Provocative, insightful and brilliantly written by Professor Wahbie Long, Nation on the Couch explores life in our beloved country through the lens of psychoanalysis.

By focusing on the idea of a ‘political unconscious’, it argues that there is much to be learnt from excavating the inner life of South Africans, which can illuminate the external problems that beset us from all sides. It will challenge readers to rethink the way we see ourselves, why we do what we do and why we are who we are. 

The South African edition of Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach offers students a local version of this well-known text by David Barlow and V. Mark Durand. Balancing biological, psychological, social and cultural approaches, the ground-breaking integrative approach followed is the most modern, scientifically valid method for studying abnormal psychology.

This edition successfully blends local and sophisticated research and an accessible writing style with the most widely recognised method of discussing psychopathology. Going beyond simply describing different schools of thought on psychological disorders, the authors explore the interactions of the various forces, both global ones and those unique to South Africa and Africa, that contribute to psychopathology.

Furthermore, this South African edition includes a perspective on positive psychology and well-being in the context of psychopathology.

A psychologist’s guide for parents, care-givers and health care practitioners to the emotional challenges facing children and their parents today

Current research shows that certain childhood mental disorders are diagnosed more frequently today than in previous generations. Many of today’s children and teenagers are more unhappy, anxious and distressed than young people used to be. In this highly informative book, child psychologist Jenny Perkel explores in depth why this might be so, highlighting what modern-day South African children and adolescents are experiencing and the environment in which they are being raised.

Children in Mind presents a broad range of up-to-date findings from psychological, neurobiological, genetic, psychiatric, sociological and epidemiological research related to the diagnosis and treatment of children’s mental health problems. Theoretically informed but not theoretically dense, the book cites both local and international studies to increase awareness and understanding of children’s mental health.

Perkel discusses a broad spectrum of issues faced by today’s children and adolescents: the Covid-19 pandemic, the influence of electronic media, diverse family structures, stress and trauma, and difficult socio-economic circumstances. While offering no easy answers or formulaic solutions to the problems of troubled children, she shows how to think about children’s mental well-being in today’s South Africa.

Children in Mind is an invaluable resource for all those who work with troubled children and adolescents: psychologists, social workers, counsellors, educators and parents. The author’s informed and compassionate approach will help equip professionals and parents to help young people navigate complex issues and make adjustments in their behavior in order to live more balanced and happier lives.

This revised edition of A Student’s A-Z of Psychology is a response to the requirements of the modern learning environment. It provides the core psychological knowledge required for a first year course in psychology as well as information on specific skills-based topics. As an alphabetically arranged resource, it is an easy-to-use companion for the entry-level student of psychology.

Contents Include:

• Cognition: Thinking
• Consultation scenario for a psychological research project
• Consultation scenario for a stress management programme
• Consultation scenario for a study management programme
• Consultation interview
• Emotion and motivation
• Emotion: Classification of
• Emotion: Concept of
• Emotion: Theories of
• Emotional intelligence: Concept of
• Emotions: Interpretation of
• Groups: Attributes of human groups
• Groups: Differentiation of groups
• Groups: Interaction of groups
• Human nervous system: Impulse conduction in the neuron
• Human nervous system: Impulse conduction in the synapse
• Human nervous system: Structure and function
• Human nervous system: The structure of the neuron
• Individual differences in behaviour
• Information analysis: Correlation between variables
• Information analysis: Difference between groups
• Information modelling: Expandable tree structures
• Information modelling: Flow charts
• Information modelling: Graphs
• Information modeling: Visiograms
• Intelligence: Concept and measurement of
• Intelligence: Theories of
• Intelligence and creativity
• Interpersonal communication
• Interpersonal dynamics
• Interpersonal relationships
• Learning: Concept of
• Learning: Social learning
• Memory
• Motivation: The nature of motivated behaviour
• Motivation: The process of motivated behaviour
• Personality and health
• Personality concepts
• Personality theories
• Presentations
• Psychological disorders
• Psychological programme: Content for stress management
• Psychological programme for stress
• Psychological programme for study management
• Psychological programmes
• Psychological science
• Psychology: What is it all about?
• Research essays
• Self: The concept of self
• Self: The dynamics of self
• Self: The foundations of self
• Sensation and perception
• Sensation: The visual system
• Social issues

Written in 1957, when North African independence movements were gaining momentum, The Colonizer and the Colonized studies the enduring legacy, political as much as psychological, of colonisation throughout the world.

