The Hero Within: Six Archetypes We Live By


Carol S. Pearson - 1986
    Pearson gives us a unique vocabulary to explore the link between ancient archetypes and our contemporary lives.Works like Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces have introduced readers to the significance of myth and archetype in our lives. Carol Pearson's bestselling The Hero Within takes us further by combining literature, anthropology, and psychology to clearly define, with insight and understanding, the six heroic archetypes that exist in all of us: the Innocent, the Orphan, the Wanderer, the Warrior, the Martyr, and the Magician. This substantially revised edition features new chapters that illuminate these archetypes, showing how to reach our fullest potential by achieving a balance between work, family, and the self."An excellent and useful book about the course our psychological and development can take.... {Pearson's} is an evolutionary archetypal psychology". -- Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D., author of Goddess in Everywoman and Gods in Everyman

Listening to Prozac


Peter D. Kramer - 1993
    But what is Prozac—a medication, or a mental steroid? A cure for depression, or a drug that changes personality? Reported to turn shy people into social butterflies and to improve work performance, memory, even dexterity, does Prozac work on character rather than illness? Are you using it "cosmetically," to make people more attractive? More energetic, more socially acceptable? And what does it tell us about the nature of character and the mutability of self?

Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind


Gary F. Marcus - 2008
    In this lucid and revealing book, Marcus argues that the mind is not an elegantly designed organ but rather a “kluge,” a clumsy, cobbled-together contraption. He unveils a fundamentally new way of looking at the human mind -- think duct tape, not supercomputer -- that sheds light on some of the most mysterious aspects of human nature.Taking us on a tour of the fundamental areas of human experience -- memory, belief, decision-making, language, and happiness -- Marcus reveals the myriad ways our minds fall short. He examines why people often vote against their own interests, why money can’t buy happiness, why leaders often stick to bad decisions, and why a sentence like “people people left left” ties us in knots even though it’s only four words long.Marcus also offers surprisingly effective ways to outwit our inner kluge, for the betterment of ourselves and society. Throughout, he shows how only evolution -- haphazard and undirected -- could have produced the minds we humans have, while making a brilliant case for the power and usefulness of imperfection.

Minding the Body, Mending the Mind


Joan Borysenko - 1987
    Tells how to use the mind's power to dramatically improve physical and emotional health.

The Nature of Happiness


Desmond Morris - 2004
    He shows that there are many ways of achieving happiness; for example, there is the inherent happiness that comes with the love of a child; the competitive happiness of triumphing over your opponents; the sensual happiness of the hedonist. Rather than preaching a particular behavior or way of life, Morris provides knowledge that we can use, if we wish, to make ourselves happier.

Growing Up Jung: Coming of Age as the Son of Two Shrinks


Micah Toub - 2010
    Dreamwork, archetypes, conflict resolution, the mind-body connection—Toub’s childhood was a virtual laboratory of psychology. A mysterious growth on his father’s nose embodies the conflict that would lead to his parents’ divorce. Family meetings involved dream analysis and intense emotional unburdening. As a young adult, Micah chases his “anima” in the form of a fickle poetess who eventually breaks his heart, but then a series of coincidences later identified as “synchronicity” lead him to his fiancé. Enriched with excerpts from Jung’s own memoir, and informed by readings and conversations with Jungian gurus and unbelievers alike, Growing Up Jung intelligently examines the pros and cons of Jungian philosophy as we witness Toub embrace his “shadow” and meditate with his “ally” in that elusive quest for “individuation.” While tackling themes like the Anima, the Oedipus Complex, and Transference, it addresses the question: is it possible for the spawn of two shrinks to reach adulthood mentally unscathed?

Psych 101: Psychology Facts, Basics, Statistics, Tests, and More!


Paul Kleinman - 2012
    Psych 101 cuts out the boring details and statistics, and instead, gives you a lesson in psychology that keeps you engaged - and your synapses firing.From personality quizzes and the Rorschach Blot Test to B.F. Skinner and the stages of development, this primer for human behavior is packed with hundreds of entertaining psychology basics and quizzes you can't get anywhere else.So whether you're looking to unravel the intricacies of the mind, or just want to find out what makes your friends tick, Psych 101 has all the answers - even the ones you didn't know you were looking for.

