arebiologically oriented, and all ultimately have a biological representation -- yet it is not the position of this book that drugs should be describedas a first resort, but as a last resort.

The feeling of being trulyalive -- that comes from pain, persistence and the desire to overcome oneslimitations, as much as from any other set of feelings -- can be canceledout by the regulatory and often harmful side effects of medication. Manydoctors hand it out like candy. (Drs. can be as bad with medication as theycan be with therapy.)

This book is not about "touchy feely" asanother critic suggests, but a testimony to love in the spirit ofawareness; and also in the spirit of the warrior-- the fighters being thechildren who made it back to the other side.

Some people clearly needmedicine. Some really don't-- they need a shot at a real life. CouldRoemmelt really provide that chance for some of his Haunted Children--read the book and decide.

'If you don't feel it, you're not getting it. '

Keep on taking the pills ...
Yet another book deriding the new biologically-oriented psychiatry as dry and heartless.

Contains several case histories of classically autistic children who are deemed to be deeply emotionally disturbed (the fault oftheir parents, of course) and subjected to ludicrous psychoanalyticinterpretations. Where has Roemmelt been since the sixties? Has he not yetnoticed not only that autism has been conclusively demonstrated to beneurological in origin, but that a number of high-functioning people withautism (such as Temple Grandin and Gunilla Gerland) have backed this up andstarted describing their experiences, which, needless to say, bear noresemblance to Roemmelt's wild imaginings?

Any attempt to presentpsychoanalysis as the warm, humane, "touchy-feely" alternative tobiologically-oriented psychiatry is doomed if it displays this muchignorance and lack of interest in the actual minds and opinions of thepeople it purports to be studying.

One reason, after all, for the surgein biologically-oriented psychiatry in the last decade is the massivenumber of lives that were shattered by psychoanalytic dogmas (such as thegroundless claim that autism was an emotional disturbance caused byunloving parents). ... Read more

Product Description
Brings together the viewpoints of the most articulate spokespersons of a new humanistic development in psychology. Readings in The Nature of Man, Science and the Study of Man, & Psychology and Human Values ... Read more