Albert Memmi depicts colonialism as a disease of the European but crucially he demonstrates that colonialism destroys both the colonizer and the colonized, providing penetrating insights into colonial inheritance and resistance that remain as relevant today. One of the great works of twentieth-century political thought, The Colonizer and the Colonized speaks to experiences in the Global South as well as European countries such as Britain and France, who are still struggling with their imperial pasts. In revealing the mechanisms of colonial oppression, it also highlights the origins of all oppression of one group by another.

This edition includes introductions by two of the greatest writers of the twentieth-century: South African novelist and Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer, and Jean-Paul Sartre.

Balancing developmental, clinical-diagnostic, and experimental approaches to child and adolescent psychopathology, Eric Mash and David Wolfe's ABNORMAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY is one of the most up-to-date, authoritative, and comprehensive books in its market.

The seventh edition is organized to reflect DSM-5 categories, dimensional approaches to classification, and evidence-based assessment and treatment approaches. The authors trace developmental pathways for each disorder and show how child and adolescent psychopathology involves biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors interacting with a youth's environment. Case histories, examples, and first-person accounts illustrate the categorical and dimensional approaches used to describe disorders.

The authors also consistently illustrate how troubled children behave in their natural settings: homes, schools, and communities.

More riveting cases from the files of former police psychologist and bestselling author Gérard Labuschagne.

In this second instalment of The Profiler Diaries, former South African Police Service (SAPS) head profiler Dr Gérard Labuschagne, successor to the legendary Micki Pistorius, recalls more of the 110 murder series and countless other bizarre crimes he analysed during his career. An expert on serial murder and rape cases, Labuschagne saw it all in his fourteen and a half years in the SAPS. Often stymied by a lack of resources, office politics and legal incompetence, Labuschagne and his team were nevertheless determined to obtain justice for the victims whose cases they were tasked with investigating.

Tracking down a prolific serial stalker, linking the murders of two young women in Knysna, assessing a suspect threatening to assassinate Barack Obama and apprehending a serial murderer of sex workers are just a few of the intriguing – and often terrifying – cases he covers in his second book, The Profiler Diaries 2: From Crime Scene to Courtroom.

As Labuschagne says, catching a killer is one thing; getting them convicted in a court of law is an entirely different ball game. This book shows how it is done in fascinating detail.

Emphasizing the intersection of multicultural, sociocultural and diversity issues with current societal events, Understanding Abnormal Behavior, 12th edition, highlights the need for expanding conversations regarding race, ethnicity and social justice.

It combines detailed descriptions of a variety of mental disorders with balanced coverage of psychopathology theories that inform treatment. Packed with the latest research and real-world case studies, the 12th edition is fully updated to reflect DSM-5 and integrates the Multipath Model of Mental Disorders to explain how biological, psychological, social and sociocultural factors interact to produce a mental disorder.

A focus on resilience highlights prevention and recovery.

Personology - From individual to ecosystem fifth edition explains the widest spectrum of personality theories and approaches in the clearest way possible.

Traditional approaches to personality theories and cutting-edge theories are comprehensively covered. The methodological approach stresses the practical implications of the theories and perspectives for everyday living. Attention is given to research, particularly to relevant South African research, and emphasis is placed on the historical development of the broad approaches and the way in which the theories within an approach are linked.

