Book Description

Two classic papers, first published in English in 1955 and required reading for training Jungian analysts. Emma Jung, besides being the wife of C.G. Jung, was also an analyst with a major influence in the school of Jung. There is wisdom in her words, simplicity in her style, and we feel the movement of animus and anima from bare concepts to archetypal figures of force in the soul of everyone. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

An important work
Written by the wife of psychologist C.G. Jung, who first proposed the terms Anima and Animus in the psychological context presented here, this book by Emma Jung provides a fuller and more balanced description of these two functions of the psyche than exists in her husband's collected works. C.G. Jung, who also coined the terms Extravert and Introvert, developed the idea of the Anima and Animus from his analytical practice and from examining his own psychology. Jung recognised that there is an inferior feminine orientation in the male psyche which he named the Anima, from the Latin word for spirit, and an inferior masculine orientation in the female psyche which he called the Animus. From Jung's observations during the analysis of his patients, he recognised the Anima and Animus to be unconscious elements of the psyche which needed to be developed, or made conscious, by the individual in order for the individual to maintain a healthy, balanced outlook in personal relationships and on the world at large. The Anima in a man, Jung maintained, is a mostly personal image of Woman within his psyche which each man carries with him through life. This image, or inner psychic reality, is a composition of a man's experiences of feminity from childhood on, which is combined also with ancestral and archaic collective impressions of feminity. Jung maintained that it was the Anima which was responsible for a man becoming attracted to women, but only certain women, those who are close in character to this inner experience of femininity in the man's psyche. In women, the Animus plays a similar role of defining the masculine side of a woman's personality. Emma Jung's major contribution with her book is her expansion on the concept of the Animus. C.G. Jung wrote much less about the Animus than about the Anima and Emma Jung's further development of the Animus concept in this book provides for a balanced comparison of the two concepts which were simply not available in such depth and detail before. Certainly no mere restating of what C.G. Jung already said, this book further develops the frame of reference established by Jung. It has maintained its status as a landmark work in this difficult yet relevant and very human field of psychological investigation.

regurgitated Jung....
....with all the stereotypical interpretations intact. Recommended only as an intro to the Jungian anima/animus ideas, but fully sharing Jung's own equation of femininity with yin, receptive, emotional, irrational and masculinity with yang, active, intellectual, rational. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Jungian Theological Psychoanalytical must-have!!
This is an excellent work of both psychology and religion, hence the name. There have been other books by Jung that have narrower subjects or more challenging views but this one, takes my Jungian cake. It is so general but yet is exactly what one needs to study or just explore the extremely difficult topic of Psych and Religion. A winner in my book. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (4)

Before Scheduling an Appointement With a Psych. - Read This!
Simply put, this book changed my life... I was going through a long period (over a year in duration) where I had trouble getting rid of "unwanted thoughts"; basically thoughts that I knew would reduce the level of pleasure I was getting out of any given activity. For example, if I dwelt on X while I was undergoing some otherwise-pleasurable activity - where X is an unwanted thought - my level of enjoyment i.e. my appreciation of that activity would decrease. While I was going through these cycles of unwanted thoughts, the quality of my life was drastically reduced. I'm sure "unwanted thoughts" differ for each person, both in their individual characteristics and implications. According to this book, one should not consciously try to suppress unwanted thoughts, as thereby the thoughts will systematically persist in reemerging. Instead, just "let it be" as it were, and inevitably the unwanted thoughts will start to dissipate. Don't be dissuaded by the above editorial review, as though it is true this is not "light reading" per se, it is very well written and in an easy-to-read format with the layman in mind; and it does not contain a lot of jargon. It reads just like a novel and is quite humorous in parts. I'm not a student of psychology but had no problem with my reading and comprehnsion of this book and gleaned a lot of new information out of it, such as how meta-cognition or "thinking about thinking" works. I hate to say anything negative about this book since I found it a self-help book in the truest sense, but its only feature I didn't fully appreciate was the few charts and graphs it contained, even though they were relevant to the information at hand and supplemented the statistics well. If I were the author of the book I'd have put them in the back. That's trivial, though. In summary, next time someone says "just stop thinking about it" in replying to how you should get rid of an unwanted thought, ignore their advice - then enlighten them.

