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Books

• The Little Guide To Beating Procrastination, Perfectionism and Blocks: A Manual for Artists, Activists, Entrepreneurs, Academics and Other, by Hillary Rettig -- "a substantially revised and expanded version of Part III of The Lifelong Activist (Managing Your Fears), that now offers important new material, including about the 'false' solutions many people futilely employ to solve their procrastination problem. Of course, it also discusses the true – i.e., effective – solutions in detail!" Other topics discussed are: perfectionism, negativity, hypersensitivity, coping with fear and panic, time management, determining your authentic mission, and leading an empowered and joyful life.
• Care for the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life, by Thomas Moore -- "I never thought Care of the Soul would be so widely read. It is a summary of my views on the soul and represents my attempt to replace the psychology of cure and self-improvement with ongoing care. The title is an ancient phrase used to describe the work of the priest and was used here and there by Jung. Readers say that the book suggests an attitude and a tone, which is more important than the actual ideas. It is one of profound acceptance and an absence of heroics as we go about our daily lives giving the soul the attention it needs."
• Escape from Freedom, by Erich Fromm -- "If humanity cannot live with the dangers and responsibilities inherent in freedom, it will probably turn to authoritarianism. This is the central idea of Escape from Freedom, a landmark work by one of the most distinguished thinkers of our time, and a book that is as timely now as when first published in 1941. Few books have thrown such light upon the forces that shape modern society or penetrated so deeply into the causes of authoritarian systems. If the rise of democracy set some people free, at the same time it gave birth to a society in which the individual feels alienated and dehumanized. Using the insights of psychoanalysis as probing agents, Fromm’s work analyzes the illness of contemporary civilization as witnessed by its willingness to submit to totalitarian rule."
• Improv Wisdom: Don't Prepare, Just Show Up, by Patricia Ryan Madson -- "Madson writes: 'A good improviser is someone who is awake, not entirely self-focused, and moved by a desire to do something useful and give something back and who acts upon this impulse.' We live in times when people are desperately seeking security and a life of as few risks as possible. This is precisely the time, says the author, to savor the pleasures and delights of an improvised life. She has come up with thirteen laws of improvisation along with exercises for each."
• Soteria: Through Madness to Deliverance, by Loren R. Mosher, M.D., Voyce Hendrix, LCSW, and Deborah C. Fort, Ph.D. -- "the story ... of a special time, space, and place where young people diagnosed as "schizophrenic" found a social environment where they were related to, listened to, and understood during their altered states of consciousness. Rarely, and only with consent, did these distressed and distressing persons take "tranquilizers." They lived in a home in a California suburb with nonmedical caregivers whose goal was not to "do to" them but to "be with" them. The place was called "Soteria" (Greek for deliverance), and there, for not much money, most recovered. Although Soteria's approach was swept away by conventional drug-oriented psychiatry, its humanistic orientation still has broad appeal to those who find the mental health mainstream limited in both theory and practice. This book recounts a noble experiment to alleviate oppression and suffering without destroying their victims."
• Skills Training Manual for Treating Borderline Personality Disorder, Marsha M. Linehan, 1993. "This manual details precisely how to implement the skills training procedures and includes practical pointers on when to use the other treatment strategies described."
• Status Anxiety, Alain de Botton, 2004 -- "With the help of philosophers, artists and writers, he examines the origins of status anxiety (ranging from the consequences of the French Revolution to our secret dismay at the success of our friends), before revealing ingenious ways in which people have learnt to overcome their worries in their search for happiness."
• The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity: A Course in Discovering and Recovering Your Creative Self, Julia Cameron, 2002. An inspiring self-help manual on creativity that applies to the art of living in general.
• The Miracle of Mindfulness, Thich Nhat Hahn, 1999. An introduction to Buddhist meditation, with stories and exercises.
• The Politics of Experience, R.D. Laing, 1967. "Attacks accepted assumptions about the nature of "normality" with a challenging view of the mental sickness built into our society."
• The Undiscovered Mind: How the Human Brain Defies Replication, Medication, and Explanation, by John Horgan -- "John Horgan focuses on the single most important scientific enterprise of all - the effort to understand the human mind - and exposes a world of minor and doubtful achievement."
• Using the Strengths Perspective in Social Work Practice: A Positive Approach for the Helping Professions, by Morley D. Glicken -- "This research-oriented text explains the concepts behind the strengths perspective and demonstrates how to apply the strengths perspective in practice through case studies and discussion. Complex client problems discussed in the book include abuse, domestic violence, mental illness and addictions, with information on natural healing in addicted clients and self-management of mental illness. Dr. Glicken also explores the importance of spirituality and religious involvement, a positive view of change in clients with mental illness, the effectiveness of self-help groups, and resilience in children and adults who have experienced life traumas. Understanding the Strengths Perspective includes the works of Martin Seligman on learned optimism, Robert Putnam on community life in America, and Dennis Saleebey on the strengths perspective in social work."
• Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life, by Jon Kabat-Zinn -- "Re-released on its tenth anniversary of publication, this book presents meditation as a natural activity that can be practiced anytime and anywhere, without props or trappings."

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