Barbara Somers leads us into this world with a sure touch. Those among us who were fortunate enough to hear her in person remember the ease, elegance and wisdom with which she handled the weightiest subjects. Here, too, she guides us into the very centre of the symbolic Alchemist's den and through the phases, trials and tribulations of the inner process that helps us to become what we truly are. It's not an easy journey, it has its risks and dangers, but also its moments of joy and glory. And the gold that eventually manifests in the flask of the psyche is an indestructible treasure. Let Transpersonal Alchemy do its work through this book and spread its message far and wide. The world is in dire need of the gold that is, paradoxically, not of this world.

Ian Thorpe's achievements in the water are nothing short of phenomenal. He has won a record-holding 11 World Championship titles and ten Commonwealth Games gold medals. He has broken 22 world records and won five gold, three silver and one bronze Olympic medals. Having been under the spotlight since he was a young teenager, he retired from competitive swimming in 2006, but after five years he mounted a comeback for London 2012, and intense media attention followed. Thorpe is one of the world's most famous sportsmen, but it is the way he has managed his success and his commitment to helping others that has earned him respect and admiration internationally. This is a man who has had highs and lows away from the pool, who has led an extraordinary life of an elite athlete that most of us will never know, and who had the courage to come back and stake his claim for the ultimate goal once more.

A fascinating new look at Abraham Maslow's 'Hierarchy of Needs'. Not the 1943 version quoted by trainers, coaches and business psychologists, but the completed hierarchy which in Abraham Maslow's own words was '...the culmination of 30 years of work in the field of psychology'. It was published only as a paper just before his untimely death in 1970. Realizing the importance and relevance of this later work, the author presents it here for the first time using Maslow's original terminology and with a minor addition of her own. In Part two she introduces the equally important 'Scale of Responses' which deals with our moods, how we respond to situations, and how quickly those moods can change. This theory is the work of Ian Ninian Marshall, a Jungian psychiatrist, who developed the Scale in 1969 as part of a therapeutic system which he called 'Sequential Analysis'. Again, this is the first time this work has been fully published in book form. The author presents both theories as practical therapeutic tools and the book is illustrated with examples of how she has used them successfully for well over 30 years in both her continuing personal development as well as in her private practice.