A Great Read
A wonderfully engaging, cleverly written book about a serious subject. A real delight.

A refreshing change from traditional mind control rethoric
Since graduating high school and moving on to college, I've had significant difficulties concentrating due mostly to what could be described as unwanted thoughts - at least unwanted and the time. This book is the first one I've read that offered scientific evidence supporting the authors points. It didn't solve all my problems, but it has been a great place to start finding solutions.

Easy to read, enlightening, offers different perspective
An excellent read for serious students of psychology AND for everybody else.

The upshot of this book is that (according to Wegner's research, which is described in sufficient detail for the reader to make his or her own judgments) the best way to get rid of an obsession is to stop trying to. Wegner's research has found that trying hard to squelch a thought is likely to make it stick harder.

Wegner spends some time discussing how this specifically might tie in to depression, in which a person gets stuck in a rut of negative mood and thought and then is preoccupied with wishing that negative mood weren't there.

You can also come up with areas in your own life in which you've wanted to get rid of some thought and couldn't. Wegner explains what to do when that happens.

"Mental control" in the title refers to how we control our own thoughts -- using our thoughts. It's a bit of a puzzle and Wegner makes some good points about it.

This book will give you a new perspective on this issue. It's a slim little book, not hard to read, but it is entirely serious and substantive. No empty-headed pop psych here. This is the real thing. ... Read more

Book Description

The Love Cure asks questions and describes feelings and events that the therapeutic and self-help communities would rather not look at. But it goes beyond simplistic and moralistic either/or, yes-or-no debates about erotic relations in therapy. Dr. Haule is a clear-minded and full-hearted professional who writes brightly, learnedly, and with a rich understanding of the complexities of love, the illusions it brings, and the healing it offers. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

So I'm not nuts after all.
I guess it's not so crazy to think sex might be helpful in therapy after all. The profession is just to frightened to even consider the possibility. Love, in all forms, is therapeutic. Whether we choose to believe it or not. Being "cured" in therapy is driven by love. Draw your own conclusions. At least Haule has the guts to open the topic up for discussion and not just dismiss it out of fear or ignorance.

Bravely shouts the dark secret of successful therapy: LOVE!
Falling in love again, hopelessly? You're the patient and it's your therapist? Don't curse your fate, fool! Be glad! It means there's a cure on the way. You're the therapist and it's the patient? Dare to be proud and stay with it. Love has been the secret ingredient of successful therapies from the earliest days of psychoanalysis, but it's too dangerous a topic to talk about in this suspicious age. This author risks thinking the unthinkable, saying the unsayable. For professionals and interested laymen ... Read more

Reviews (1)

antidote to freud
in this book karen horney shows her usual insight and clear writing style as she helps to undo some of the damage done by freud's narrow view of the psychology of the female mind ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Classic
Really hard to read, this book is not for the laymen. ... Read more

Book Description

Research Methodology is not an inherently interesting topic.This book counteracts the natural tendency to shy away from research with an understandable, palatable, useful, and interesting, and above all, readable attempt to explain research methods. Knowing proper research methodology comes from an understanding of basic statistical principles, research design, measurement, descriptive studies, and scientific writing.This book addresses each subject section by section to enhance conceptual learning rather than regurgitation of calculations. For anyone who needs to learn proper research methodology in psychology, social work, teaching, or public relations. ... Read more

Book Description

A study of the analogies between alchemy, Christian dogma, and psychological symbolism. Revised translation, with new bibliography and index. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Incredible book!
I was indirectly exposed to Jung while reading Joseph Campbell so it was a logical progression to read Jung's works, which were obviously influential in Campbell's thought processes. This was the first of his books that I've read, and I was absolutely enthralled. This particular book was very well written(as were the others) and displays Jung's encyclopedic knowledge of alchemy and mythology. The way that he ties alchemy in with psychology makes perfect sense. The illustrations also greatly enhance the book and help to explain the material.

a good companion to Jung's ALCHEMICAL STUDIES
Jung surpasses himself here by seeing in alchemical symbolism the psyche trying to discover itself to the artifex bent over his alchemical retort. Only one who'd discovered his own version of the fabulous Philosopher's Stone could have attempted such a work.

