Mental Health Books

have just finished reading this excellent book. Should have been written years ago...ANyone living with a PTSD person should read this..An easy read and offers insight and clousure...

'The Beast Within' is unique in that it speaks to the difficulties encountered by military personnel *after* their tour of duty. The horrors of war have been well documented, and rightly so. However, the horrors of life *after* war, unfortunately, have not been voiced. The Beast Within breaks the silence - and shares that which is known to Veterans and no one else: the difficulties in resuming a non-military life in an environment where understanding and gratitude are too often overshadowed with prejudices, indifference and apathy - an environment that assumes 'he'll be OK now that he's home'. The Beast Within challenges the belief that the government provides for those who served and enables its soldiers to rejoin society after forcing them from it. The Beast Within sheds light on the fact that the military mindset is unlike anything else - and that real assistance and resources are necessary to adapt to a life where death and destruction are no longer the focus of one's everyday being, i.e., a life after war.

'The Beast Within' is unique in that it speaks to the difficulties encountered by military personnel *after* their tour of duty. The horrors of war have been well documented, and rightly so. However, the horrors of life *after* war, unfortunately, have not been voiced. The Beast Within breaks the silence - and shares that which is known to Veterans and no one else: the difficulties in resuming a non-military life in an environment where understanding and gratitude are too often overshadowed with prejudices, indifference and apathy - an environment that assumes 'he'll be OK now that he's home'. The Beast Within challenges the belief that the government provides for those who served and enables its soldiers to rejoin society after forcing them from it. The Beast Within sheds light on the fact that the military mindset is unlike anything else - and that real assistance and resources are necessary to adapt to a life where death and destruction are no longer the focus of one's everyday being, i.e., a life after war.

'The Beast Within' is unique in that it speaks to the difficulties encountered by military personnel *after* their tour of duty. The horrors of war have been well documented, and rightly so. However, the horrors of life *after* war, unfortunately, have not been voiced. The Beast Within breaks the silence - and shares that which is known to Veterans and no one else: the difficulties in resuming a non-military life in an environment where understanding and gratitude are too often overshadowed with prejudices, indifference and apathy - an environment that assumes 'he'll be OK now that he's home'. The Beast Within challenges the belief that the government provides for those who served and enables its soldiers to rejoin society after forcing them from it. The Beast Within sheds light on the fact that the military mindset is unlike anything else - and that real assistance and resources are necessary to adapt to a life where death and destruction are no longer the focus of one's everyday being, i.e., a life after war.

I really like the information provided in this book. It gave a great insight into Borderline Personality Disorder. I think that all in the medical field, including teachers, would benefit from reading this book. Thanks for offering this opportunity in your selection of literature. It was easy to read and understand.

I was recently diagnosed with BPD and am just starting to research it and found this book. I looked at a couple others but compared to this one, this one was by far the best. I especially liked the part talking about common myths with BPD, it was very encouraging.

I was preparing for a presentation for NAMI and was asked to help clients, family members, and other professionals understand BPD. I found this to be an important task due to the negative information that is out there on BPD. This book was published just prior to the date of the presentation and I used it as a main source for the presentation and recommended it to all who attended. I also highly recommended it to my consultation team as something they may benefit from reading as well as to recommend for their clients. I found this book to be very informative, describing BPD from the model used within DBT therapy. The book was hopeful and inspiring to me in working with clients with BPD and I hope this book is read by many. I thank the authors for writing a book that is so user friendly. Several of my clients have benefited from this book already!

As someone diagnosed with BPD, I have done a lot of research on the condition, both online and by reading any book written on the subject. Many of those books (except for BPD Demystified)are extremely outdated, even if they're only a few years old. And many of them were disappointedly irresponsible, being quite negative and insisting that the prognosis was always dire and/or perpetuating the huge myth that those diagnosed with BPD are basically manipulative.

