Can psychedelic drugs help us tackle the biggest problems we face globally? Can they heal the cultural, spiritual, and political wounds we’re wrestling with? Psychedelics have hit the mainstream as powerful new mental health treatments. But as clinicians explore what these molecules can do for our individual minds, The Bigger Picture goes further to illuminate how psychedelics can help us find new ways to make sense of and come through the crises we face around the world. Drawing on the latest research, as well as his unique experience as a participant in a ground-breaking clinical trial investigating the potent psychedelic DMT, Alexander Beiner reveals: - the role of psychedelics in addressing global issues such as global warming, geopolitical instability, and political polarization - the dark side of the ‘psychedelic renaissance’ and ‘psychedelic capitalism’ - what it takes to elicit huge personal and cultural transformation through psychedelics Embark on a journey into The Bigger Picture – a new era of science and spirituality with the potential to radically transform our perceptions of ourselves, one another, and our life on this planet.

The age-old notion of 'hypnotic induction' receives a fresh look from notable scholars from Canada, England, Sweden, and the USA in this book. These scholars represent a breadth of theoretical perspectives: cognitive-behavioral, Ericksonian, psychoanalytic, and trance-state. It is well known that a wide range of hypnotic induction protocols is used to prepare individuals to enhance their receptivity to test or clinical suggestions. However, despite its popularity of use, it appears that little is known about its relevancy and boundary conditions either for testing for hypnotisability or for enhancing clinical efficacy. In this volume, the authors reflect on issues surrounding its definitions, relevancy, possible components, and approaches; they also suggest considerations and strategies for optimizing inductions. This book will be of benefit to both newcomers to the field and seasoned researchers and clinicians alike - it can stimulate new thinking and research about this important, but often taken for granted, notion of hypnotic induction. This book was originally published as a special issue of the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis.

The volume here presented does not assume to be a systematic treatise upon hypnotism, nor even upon its therapeutic uses; for that the works of Bernheim, Moll, Wetterstrand, Tuckey and others may suffice - but there are certain phases of hypnotism which seem to the author to be of special interest and present importance, and it is for the purpose of distinctly presenting these special phases that the following chapters have been prepared.

The main object of this book is to draw attention to the importance of hypnotism and its phenomena, in order to stimulate inquiry into what is still a mysterious and unexplored subject. This the author has already endeavoured to do in an earlier book - Hypnotism and Suggestion in Daily Life, Education and Medical Practice - published in 1910, since when the author has gained so much additional experience that an entirely new work is but justice.

This is a comprehensive review of sleep (measurement, homeostatic, rhythmic, physiology, sleep in animals), dreaming (the nature of dreams, dream theories, dream interpretation), sleep disorders, and functions of sleep and dreams. It is an ideal text for undergraduates in Psychology, Biology, Nursing, and related areas.

Prescribing Health: Transcendental Meditation in Contemporary Medical Care includes important contributions from leading experts on Transcendental Meditation and health, and provides the reader with the most important, cutting edge health research on the effects of Transcendental Meditation (TM) on serious mental health problems and medical disorders. It features practical, proven programs to improve health outcomes, decrease morbidity/mortality, and reduce health care costs with a wide range of patient populations. The authors explore advances in neuroscience and the brain changes associated with not only the impact of TM on health recovery, but also the effects of meditation in daily activity and permanent changes in neuropsychological functioning resulting from the purification of consciousness through meditation. Included is coverage of an ancient yet newly introduced approach to therapy, Vedic Psychotherapy, and methods for integrating Transcendental Meditation and other Vedic health approaches into primary medical care.

Authoritative clinicians present up-to-date, concise, and practical advice on the diagnosis and treatment of the most common sleep disorders encountered in general practice. They not only review such problems as obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, circadian rhythm disorders, and narcolepsy, but they also discuss such important topics as pediatric sleep disorders, the pharmacology of sleep medicines, diagnostic testing and technology, and the use of bright light therapy in sleep disorders and depression. Throughout, the emphasis is on obtaining an appropriate patient history and carefully analyzing the available diagnostic and treatment strategies to determine appropriate therapeutic regimens.

An accessible description of sleep and dreaming and the daily and seasonal rhythms that our bodies are subject to.