C.G. Jung: Lord of the Underworld


Colin Wilson - 1984
    An enormously influential and original thinker, Jung was for some time Freud's principal disciple, but he became more and more critical of the Freudian emphasis on repressed sexual tendencies and after the publication of Symbols of Transformation in 1912, Jung broke away from Freud to develop his own technique of 'analytical psychology'.

The Healing Connection: How Women Form Relationships in Therapy and in Life


Jean Baker Miller - 1997
    In so doing they offer a new understanding of human development that points a way to change in all of our institutions-work, community, school, and family-and is sure to transform lives.

The Alchemist’s Handbook (Manual for Practical Laboratory Alchemy)


Frater Albertus - 1960
    Formerly handed down under oath of secrecy, this clear, concise handbook discusses: the fundamental principles of alchemy; directions for the formation of an inexpensive home laboratory, with illustrations of the necessary equipment; stepbystep instructions for the work of the Lesser Circulation, the alchemical transformation within the plant kingdomthe necessary prerequisite for any work in the mineral kingdom.

The Psychology of Intelligence


Jean Piaget - 1947
    His theory of learning lies at the very heart of the modern understanding of the human learning process, and he is celebrated as the founding father of child psychology. A prolific writer, is the author of more than fifty books and several hundred articles. The Psychology of Intelligence is one of his most important works. Containing a complete synthesis of his thoughts on the mechanisms of intellectual development, it is an extraordinary volume by an extraordinary writer. Given his significance, it is hardly surprising that Psychology Today pronounced Piaget the Best Psychologist of the twentieth century.

Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge


Terence McKenna - 1992
    Illustrated.

An Introduction to Jung's Psychology


Frieda Fordham - 1953
    In his personal foreword, he wrote: 'Mrs Frieda Fordham has undertaken the by no means easy task of producing a readable resumé of all my various attempts at a better and more comprehensive understanding of the human psyche. She has delivered a fair and simple account of the main aspects of my psychological work. I am indebted to her for this admirable piece of work.'Originally issued in 1953, this Introduction immediately became the standard first step for those eager to understand the varied work and thought of this remarkable man. Mrs Fordham explains her reason for attempting the work. She wrote: 'Most people have heard of the late C. G. Jung, often linking him vaguely with Sigmund Freud; and although the terms 'complex', 'introvert', and 'extravert' are often used in everyday speech, few realise they were coined by him. Jung’s influence has been far-reaching, touching many of the human sciences, and his ideas have proved of value in such widely differing fields as biology and theology. Many of his writings are technical, and even those of a general nature often appear somewhat obscure, but they contain a core of significance for everyone. This book aims at revealing this core to the reading public in language which is easily comprehensive and yet does not do violence to the subtlety and creative genius of one of the greatest modern psychologists.'

Beginner's Guide to Jungian Psychology


Robin Robertson - 1992
    G. Jung, Dr. Robertson explains how Jung reintroduced Westerners to the world of archetypes--the imagery of the collective unconscious, of mythology, and the symbols in nature. He discusses the structure and dynamics of the psyche, the meaning of dreams, the shadow, the anima/animus, and the mysterious figure of the Self. This practical yet inspiring introduction can make Jung's exciting philosophy/psychology part of your life.

Art and Artist: Creative Urge and Personality Development


Otto Rank - 1975
    Art and Artist, his major statement on the relationship of art to the individual and society, pursues in a broader cultural context Freud's ideas on art and neurosis and has had an important influence on many twentieth-century writers and thinkers, beginning with Henry Miller and Anais Nin.Art and Artist explores the human urge to create in all its complex aspects, in terms not only of individual works of art but of religion, mythology, and social institutions as well. Based firmly on Rank's knowledge of psychology and psychoanalysis, it ranges widely through anthropology and cultural history, reaching beyond psychology to a broad understanding of human nature.