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Books > Social sciences > Psychology > States of consciousness
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.
Written by a professor of clinical of psychology, this book is
accessible to thoughtful readers who seek to be better informed on
how to harness the creative energy of madness to enrich one's life.
It comprises two main parts: The first part tells the story of how
a psychologist-cum-patient performs a self-study of "madness" in
great detail. It belongs to the long tradition of ideographic
studies that attend to the uniqueness of each individual. The
author says: "During episodes, manic symptoms are manifest. Yet, I
become more colorful, sensitive, generous, and loving. I see beauty
everywhere and delight in the simple things of life. I glimpse into
mystical magnanimity. My mind explodes: Creative thoughts rain down
fast. Now, I can bear testimony that on balance the creative energy
of madness may enrich rather than damage one's life, and that it is
possible to retain a measure of madness in dignified living and of
dignity even in a state of madness." The second part gives
extensive coverage to various aspects of mental disorders from a
scientific perspective. Adhering to the nomothetic tradition of
knowledge generation, it provides the psychiatric as well as
ethical, political, and sociocultural contexts for understanding
mental disorders in general and the author's own case in
particular. The two parts are linked together and integrated in a
dialectical fashion, with the interplay between nomothetic and
idiographic methods leading to a deeper understanding that neither
one may obtain alone.
What occurs within coma? What does the coma patient experience? How
does the patient perceive the world outside of coma, if at all? The
simple answer to these questions is that we don't know. Yet the
sheer volume of literary and media texts would have us believe that
we do. Examining representations of coma and brain injury across a
variety of texts, this book investigates common tropes and
linguistic devices used to portray the medical condition of coma,
giving rise to universal mythologies and misconceptions in the
public domain. Matthew Colbeck looks at how these texts represent,
or fail to represent, long-term brain injury, drawing on narratives
of coma survivors that have been produced and curated through
writing groups he has run over the last 10 years. Discussing a
diverse range of cultural works, including novels by Irvine Welsh,
Stephen King, Tom McCarthy and Douglas Coupland, as well as film
and media texts such as The Sopranos, Kill Bill, Coma and The
Walking Dead, Colbeck provides an explanation for our fascination
with coma. With a proliferation of misleading stories of survival
in the media and in literature, this book explores the potential
impact these have upon our own understanding of coma and its
victims.
This book is a compilation of nine short books written between 2007
and 2021, in the ninth and tenth decades of the author's life. It
contains his spiritual philosophy expressed in simple language
accessible to all. The book tells of what the author has come to
believe after a lifetime of seeking for the meaning of life, and
how one should live that life at its optimum level. He explains
that this cannot be proved: it is ultimately not susceptible to the
usual scientific methods, for it lies in a different realm of
reality which has to be experienced inwardly. However, its main
tenets lie behind world religions and go back to mankind`s earliest
thinkings and feelings. Believe it or not as you will, suggests the
author. All he can say is that it has sustained him throughout his
life and has made that life harmonious and joyous. The teachings of
which he speaks are often referred to as the Ancient Wisdom. He
first came across them at the age of twenty-five when he met a man
who was well versed in that ancient wisdom which is to be found
woven throughout major religions, philosophies and mystical
teachings. This man was Eugene Halliday, who, the author says, was
said to be one of the great spirits of the modern age. The phrase
he used to describe the ultimate result of these teachings was
'Reflexive Self-Consciousness'. This, the author explains, was the
same message taught by those of old, although expressed by his
mentor Halliday in more modern terms. A wise but modest man, the
author says that he is no academic or scholar or learned man -
adding, with gentle humour, that it is written that an academic is
an ass with a load of books on his back. He writes for the average
person - of any age - who has no time left to think on these things
but who may like to know more. He writes for this person - for he
is such a one himself, he says. It is this which makes his story
and his accumulated wisdom both inspiring and accessible.
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