I say this because this book is different. It has the latest information on BPD, from what it is, how it may come about, what therapies are out there, if medication helps, and, quite important, speaks about new research on the brain and how this research shows actual physical differences in those with BPD. The book succeeds most in 2 particular ways: (1) In the way it is organized. Well-written chapters, clear headings and subheadings, easy for anyone and everyone to understand, and comprehensive summaries at chapter ends to note the main points. The books is also divided into Parts I and II, to make the focus and direction even clearer. For this alone, it is a book I would recommend to anyone interested in BPD, whether a professional, consumer, family member, friend, student, etc.

And furthermore, (2) The Survival Guide does not take one position and stubbornly adhere to it. It recognizes that there are many differences among those diagnosed with BPD, even as the similarities in how they "match" the criteria kinda puts us all in the same group. Of all the information out there, it presents the most "open" view, meaning that it is informative and hopeful and recognizes that this is a complex condition but that it is indeed treatable. And the authors cite many studies to back up their points. They don't pretend to have all the answers, but instead create an opening for real dialog and discussion.

I recommend this book wholeheartedly, without any reservation whatsoever. It will educate you, let you see the individuality of people diagnosed with BPD, and present you with the latest in therapy and in research, without prejudice. I am thankful for this book. It is honest and impartial. And perhaps above all else, that's what BPD literature presently needs the most.

Aspergers Syndrome can drive a wedge between one and society... "Born on the Wrong Planet" thinks it can be enough that it may seem that the sufferer is not of this world and it's strange ways and customs. Author Erika Hammerschmidt speaks of her difficulties overcoming what many people find so easily overcome in their lives, but is an uphill battle due to her Aspergers and Tourettes syndromes. An inspirational tale, "Born on the Wrong Planet" is the perfect gift for any intermediate reader of a young age trying to cope with their own Aspergers.

Erika Hammerschmidt provides a wonderful autobiography which enables us to journey onto her "planet of Asperger Syndrome" to better understand what it feels like to live on the autism spectrum. This unique and wonderful insight about Asperger Syndrome is priceless. I would highly recommend this book for parents and educators of individuals (of all ages) on the autism spectrum especially those with Asperger Syndrome. I also think that the book provides a wonderful journey for others on the spectrum to read to see that they are not alone on this journey. By offering us this insight, Erika has opened doors of understanding for all of us as we interact together on this planet.

Thank you Erika!

Joanna L. Keating-Velasco, Author, A Is for Autism F Is for Friend: A Kid's Book for Making Friends with a Child Who Has Autism

After reading the book,I recommended it to everyone I know and don't know. It is a book you can't put down once you start. Erika has done a great job giving her life experiences that have helped me understand my son a little bit better. I have also seen her and her husband John speak in person and wow are they good. Any chance anybody gets to read the book and/or see them speak, you won't regret it. When's the next book coming out?

This is a quick read, and a fascinating book. It's a look at the world from the inside of a person with Asperger's Syndrome, Tourette's, and OCD. I found the book to be a real eye-opener, as I have a child who has PDD and may experience some of the same things as the author.

I'd been to Alan Finger's seminar in NYC years ago and wanted to have that information again to try to recreate the miraculous results I got there. The book in combination with the excellent meditation CD were everything I'd hoped they would be. If you're looking to open up your meditation practice and take it to a new level, I strongly recommend this program. If you've never worked with your chakras, you will find a new discipline you never knew existed.

I have been doing yoga for many years before it became well known and supposedly popular. (Although every other commercial these days has some woman doing yoga in order to attach their product to this symbol of a healthy lifestyle (even a house paint commercial!), I wonder how many folks actually practice for more than a little while...) At any rate, the feature that made this book better than all the rest was the CD which introduced me to the chakra mantras which allowed me to actually feel the chakras in my body on my very first attempt using the mantras! And this author is offering his wisdom at a very reasonable price! Buy this one new!

I found this book to be really helpful in understanding the relationship between yoga and the chakras. It is written so well and I could put it into practice immediately. A must have for those looking to deepen their yoga practice

Alan Finger truly sounds like a yoga guru.

In this book, he provides guidance and direction in performing basic yoga poses and reveals their relation to the human chakras. This, in my opinion, is very important in getting your foundation straight & solid, so it can safely be built upon.