Related link: A-Level Psychology Website
Related link: Available for Inspection
Related link: Free Email Alerting

The idea of a disjunctive theory of visual experiences first found expression in J.M. Hinton's pioneering 1973 book Experiences. In the first monograph in this exciting area since then, William Fish develops a comprehensive disjunctive theory, incorporating detailed accounts of the three core kinds of visual experience--perception, hallucination, and illusion--and an explanation of how perception and hallucination could be indiscriminable from one another without having anything in common. In the veridical case, Fish contends that the perception of a particular state of affairs involves the subject's being acquainted with that state of affairs, and that it is the subject's standing in this acquaintance relation that makes the experience possess a phenomenal character. Fish argues that when we hallucinate, we are having an experience that, while lacking phenomenal character, is mistakenly supposed by the subject to possess it. Fish then shows how this approach to visual experience is compatible with empirical research into the workings of the brain and concludes by extending this treatment to cover the many different types of illusion that we can be subject to.

Historically viewed as a vehicle for entertainment or the occult, hypnosis has slowly gained recognition as an effective tool in the medical arts, sports programs, and stress seminars. Gradually law enforcement specialists also have used hypnosis - specifically forensic hypnosis - as a powerful tool when collecting information from the witness. Hypnosis serves police and prosecutors by enabling the witness to recall minute details that they had previously forgotten due to momentary excitement or fear.
Investigative Forensic Hypnosis presents the practical application and scientific side of this subject, explaining forensic hypnosis in an understandable way, answering many common questions, and identifying its practical use in the courtroom.
The author, with 22 years of experience in law enforcement and 14 years experience in forensic hypnosis, brings his outstanding law enforcement background and valued expertise to this important, informative handbook, dissolving misconceptions or doubts and illuminating forensic hypnosis as a valuable advantage in any case.
Two parts divide the discussion:
The Essence of Hypnosis - covers the origins of hypnosis to its current uses o explains hypnosis from a scientific approach o clarifies misleading information o provides a logical approach to this unusual phenomenon o illustrates its potential in law enforcement
Investigative Forensic Hypnosis - arms its reader with a clear understanding of hypnosis o discusses applications to the criminal justice system o outlines essential guidelines for correctly using forensic hypnosis o identifies specific procedures for determining the facts of a case
The information presented assists:
o the hypnotist performing this investigative technique
o the investigator considering hypnosis
o lawyers and judges determining the appropriate application of hypnosis in a case
This book provides the framework for hypnosis as a successful and dependable tool to assist in investigations - not to solve crimes by magic but to provide useful, indispensable clues and details. This technique improves information gained from that most important asset in a case - the witness. Understanding the proper guidelines provided in Investigative Forensic Hypnosis can make a good witness a great witness.

Add variety to your child's bedtime routine with the latest book from the author of The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep, the global bestseller that parents have been raving about! Features all-new child-tested, parent-approved techniques to reclaim bedtime and provide a sweet and tender end to each day. Your child joins Ellen the Elephant on a journey through a magical forest that leads to sleep. Along the way, children meet different fantastical characters and have calming experiences that will help your child to relax and slip into slumber quickly. The story works perfectly for either naptime or bedtime. Children will love switching between stories about both Roger the Rabbit (The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep) and Ellen the Elephant (The Little Elephant Who Wants to Fall Asleep), and parents will appreciate the diverse ways each character will help their loved ones fall asleep quickly and easily. Includes never-before-seen material that will make a difference at bedtime, including insightful sleep tips and answers to frequently asked questions to help guide families to an even more satisfying nighttime routine! Advance Praise from Parents "Even better than The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep." "It's nice to have an alternative for a bit of variety." "You only have to read a few pages and you have a sleeping child!" "A must-have book in our home!" Praise for The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep: Translated into 43 languages Global sales currently exceed 1.5 million copies "Tired parents of planet earth - this is what you've been waiting for... If you don't already have a copy, you need to order one quick sharp" - Metro "The most peaceful bedtime we have had in months" - Daily Mail "A book whose powerfully soporific effects my son is helpless to resist" - New York Times

Often, people use nicotine, caffeine, and some level of alcohol in varying combinations at different times of the day in order to optimize their functioning and feelings of well-being, whether at work, in leisure time, or in a social context. However, until now, studies on the effects of this everyday practice have been diverse, widespread, and insufficiently summarized. Recently developed methods to study the effects in more detail have received little attention, especially among a nonscientific readership.
Nicotine, Caffeine and Social Drinking focuses readers' attention on the effects of normal, socially accepted psychoactive substances on cognitive performance and on the brain. Divided into three sections, this book studies each substance individually before examining the effects of their combined usage.