This fifth edition of Personology - From individual to ecosystem includes a wealth of enrichment sections with video URLs, practical activities, examples and review questions. Digital support material for this fifth edition of Personology - From individual to ecosystem provides students with additional summaries, examples, enrichment sections and practice questions and answers, including research and application questions with guidelines.

Loved by many students across South Africa, the new edition of Psychology Themes and Variations offers a superb thematic organisation together with practical applications and South African examples that assist in seeing beyond research to big-picture concepts.

The text surveys psychology's broad range of content with three aims: to illuminate the process of research and its relationship to application; to show both the unity and diversity of psychology's subject matter; and to help students master the basic concepts and principles of psychology with as little struggle as possible.

In Rocklands, Liezille Jacobs reframes psychology not only as a profession, but as a profound calling that is intertwined with personal and societal evolution. Traversing her own personal journey from her adverse childhood experiences in Rocklands, Mitchell’s Plain, to being the first black Head of Department at Rhodes University in 120 years, Jacobs illuminates the interconnectedness of personal, professional and public roles, advocating for a shift from careerism to a movement grounded in shared values and principles.

At the same time, the book makes a brave and erudite scholarly contribution to the field of psychology. Its method is unconventional but carefully considered. Those who have provided comments on the manuscript unanimously concur – this book is essential reading for students and academics, families and patriarchs in equal measure.

The transformation imperative within psychology demands a stance of activism, if not revolution, against systems of oppression. This stance urges readers to view this book not only as an academic exercise but as a profound transformative exploration of “giving psychology away”; emphasising the idea of making psychological knowledge and expertise more accessible to the general public and sharing the benefits of psychological science with society to improve people’s lives.

In the twenty-first century, humanity is reaching new heights of scientific understanding - and at the same time appears to be losing its mind. How can a species that discovered vaccines for Covid-19 in less than a year produce so much fake news, quack cures and conspiracy theorizing?

In Rationality, Pinker rejects the cynical cliché that humans are simply an irrational species - cavemen out of time fatally cursed with biases, fallacies and illusions. After all, we discovered the laws of nature, lengthened and enriched our lives and set the benchmarks for rationality itself. Instead, he explains, we think in ways that suit the low-tech contexts in which we spend most of our lives, but fail to take advantage of the powerful tools of reasoning we have built up over millennia: logic, critical thinking, probability, causal inference, and decision-making under uncertainty. These tools are not a standard part of our educational curricula, and have never been presented clearly and entertainingly in a single book - until now.

Rationality matters. It leads to better choices in our lives and in the public sphere, and is the ultimate driver of social justice and moral progress. Brimming with insight and humour, Rationality will enlighten, inspire and empower.

You make hundreds of decisions every day, from what to eat for breakfast to how to influence people, and not one of them could be made without the essential component of emotion.

It has long been held that thinking and feeling are separate and opposing forces in our behaviour. But as best-selling author Leonard Mlodinow tells us, extraordinary advances in psychology and neuroscience have proven that emotions are as critical to our well-being as thinking.

How can you connect better with others? How can you improve your relationship to frustration, fear, and anxiety? What can you do to live a happier life? The answers lie in understanding emotions.

Taking us on a journey from the labs of pioneering scientists to real-world scenarios that have flirted with disaster, Mlodinow shows us how our emotions help, why they sometimes hurt, and what we can make of the difference. Cutting-edge research and deep insights into our evolution, biology, and neuroscience promise to help us understand our emotions better and maximize their benefits.

Told with characteristic clarity and fascinating stories, Mlodinow's exploration of the new science of feelings is an essential guide to making the most of one of nature's greatest gifts to us.

What does the world look like from Africa? What does it mean to think, feel, express without apology for being African? How does one teach society and children to be African – with full consciousness and pride? In institutions of learning, what would a textbook on African-centred psychology look like? How do researchers and practitioners engage in African social psychology, African-centred child development, African neuropsychology, or any area of psychology that situates African realities at the centre?