The book is written well, without bogging you down with excess theory or pages of boring information, yet neatly introducing useful concepts. The author goes into great detail in explaining how to correctly do a certain pose, and points out common mistakes. I have found it very helpful. The brief real-life examples of balances and imbalances in chakras are also quite interesting.

Lastly, the spiritual part of the book: meditation. I was quite a novice to the whole practice of meditation prior to reading this book. So no surprise, as I tried, I did not always feel like I was entering "the state of oneness, yoga", and at times I couldn't even let go of restless thoughts. But it improves with time and practice. And Alan Finger emphasizes it - practice consistently, in order to get results. I would probably also play some quiet meditation music while listening to the book's audio, as it comes without background music.

I do recommend this book to all who are seeking another dimension in their lives. It will not only help you become better at your yoga practice, but may as well help you make a shift towards a better life and being a better person.

this is an excellent chakra book. mercier's other book, the chakra bible is also a must have. You will love it!!

Before reading this book, I had at best a passing interest in the subject of the chakras. Many of the other books I considered purchasing that dealt with this subject, were dense and difficult to understand. This book however is neither.

The Chakras is a concise yet comprehensive treatment of the topic of the chakras. It is written for your modern day person and draws information from a variety of different teaching systems and cultures. The result is a synthesis of the most important and well-studied "new age" ideas and concepts. This is much more than a book about chakras and touches upon diverse subjects including the use of color and sound for healing, as well as shamanism. The illustrations are simply gorgeous and the text includes many useful techniques for meditation and visualization. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in expanding their perceptual horizons and learning about the chakras.

FYI- Knowledge of the chakras is critical for the understanding of shamanism and Toltec sorcery. I also recommend: 1) Shaman, Healer, Sage-Alberto Villoldo. This book gives a shamanic description of the chakras and explains how this knowledge fits in to the healing practices of shamans.2) The Path- Esmeralda Arana. Explains how knowledge of the Chakras plays a role in sorcery.

Although every book that I own on the charkas is very valuable, each one has something special that sets it apart. Mercier's book is no exception.

The introduction explains the concept of auric energy fields and the next chapter discusses the focused energy fields, the vortices within these fields that are the chakras and how they are connected to the endocrine and central nervous systems and the spine.

The Indian tradition is discussed next, with reference to Yoga, and then each chakra is investigated in depth with beautiful illustrations and the appropriate meditations.

The book includes a chapter on charkas and sound - each chakra responds to the primal vibration of sound through mantras, chanting, toning, singing, musical scales and specific instruments.

The chapter A New Awareness explores beyond the 7 well-known chakras into a new state of consciousness. Here the additional charkas are discussed: Earth Star, Navel (hara), Causal, Soul Star and Stellar Gateway that exist as potentialities within the sequence of the seven.

The chapter Chakras and Sacred Stones looks at the correspondences with crystals whilst the last chapter deals with healing the body and mind.

The text is richly enhanced by brilliant paintings, photographs and illustrations, including illustrated exercises, and the book concludes with a bibliography and index.

I highly recommend this book if you want to learn all there is to know about chakras. Drawing on scientific research and a western approach, it explains the seven major chakras in detail using colorful photography and charts. It also explains the 21 minor chakras. I especially enjoyed learning how to nourish and heal my chakras through the many meditation, breathing, and visualization exercises. To my delight, it also includes a detailed account of how to heal your chakras using crystals, pendulums, colors and sound. My health and general well being have improved after doing the exercises and has given me a new perspective of how I view the world. I feel more at peace with myself and know I will refer back to this book time and time again.

Those who would dismiss this book as overgeneralized and flawed forget that institutions were originally established not to protect disabled people from society, but society from disabled people.

Popular notion of the time held disabled people would be much more of a hindrance than help to society, and looked odd. Thus, if they were locked up, society would know where they were at all times while being able to pretend that they did not exist to begin with. Indeed, when Blatt and Kaplan's expose appeared, it set off controversy from those who had the audacity to defend the charges against very quickly turning public sentiment.