In answering these questions, Janet Sayers highlights the revolution wrought in both sexes' psychology by adolescence, particularly by its fantasies of divided selves and loves and of 'boy crazy' grandiosity and romance.
Illustrated throughout with fascinating examples from a groundbreaking study of adolescent memories and dreams, Boy Crazy presents an engaging account of this little-researched period of human development. Sayers also draws on her own work as a therapist, and weaves in vignettes from fiction and film, to demonstrate the significance we attach in adulthood to our experiences as adolescents. She suggests that men and women respond differently to the sexual awakening that takes place during their teens, and to their own memories of that part of their life. In relating the findings of her research the author also explores to what extent the theories of Freud, Jung and feminism shape our understanding of the formative effect of adolescent experiences and emotions.
Boy Crazy provides a fascinating insight into the repercussions of adolescence on our adult lives and loves and will appeal to the general and specialist reader alike.

Related link: Free Email Alerting

The Wilderness of Dreams does four things that no other work on dreams has done. First, it surveys the whole range of modern dream research--not just the work of depth psychologists and neuroscientists, but also the findings of anthropologists, content analysts, cognitive psychologists, creative artists, and lucid dreaming researchers. Second, it draws upon new advances in hermeneutic philosophy in order to clarify basic questions about how to interpret dreams. third, it develops a careful, well-grounded notion of religious meaning - the 'root metaphor' concept - to show that seeking religious meanings in dreams is not mere superstition. And fourth, the book reflects on the question of why modern Westerners are so interested in affirming, or debunking, the idea that dreams have religious meanings.

The central problem in the study of addiction is to explain why people repeatedly behave in ways they know are bad for them. For much of the previous century and until the present day, the majority of scientific and medical attempts to solve this problem were couched in terms of involuntary behavior; if people behave in ways they do not want, then this must be because the behavior is beyond their control and outside the realm of choice. An opposing tradition, which finds current support among scientists and scholars as well as members of the general public, is that so-called addictive behavior reflects an ordinary choice just like any other and that the concept of addiction is a myth. The editors and authors of this book tend to take neither view. There has been an increasing recognition in recent literature on addiction that restricting possible conceptions of it to either of these extreme positions is unhelpful and is retarding progress on understanding the nature of addiction and what could be done about it. This book contains a range of views from philosophy, neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology and the law on what exactly this middle ground between free choice and no choice consists of and what its implications are for theory, practice and policy on addiction. The result amounts to a profound change in our thinking on addiction and how its devastating consequences can be ameliorated. Addiction and Choice is a thought provoking new volume for all those with an interest in this global issue.

Near-death experiences (NDEs) are a mystifying and challenging state of consciousness. The incredible experiences reported by survivors of NDEs, such as out-of-body travel and soul-transforming peace and cosmic light, are stimulating interdisciplinary research in several fields, from the medical to the mystical. This work is a comprehensive collection of NDE cases and interpretations. Psychological researchers discuss cognitive models and Jungian theories of meaningful archetypal phenomena such as enlightenment and healing transformation. From a biological perspective, other contributors describe how brains near death may produce soothing endorphins, optical illusions and convincing hallucinations. Philosophers present empirical analyses and images in archetypal theories, and discuss the topic in the symbolic language of comparative phenomenological theories. Christian, Jewish and Mormon responses to NDEs outline the religious perspective.

Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) are a mystifying state of consciousness. The incredible experiences reported by survivors of NDEs, such as out-of-body travel and soul-transforming peace are stimulating interdisciplinary research in several fields, from the medical to the mystical. "The Near Death Experience: A Reader" is the most comprehensive collection of NDE cases and interpretations ever assembled.
Edited by Lee W. Bailey and Jenny Yates, this book encompasses a broad range of disciplines. Psychological researchers discuss cognitive models and Jungian theories of meaningful archetypal phenomena such as enlightenment and healing transformation. From the biological perspective, "The Near Death Experience: A Reader" describes how brains near death may produce soothing endorphins, optical illusions, and convincing hallucinations. Philosophers present empirical analyses and images in archetypal theories, and the symbolic language of comparative phenomenological theories. Christian, Jewish and Mormon responses to NDEs outline the religious perspective, and through discussion of the Native American Black Elk's NDE and the classic"Tibetan Book of the Dead," the mystical and spiritual interpretations of NDEs are also explored.