Making sense of concealed
This book is a result of Jung's extensive study of old Alchemical practices and his efforts to connect and interpret it in the light of his own psychological concepts. The book gives sense to ancient Alchemy practices and explains them as symbols of the process of human spiritual growth.

Jung explains different steps of this process and illustrates them with phases of the symbolic process of alchemic transmutation, leading to integration of the soul and producing alchemyc gold - or in terms of his own concept the result of the process of individuation.

Concrete examples from his own psychiatric experience of dream analysis and monitoring psychological growth very vividly and convincingly illustrate this concept in action.

The book is richly illustrated with authentic alchemic iconography which renders reader authentic atmosphere and taste of ancient art.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in connecting ancient spiritual practices and modern psychological interpretation theories. ... Read more

Book Description

Sometimes controversial, invariably fascinating, Lacan's psycholinguistic approach to analysis of the psychoses is seen here in virtually unmediated form. Taking us into and beyond the realm of Freudian psychoanalysis, Lacan examines the psychoses' inescapable connection to the symbolic process through which signifier is joined with signified. Lacan deftly navigates the ontological levels of the symbolic, the imaginary, and the real to explain psychosis as "foreclosure," or rejection of the primordial signifier. Then, bridging the gap between the theoretical and the practical, Lacan discusses the implications for treatment. In these lectures on the psychoses, Lacan's renowned theory of metaphor and metonymy, along with the concept of the "quilting point," appears for the first time. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Lacan and the father
Lacan's seminars are superior to his articles because he clearly is addressing an audience, and needs to make himself understood, but he has already anticipated all of his students questions, as if he could read their minds: "I know what you're thinking." The argument of the third seminar is easy to summarize: the psychotic, because foreclosed from the father, faces a hole in the imaginary that is filled by the symbolic (or is it the other way around?), hence the hallucinations and voices. The psychotic always imagines that somewhere the big Other resides, in this world, like the man who broke into the US capital because there was a time machine inside that was trying to control his mind. The psychotic is in fact unable to distinguish the small from the big other. Lacan is always thought to be a little mad himself, something of a fraud, "il gagne beaucoup d'argent," and even Heidegger gave up reading Ecrits because he couldn't make sense of it, and he does make something of a display of his learning (not so much in this seminar). That said, there is something to Lacan, and eventually he will get his due, and outside the narrow circle of his devotees.

A Lacan to be Read
The work of Jacques Lacan is infamous for the often obtuseness of its language and presentation. It is often said that the reader must work hard at Lacan to reach a glimmer of understanding. The work of Dr Russell Grigg as translator to this edition certainly gives the reader a head start. Dr Grigg address the work of Lacan from a new perspective of the 21st century, nolonger happy for the work to remain arcane and cloistered from the reading public, but he throws open the windows of further understanding for those willing to look and read closer the work of this French master. An excellent work. ... Read more

Book Description

This book offers the most comprehensive coverage of qualitative techniques of any book on the market today and does it in a way that is easy to read and follow. The author's central purpose remains a desire to instruct inexperienced researchers in ways of effectively collecting, organizing, and making sense of qualitative data, while stressing the importance of ethics in research and in taking the time to properly design and think through any research endeavor. After reading this book, fledgling researchers should be able to design, collect, and analyze data and then present their results to the scientific community. Considers seven different data collection strategies in detail. Describes focus group interviewing, one of the fastest growing styles of data collection, in detail (Ch. 5), including a new Moderator's Guide that provides the inexperienced focus group facilitator with a step-by-step guide to how the interview should be conducted.Maintains the emphasis on ethics in research (Ch. 3) including a new section on the President's apology for the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. For anyone in the social sciences who needs to develop research methodology. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A clear respresentation of the alchemical process
I thought the Rosarium essay in particular was very clearly written and much easier to understand than reading from Jung's exposition. I'm quickly becoming an Edinger fan.