Although they are certainly free to articulate what they consider flaws with the book, it is difficult to believe that critics of this work would actually want to downplay the seriousness of these (and other) investigations if they were in those instutitions. Indeed, I strongly suspect they would want to be treated like human beings and given adequate care and a stimmulating environment.

As a diabled person myself, the contents of the book hit very close to home. Fortunate enough to be born in 1979, I realized that had I been born 20 years earlier, I most likely would have been one of the unfortunate people in the institutions investigated in this essay. While I previously had been aware of the disability rights movement's work in this area, reading this book gave me a whole new perspective on my work as a disability rights activist.

Because this book was never positioned as an indictment of all facilities, I am suprised by the rather hostile nitpicking and the blanket statement allegations. I believe this says more about the individuals reviewers than the quality of the authors themselves, and should not be weighted when looking at this book.The institutions in this essay were picked because the actual practices stood in sharp contrast to the "help and loving environment" they promised parents and relatives that patients would get. Woe is the person who even suggests that this was not as bad as people have made it out to be.

If it is difficult to believe the conditions doccumented in this book, it is because of the continued ease with which society is encouraged to view disabled people as helpless children, rather than potential Supreme Court nominees, doctors, lawyers etc...Ironically, baby and bath allegories demonstrate the urgency with which this book should be designated as required reading for anybody considering a degree in social sciences or a job in a related field.

This book is the first to do a photographic expose on the condition of our nation's institutions for the mentally retarded in the 1960's. This was done on the heels of Senator Robert Kennedy's visits to several of his state's institutions and revelation of the horrific state he found them in. This is not an easy book to look at especially when looking at the children and how they were housed, contained, etc. It shows first the worst conditions that the author and photographer found and then documents an institute on the cutting edge at the time. Kaplan brings us face to face with how our ignorance and expectations can be self-fulfilling prophecies for those entrusted to our care. I found it an important book to keep as a reminder of where we have been so as not to return there.

I was told of this book in a meeting at of the company I work for.
We Provide Care to MR/DD people. This book is very disturbing and also enlighting. It makes me feel good to know that we, as a society have for the most part worked to change what these poor souls went through. A must read.

I was introduced to Christmas in Purgatory in 1996, when I took a course at Western Washington University called Introduction to Execeptional Children. There was no introduction to the essay, it was simply named in an assignment. Needless to say, I was horrified. I'm placing an order for it today as I feel that students taking courses related to people with disabilities need to see this. The book cannot be found on the national library system (in Norway), and therefore I've decided to buy a copy and donate it to my local university.

This is clearly one of the best and most comprehensive texts on the subject of clinical health psychology. The diversity of presenting medical conditions and the depth of each chapter is very impressive.

This is an accessible handbook that gives an excellent introduction to the treatment of several disorders from a health psychology perspective. Clear writing from over 20 contributors--what a find!

This is one of the best books I have seen in the field of clinical health psychology. It is extremely thorough and provides a comprehensive overview of many medical problems encountered by health psychologists. The focus of the book is on both the science of empiricim and the care involved in the healing relationship of therapist and client.

I have been teaching health psychology for about 7 years and this is the BEST book to date. It is clearly written, extremely well organized and comprehensive. A must buy!

This terrific book makes two sustainable, important, and moving points: that monogamous gay relationships are possible, desirable, and wonderful, and that if a gay man cannot attain nirvana it is because of certain emotional hang-ups he has, which are possibly reversible by looking at oneself through the mirror that Dr. Isay provides. In my opinion the review from Publisher's Weekly cited above is way off the mark. This text is not narrowly but broadly oriented, and it offers real hope and help, far more than just a series of psychoanalytically-based formulations of no use to anyone but the theorist. I highly recommend it to gay men seeking love but having difficulty finding and sustaining it. Martin Kantor, author of "Together Forever: The Gay Man's Guide to Livelong Love. "

Dr. Isay makes some very strong points. I bought this book in response to a recent break up. I found its pages filled with incite into a very strong possible reason for why my recent lover was not able to let me into his heart. I used to think that monogamy was not possible in a gay relationship. I found someone that I wanted to share everything with, exclusively. I now feel that monogamy is possible and Dr. Isay explained some valid and compelling reasons why that should be a goal. I highly recommend this book for anyone that has found something missing in their traditional gay relationships.