Questions such as these are what Kopano Ratele grapples with in this lyrical, philosophical and poetic treatise on practising African psychology in a decolonised world view. Employing a style common in philosophy but rarely used in psychology, the book offers thoughts about the ideas, contestation, urgency and desire around a psychological praxis in Africa for Africans.

While setting out a framework for researching, teaching and practicing African psychology, the book in part coaxes, in part commands and in part urges students of psychology, lecturers, researchers and therapists to reconsider and reach beyond their received notions of African psychology.

A mother of small children trusts her 'gut feelings' and it saves her life.

A young dad is able to grieve for his lost baby – using a song.

What if there were parts of our minds which we never use, but if awakened, could make us so much happier, connected and alive? What if awakening those parts could bring peace to the conflicts and struggles we all go through?

From the cutting edge, where therapy meets neuroscience, Steve Biddulph explores the new concept of 'supersense' – the feelings beneath our feelings – which can guide us to a more awake and free way of living every minute of our lives. And the Four-storey Mansion, a way of using your mind that can be taught to a five-year-old, but can also help the most damaged adult.

In Fully Human, Steve Biddulph draws on deeply personal stories from his own life, as well of those of his clients, and from the frontiers of thinking about how the brain works with the body and the wisdom of the `wild creature' inside all of us. At the peak of a lifetime's work, one of the world's best-known psychotherapists and educators shows how you can be more alive, more connected. More FULLY HUMAN.

From the bestselling author of Raising Boys.

Community psychology is an applied branch of psychology that places emphasis on understanding people in their own context, and promoting their health and wellbeing within this context. It is particularly relevant in the quest to empower people to address psychosocial problems through community development. Community psychology focuses on how theories and research are used to inform practice in South Africa.

Community psychology applies theories relevant to the study of people in South Africa’s diverse multicultural environment, delving deeper into the psychosocial problems of violence and crime, poverty and unemployment, racism and xenophobia, gender-based violence/gender equity, masculinities, community trauma, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, child and adolescent mental health and the elderly in the community.

It develops a new perspective on interpretation of communities, resulting in meaningful engagement which can lead to real social change.

Why do boys instinctively bullsh*t more than girls? How do economic recessions shape a generation's confidence? Can we have too much confidence and, if so, what are the consequences?

Imagine we could discover something that could make us richer, healthier, longer-living, smarter, kinder, happier, more motivated and more innovative. Ridiculous, you might say... What is this elixir? Confidence. If you have it, it can empower you to reach heights you never thought possible. But if you don't, it can have a devastating effect on your future.

Confidence lies at the core of what makes things happen. Exploring the science and neuroscience behind confidence that has emerged over the last decade, clinical psychologist and neuroscientist Professor Ian Robertson tells us how confidence plays out in our minds, our brains and indeed our bodies. He explains where it comes from and how it spreads - with extraordinary economic and political consequences. And why it's not necessarily something you are born with, but something that can be learned.

Psychology in the work context 5e is an introductory text for students of industrial and organisational psychology. The book provides a comprehensive conceptual framework for understanding work behaviour and relationships at work and equips the student with a theoretical framework form which to analyse issues in the work place.

Introduction to Psychological Assessment in the South African Context 5e is an introductory text on measuring and assessing human behaviour within a complex multicultural environment. It offers a practical guide to the development of culturally appropriate measures and the application of assessment measures, as well as the interpretation and reporting of results. The book provides advice with regard to assessing young children and disabled individuals and also discusses the various contexts in which psychological measures are used, including education, counselling, the psycho-legal domain, and research. The book features critical-thinking exercises that present students with typical assessment scenarios to develop their reasoning skills. Real-life South African examples and case studies illustrate the theory, and allow students to apply psychological assessment principles in practice.

Our thought lives have incredible power over our mental, emotional, and even physical well-being. In fact, our thoughts can either limit us to what we believe we can do or release us to experience abilities well beyond our expectations. When we choose a mindset that extends our abilities rather than placing limits on ourselves, we will experience greater intellectual satisfaction, emotional control, and physical health. The only question is . . . how?

