The book presents a new theory of personality, referred to as cognitive-experiential theory (CET). Currently there are a variety of personality theories that seem irreconcilable with each other. CET is integrative of all other major personality theories. This integration is accomplished by expanding upon current basic assumptions, including the assumption that all higher-order animals automatically construct an implicit theory of reality that is necessary for adapting to their environments and that is therefore inherently reinforcing. The system that accomplishes this is referred to as the experiential system, as it is an empirical system that adapts by automatically learning from experience. Because it operates without requiring conscious awareness it can be regarded as an adaptive unconscious system, however, this book reveals that the experiential system is not identical with an unconscious adaptive system, and is superior to that construct in several important respects. Humans, of course, also uniquely operate with a conscious, reasoning system, referred to in CET as a rational system. This book demonstrates how these two systems operate in parallel and influence each other in important ways. For example, the influence of the experiential on the rational system can account for why the human species, despite its outstanding intelligence in solving impersonal problems, which are mainly in the domain of the rational system, often think and behave unintelligently and destructively in solving interpersonal problems, which are primarily in the domain of the experiential system. Yet, neither system is generally superior to the other, and the book discusses how each system is superior in uniquely important ways.

This is a book on how to gain control of one's emotions. It is a serious book that contains a theory of automatic processing it presents and its implications for controlling emotions. Epstein is a professor of personality psychology and a highly regarded research psychologist who has supported his theory with extensive research published in the most demanding professional journals. He was motivated to write the book by the success of a course he taught based on his theory. Students reported obtaining an understanding and control of their emotions that they never thought possible and that they said changed the course of their lives.

According to the theory, people operate by two minds, a rational-analytical mind and an intuitive-experiential mind, the latter being intimately associated with emotions. Each mind operates by its own principles and each has its own form of intelligence. The intelligence of the rational-analytical mind is measured by IQ tests and the intelligence of the intuitive-experiential mind (which is related to emotional intelligence) by the Constructive Thinking Inventory (CTI), a test developed by Epstein that is included in the book. By understanding the principles of operation of the intuitive-experiential mind, it is possible to train it as well as to learn from it, and thereby to improve one's emotional intelligence. The book provides exercises for applying the principles in everyday life and a review of a variety of other procedures for improving emotional intelligence. It is suited for use as a primary or supplementary text in courses on improving emotional intelligence or coping with stress as well as for individual reading.

Holographic Reprocessing (HR) is a cognitive-experiential psychotherapy based on Seymour Epstein's theory of personality, cognitive experiential self-theory (CEST). According to CEST, people have a natural adaptive system for processing information. If an emotionally distressing event is not fully processed, people may attempt to resolve the stuck point, known as emotional blockage, by unconsciously setting up situations that recreate the original experience. A reenactment can facilitate a healthy confrontation of the issue, but it is not uncommon that this reenactment serves to reinforce negative perceptions and behavioral reactions. HR gives clients an opportunity to gain a new awareness and understanding of their re-enactments, thereby facilitating a constructive reorganization of their perceptual, emotional and behavioral tendencies. The hologram is used as a model for describing a pattern of these re-enactments - as each experience is a whole experience unto itself as well as being a part of a larger whole, and each experience contains information consistent with the larger pattern. The experience is holographic, and is termed an experiential hologram. These experiential holograms are holistic, integrative, and unique in terms of existing constructs such as a schema, belief, expectation, self-fulfilling prophecy, sensitivity, or script - constructs that are largely cognitive and only part of the holographic picture. The hologram also activates an experiential reaction including affect, sensations, and associations. The model of the experiential hologram is intended to more closely explain human experience, as it is assumed that experience itself is processed in a complex array of cognitions, affective reactions, sensations and associations. Written by a clinical psychologist specializing in the trauma therapy, this volume will guide mental health professionals through the use of holographic reprocessing in their treatment of trauma victims, from sufferers of PTSD to rape victims.

Holographic Reprocessing (HR) is a cognitive-experiential psychotherapy based on Seymour Epstein's theory of personality, cognitive experiential self-theory (CEST). According to CEST, people have a natural adaptive system for processing information. If an emotionally distressing event is not fully processed, people may attempt to resolve the stuck point, known as emotional blockage, by unconsciously setting up situations that recreate the original experience. A reenactment can facilitate a healthy confrontation of the issue, but it is not uncommon that this reenactment serves to reinforce negative perceptions and behavioral reactions. HR gives clients an opportunity to gain a new awareness and understanding of their re-enactments, thereby facilitating a constructive reorganization of their perceptual, emotional and behavioral tendencies. The hologram is used as a model for describing a pattern of these re-enactments - as each experience is a whole experience unto itself as well as being a part of a larger whole, and each experience contains information consistent with the larger pattern. The experience is holographic, and is termed an experiential hologram. These experiential holograms are holistic, integrative, and unique in terms of existing constructs such as a schema, belief, expectation, self-fulfilling prophecy, sensitivity, or script - constructs that are largely cognitive and only part of the holographic picture. The hologram also activates an experiential reaction including affect, sensations, and associations. The model of the experiential hologram is intended to more closely explain human experience, as it is assumed that experience itself is processed in a complex array of cognitions, affective reactions, sensations and associations. Written by a clinical psychologist specializing in the trauma therapy, this volume will guide mental health professionals through the use of holographic reprocessing in their treatment of trauma victims, from sufferers of PTSD to rape victims.

In this volume, Epstein presents a new theory of personality, referred to as cognitive-experiential theory, that is integrative of all other major personality theories. This integration is accomplished by expanding upon current basic assumptions, including the assumption that all higher-order animals automatically construct an implicit theory of reality that is necessary for adapting to their environments and that is, therefore, inherently reinforcing.

First published in 1964, Seymour Epstein's LEAH received immediate acclaim. Montemayor Press is proud to reissue this classic novel in a new edition. Leah is a significant achievement in many ways: as a portrait of a thoughtful woman searching for love; as a vivid description of mid-Twentieth Century Manhattan; as an understated masterpiece of urban fiction; and as a male author's remarkable exploration of a female character's psyche-an exploration as successful in its own way as Flaubert's of Emma Bovary and as Tolstoy's of Anna Karenina.

This is a book on how to gain control of one's emotions. It is a serious book that contains a theory of automatic processing it presents and its implications for controlling emotions. Epstein is a professor of personality psychology and a highly regarded research psychologist who has supported his theory with extensive research published in the most demanding professional journals. He was motivated to write the book by the success of a course he taught based on his theory. Students reported obtaining an understanding and control of their emotions that they never thought possible and that they said changed the course of their lives.

According to the theory, people operate by two minds, a rational-analytical mind and an intuitive-experiential mind, the latter being intimately associated with emotions. Each mind operates by its own principles and each has its own form of intelligence. The intelligence of the rational-analytical mind is measured by IQ tests and the intelligence of the intuitive-experiential mind (which is related to emotional intelligence) by the Constructive Thinking Inventory (CTI), a test developed by Epstein that is included in the book. By understanding the principles of operation of the intuitive-experiential mind, it is possible to train it as well as to learn from it, and thereby to improve one's emotional intelligence. The book provides exercises for applying the principles in everyday life and a review of a variety of other procedures for improving emotional intelligence. It is suited for use as a primary or supplementary text in courses on improving emotional intelligence or coping with stress as well as for individual reading.