excellent exposition
If you want a quick, clear and concise explanation of some central concepts in Jung's writings on alchemy you really can't beat this boo ... Read more

Book Description

Extracted from Volume 9, Part I. Includes "Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype," "Concerning Rebirth," "The Phenomenology of the Spirit in Fairytales," and "On the Psychology of the Trickster-Figure." ... Read more

Reviews (3)

he did better with Gradiva....
In this small book Freud takes a mistranslated childhood memory of Leonardo's--one in which a kite (Freud thought it a vulture) opens the baby's mouth with its tail feathers--and makes a case for a genius born out of wedlock left alone too much with his mother, and therefore prone to homosexuality. Lame.

As always, though, Freud at least arrives in the ballpark, even if he doesn't understand the game. Initial memories are often strangely prophetic, even when constructed out of fantasy; and so perhaps the fantastic kite--known for its interesting flight configurations--suckled the young Leonardo's latent inventive urges, or even symbolized their later expression.

Note: in this study first appears Freud's use of the term Eros, which he later makes such a fundamental part of his theory.

Sublimation, Eros and Vultures
Freud's attempt to apply the concepts and generalisations of psychoanalysis to the Universal Man, Leonardo da Vinci. The formulations reached in the book have now become "pop-Freudian" cliches: the subject was doted on by his mother, neglected by his father and therefore developed a homosexual streak. What occured exactly, according to Freud, was an inordinate Oedipal development in which the subject took his father's domination of the mother as a "de facto" domination (hence prohibition on the father's part) of *all* women and hence it triggered a shift from heterosexual to homosexual tendencies. Freud applies his doctrine of infantile sexuality to address other topics such as Leonardo's prodigious genius, his scientific pursuits and the fact that he left so many works unfinished. The study is speculative and tendentious and, which is more, it is marred by an egregious error in the translation of one of Leonardo's notebooks. Its major shortcoming is its rather reckless and overconfident attempt to reconstruct the psycholgy of a man dead for centuries. For zealous partisans of psychoanalysis only, or for those who have an academic interest in the subject.

If you're interested in Fine art and psychoanalysis? READ it
I'm a graduate student majoring art history. i'd read this essey at April at seminar on Freud i made. i wanna know the interpretation of art not by classical art historian but by psycho-analysis doctor. it's so curious and fantastic to meet this strange world. In that, Freud would explain on genius of Leonardo Da Vinci. 'Passion on completeness made him (Leonardo) left his works unfinished. So to speak, if he is unsatisfied with his, he left them unfinished. And He thought the reason of Leonardo disposition toward homosexual was on his infant period accident. He was fed by Only his mother without Father! to be Absent of Father. And his Oedipus Complex not happen like normal case. He depened on his mother without obstacle-his father. He identified himself with his mom. And when he grew up, he loved boys like him. He took the role of his mom which feed him! His Libido made his investigation on everythins stronger than normal ! So to speak, His primal desire(il primo motore)is changed not as hetero sexual desire but as investigation desire. Frequently, you'd think you meet dogmatic explanation on Leonardo. It's no bad because there are not 'ONLY' truth! ^^ And why dont you check your condition out according to Freudian way? ... Read more

Book Description

A series of dialogue-scenarios, which can be read as poems or plays, describing the "knots" and impasses in various kinds of human relationships. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Illusrates ably the complexities of human relationships.
Dr. Laings book, Knots, illustrates in terms we can easily understand the unusual complexities of human relationships, particularly involving loving or not loving. With apparent child-like simplicity Dr. Laing demonstrates for us what is intuitively complex and daunting. He clarifies what for us is emotional and psychological, using the knot as a metaphore for what we want to see about our relationships that is clouded and only vaguely sensed. To clarify is to confirm. To make visible what is troubling is to give the reader respect for their intuition and possibly even a grasp of how to deal with our relations with each otherl. The power of understanding our relating to others is here in a short text from which we can begin to unknot our mental perplexity and achieve for ourselves satisfying or at the very least, understood, relations with those we love.