The volume here presented does not assume to be a systematic treatise upon hypnotism, nor even upon its therapeutic uses; for that the works of Bernheim, Moll, Wetterstrand, Tuckey and others may suffice - but there are certain phases of hypnotism which seem to the author to be of special interest and present importance, and it is for the purpose of distinctly presenting these special phases that the following chapters have been prepared.

Originally published in 1980, this book presents a detailed account of a series of investigations that examined the patterns of resort to drugs and alcohol use in college youth, and how such substance uses are linked to personality characteristics and daydreaming patterns. The Editors chose to emphasize the more "private" features of the personality, because these had often been ignored in earlier research, despite popular assumptions that there are close ties between fantasy, inwardness, "spacey" qualities (all suggesting permanent changes in mental organization), and substance use in youth. This volume will be of interest to a wider audience than just drug and alcohol researchers, because of the effort to go beyond normative patterns of substance use toward explorations of personality and consciousness.

Lucid dreams are dreams in which a person becomes aware that they are dreaming. They are different from ordinary dreams, not just because of the dreamer's awareness that they are dreaming, but because lucid dreams are often strikingly realistic and may be emotionally charged to the point of elation.
Celia Green and Charles McCreery have written a unique introduction to lucid dreams that will appeal to the specialist and general reader alike. The authors explore the experience of lucid dreaming, relate it to other experiences such as out-of-the-body experiences (to which they see it as closely related) and apparitions, and look at how lucid dreams can be induced and controlled. They explore their use for therapeutic purposes such as counteracting nightmares. Their study is illustrated throughout with many case histories.

Related link: Free Email Alerting

First published in 1994. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Contents:
Pain and Hypnosis. Hypnosis. Pain. Controlling Pain. Hypnosis in Pain Control. Hypnosis and Clinical Pain. Cancer. Obstetrics. Surgery. Dentistry. A Perspective on the Hypnotic Control of Pain. Hidden Pain and Its Interpretation. The Future of Hypnosis in Pain Control. Supplement to the First Edition. Recent Developments in the Knowledge of Hypnosis and Pain. Appendices. Stanford Hypnotic Clinical State (SHCS). The Availability of Hypnotic Services.

The age-old notion of 'hypnotic induction' receives a fresh look from notable scholars from Canada, England, Sweden, and the USA in this book. These scholars represent a breadth of theoretical perspectives: cognitive-behavioral, Ericksonian, psychoanalytic, and trance-state. It is well known that a wide range of hypnotic induction protocols is used to prepare individuals to enhance their receptivity to test or clinical suggestions. However, despite its popularity of use, it appears that little is known about its relevancy and boundary conditions either for testing for hypnotisability or for enhancing clinical efficacy. In this volume, the authors reflect on issues surrounding its definitions, relevancy, possible components, and approaches; they also suggest considerations and strategies for optimizing inductions. This book will be of benefit to both newcomers to the field and seasoned researchers and clinicians alike - it can stimulate new thinking and research about this important, but often taken for granted, notion of hypnotic induction. This book was originally published as a special issue of the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis.

Written by Jay Haley, renowned therapist, teacher and author, this eclectic collection of articles will engage readers with its fascinating mosaic of fact, observation, anecdote, and commentary. The first chapter provides a succinct biography of this extraodinary man, describing how Erickson overcame numerous adversities in early life, and how these events shaped his development as a highly innovative thinker. Commentaries on Milton Erickson, M.D. examines the practical and theoretical aspects of Erickson's methods, including his therapeutic posture, expectation of change, emphasis on the positive, acknowledgement of more than one solution to a problem, blocking of symptomatic behavior, change in relation to the therapist, use of anectodes, and willingness to "let go" of patients. A Review of Ordeal Therapy focuses on a controversial therapeutic technique successfully used by Erickson. Haley cautions the reader, however, of the care with which this powerful technique should be exercised. A fascinating dialogue between Jay Haley and John Weakland, Remembering Erickson provides readers with irresistable anecdotes about Erickson the psychiatrist and Erickson the man. In Why Not Long?Term Therapy? the author examines this issue and its ramifications in relation to Erickson's beliefs, including the concept of charging by relief of the symptom. In a particularly fascinating article, Haley explores the many characteristics of Zen that are relevant to Ericksonian psychotherapy. The volume concludes with Typically Erickson, a paper celebrating and offering new insights into the artistry of this original thinker.

Related link: Free Email Alerting