This book gave professional insight into gay relationships and their origins and ways to deal with resulting conflicts. Most books have not dealt with such an area. The case histories were also a plus.

Well-written and easy to read, this is a deep and thoughtful book. Richard Isay does not give the usual, easy solutions for the difficult problems gay men have in their committed relationships. He does not endorse the position that our open relationships are better than heterosexual relationships. Isay is a true maverick. His first book, "Being Homosexual", is widely considered the most influential book ever written about gay male psychology. This new book is just as groundbreaking as his first. I found it very helpful in getting my relationship back on track, and recommend it highly.

The authors of this book touch you deeply with the genuiness of their writing. I think I was lucky to meet many of the real charactters in this book either in person or via video tapes which is enabling me to live a full and rich while accepting the pain and pleasure of being human. Thanks for the precious opportunity.

The quintessential guide to weaving a tapestry to incorporate real and lasting happiness, an awakening of the spirit in all relationships bringing authenticity and the joy of being more fully concious and alive...this is a recipe for peace and
harmony in all areas of daily living....a truly brilliant and transformational piece of work....

The harsher realities of life and suffering are transcended by the unique and simple approach to existential angst. The real need for human connection becomes evident and the suffering caused by one's need vs the longing for this deep sense of connection is thoughtfully approached and easily mapped.

I was moved by this work and inspired by the friendship circle and the true desire to support and love another in the very real sense of this attachment. Authenticity has never been descibed more clearly and after all this is what we are here for.....each other and the rest of humanity.

The gift of this work will be received for many generations to come....

A recipe to model and live by..THANK YOU...

This is the best book I have come across in understanding my own and my clients' emotional development and how life can get sidetracked when we are young by neglect and abuse at the hands of caretakers,who are often unaware of the damage they are passing on to yet another generation.

Such early suffering places life on a path where internalized and unexplored feelings create a filter that distorts our view of others and ourselves. Life is lived in a kind or personal isolation ward, a prison not of our making but one we are destined to maintain unless, through our desire to stop the suffering, we become aware of a way out through the techniques prsented in this wise and liberating book.

I love the fact this work takes a combined psychoanalytical, existential and cognitve perspective of understanding and helping those trapped in chronic emotional suffering. A great book for therapists.

At times the book is redundant but I have found this sometimes an asset in helping me to more fully grasp a concept presnted again in a slighlty different way. [[ASIN:159147020X Creating a Life of Meaning and Compassion: The Wisdom of Psychotherapy]

I have been involved in the field of psychology for 15 years and have yet to come across a model that is as comprehensive and challenging as this work. I just finished reading Creating a Life of Meaning and Compassion. This book is a masterpiece and I thank all of you for putting together such a contribution for society. I cannot begin to say how much this book affected me and how it provoked a great deal of thought and understanding about the Fantasy Bond, the Voice, and my Life. Several of my clients have read the book and all have reported how wonderful it truly is.

THE DANA GUIDE TO BRAIN HEALTH appeared several years ago and was only recently received for review - but the information it holds has withstood the test of time and makes THE DANA GUIDE TO BRAIN HEALTH a recommended pick to this day. Where competing health titles are quickly outdated by advancements, THE DANA GUIDE remains as current and relevant as the day it was published, providing a resource for consumers which is intended as a home reference rather than a physician's handbook. Diagrams, tables, sidebars, graphs and photos all illustrate important, basic connections between brain health and body health and show how consumers can maintain both. From brain disease-specific chapters on autism, alcoholism, and Huntington's Disease, among others, to more general introductions on brain physiology, THE DANA GUIDE promises to be a lasting reference far beyond the usual shelf life of medical coverages.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Addendum to my earlier comments: Diagrams and illustrations are invaluable

Title is misleading. This is clearly written, and packed with easily accessible information. Recommend it as an introduction to neuroanatomy, neuropathology, and neurology

Title is misleading. This is clearly written, and packed with easily accessible information. Recommend it as an introduction to neuroanatomy, neuropathology, and neurology