Fascinating, annoying, unnerving - a must read.
Famed radical psychologist R.D. Laing's bizarre, one-of-a-kind (or at least first of its kind) book consists of five chapters of increasingly weird 'knots' - internal conversations that develop into obsessive debates. Laing uses his deceptively flat, simple style to brilliantly shed light on the way the mind works, and most of all the way it deals with relationships. It starts out easy enough to follow, but watch out - in the second chapter Laing turns the 'If it is me, it is not mine' knot into a masterpiece of convoluted reasoning, actually numbering each line and turning them into impossibly complex diagrams. Next comes the 'There is something Jack knows that Jill does not, but he does not know he does not know...' knot, which might prompt you to hurl the book at the wall after six pages of interminable mental gymnastics. But once you've made it through that, the rest of the book is a breeze, and the fifth chapter, the most opaque, is even a little disturbing. After you close the book, beware of turning every question that pops into your head into a knot - it starts to get a bit compulsive!

Compelling and Frighteningly Recognizable
RD Laing's Knots is a brilliantly written examination of the ways in which our own minds interfere with our personal relationships, bringing life to a standstill of self-hatred inflicted on those around us. Knots is a particularly valid study of the relationships of those closest to us, our families. However, it might just barely be possible that everything in your life is perfect, and that you interact with others in a realm far above that of the average human being, in which case you probably won't like knots, but if you, like many others, struggle with your own feelings of inadequacy and doubt, then you too will find Knots compelling. On a side note, I'm not sure that paying 8 dollars would be advisable. I found it at a used book sale, but if that doesn't work, try a library.

The Emperor's New Clothes
I've found no value in this book, despite holding Laing in high esteem for his compassion toward the mentally ill and his provocative challenges to the status quo. I'm thankful that some of his other books have been of so much value to me; this one I don't get.

"Knots" consists of an opening page which suggests that the patterns that follow would correlate significantly with actual problems in human relationships, followed by the patterns themselves. However, there is no example presented of any specific real incident involving any of these "knots". There is no suggestion as to how one might avoid such "knots" if one found oneself in them. There is no reference to other works of Laing or anyone else which might provide further information about such "knots". The patterns seem more wordplay than description to me. I don't see any effective connection between these patterns and real issues I've encountered: I haven't met any Jack or Jill's nor am I aware of having been one. My little brain may spare me from constructing such complicated thought patterns; perhaps I manage to become confused on my own with much simpler ways of thinking.

I'd suggest instead reading Gregory Bateson (if you're interested in how one can get stuck by what's said in a relationship), or something else by Laing if Laing's your interest, or Peter Handke's staggering play "Kaspar" if you like to find real meaning within apparent words of nonsense, or Dr. Seuss if you like intelligent playfulness with words.

Painful Reading
Painful because of the subject matter, and painful because of Laing's style or pretension towards one.

If you want to find out about Laing, read his earlier stuff first. This is not Laing at his best, this is the threadbare, ideologially-exhausted Laing. By the point in his life that he wrote this, his time had definitely been. ... Read more

Book Description

Explains the fundamentals of the behavioral theory that is based on an integrated view of the personality. For the student and the professional. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An easy introduction
This basic introduction to gestalt therapy, first published thirty years ago, is relatively easy to read and covers quite a lot of concepts and practices. It also provides many anecdotal accounts of example cases to help illustrate its themes. ... Read more