Backed by up-to-date scientific research and biblical insight, Dr. Caroline Leaf empowers readers to take control of their thoughts in order to take control of their lives. In this practical book, readers will learn to use

• The 5-step Switch on Your Brain Learning Program, to build memory and learn effectively
• The Gift Profile, to discover the unique way they process information
• The Mindfulness Guide, to optimize their thought life and find their inner resilience

Are you increasingly distracted, demotivated and unable to focus on simple tasks?

There's a good chance your smartphone is to blame. In the always-on age of notifications, emails and the news cycle, it's easy to waste the majority of our days mindlessly scrolling. But according to psychiatric specialist and mental health guru Dr Anders Hansen, being tethered to our devices 24/7 is taking its toll on our mental wellbeing. Sleeplessness, anxiety, depression and burnout are just some of the consequences of feeling digitally overloaded.

In The Attention Fix, Hansen shares an informative guide to what unrestricted social media use is actually doing to our brains, and the practical steps we can take to break the addiction cycle. Unpacking the latest scientific research on the brain, he explains knowledge to cure your smartphone addiction and foster deep, single-task focus. By taking control of your screen time, you'll feel happier, healthier and more productive.

Toe sê sy, terwyl sy skuins afkyk na die mat, asof sy met haarself praat: “Vir te lank in my lewe het ek ongedefinieerd geleef. Ek weet nie wie ek is nie.”

Iets of iemand moet die katalisator wees wat ’n mens aan die dink sit oor jouself. Die vrou van Waterkloof was dit vir my, die een wat my oor myself laat wonder en bewus gemaak het: hier binne is ’n mens. Die vraag laat vra het: Wie is ek?

Oorkant jou is gevul met die stories van die uiteenlopende mense wat Juliana Coetzer se pad kruis as psigoterapeut. Deur hul verhale van swaarkry en herstel, neem Juliana die leser op ʼn reis wat eintlik ons almal sʼn is: Die pad van grootword en eienaarskap neem.

Sy vertel hoe sommige kliënte haar inspireer en uitdaag om haar eie vrese te konfronteer, maar ook watter uitwerking dit op terapeute het om aan die wreedheid van die mensdom blootgestel te word. Daar is die families wat uitmekaar geskeur is as gevolg van seksuele misbruik, die man wat sukkel met sy selfbeeld weens afknouery en ook die prostituut Venicia wat ’n tragiese symbool van verwaarlosing word.

Juliana se aardse humorsin maak dat sy egter ook die komiese oomblikke raaksien – totdat die volgende storie oor die menslike toestand jou wind uitslaan.

This first South African edition of Human Development: A Life-Span View introduces the student to the issues, forces, and outcomes that make us who we are. It covers contemporary research and theory on human development, set within a South African context, with emphasis on the multidisciplinary approach needed to describe and explain how people change over time.

The text follows a chronological approach, tracing development from conception through late life in sequential order with several chapters dedicated to topical issues across the life span.

The organisation and learning features of the text are designed to make it easier for students to learn about human development.

ust after dusk on Good Friday, 6 April 2012, the peace and quiet permeating the small Northern Cape town of Griekwastad was disrupted when a young teenage boy sped into town in his father’s Isuzu bakkie and screeched to a halt in front of the town’s nearly deserted police station. It was shortly before 19h00 when Don Steenkamp jumped out of the vehicle and ran into the station’s charge office, covered in blood, to announce that his parents and sister had been brutally shot and killed on the family farm, Naauwhoek.

Although the killings were initially thought to be just another farm attack, months later Don was arrested for the murders, setting in motion a chain of events that would grip South Africa and divide the people of Griekwastad.

Based on interviews with all the role-players, including the investigating offi cers on the case, the forensic and ballistic experts, and family and friends of the deceased, and concluding with the verdict and the sentencing, this is the riveting account of what really happened on Naauwhoek farm on that fateful day, as told by the reporter who followed the case from day one…