Books

Aware that his Interpretation of Dreams was a long and difficult book, Freud decided that he must offer a version that would be briefer and easier to follow.

On Dreams was the result. He succeeded admirably: the theory of the dream as distorted wish fulfillment is there, as are, in full deployment, the mechanisms of the dream work. Without doubt, Freud was always his own best popularizer.

Since 1955, moving from early work in psychopharmacology to studies of clinical method and the psychiatric schools, Leston Havens has been working toward a general theory of therapy. It often seems that twentieth-century psychiatry, sect-ridden, is a Tower of Babel, as Havens once characterized it. This book is the distillation of long years of thought and practice, a bold yet modest attempt to delineate an "integrated psychotherapy."

The boldness of this effort lies in its author's willingness to recognize the best that each school has to offer, to describe it cogently, and to integrate it into a full response to today's new kind of patient. Descriptive or medical psychiatry, psychoanalysis, interpersonal or behavioristic psychiatry, empathic or existential therapy-viewed in metaphors, respectively, of perceiving, thinking, managing, feeling-all have useful contributions to make to contemporary methods of treatment. But how? Havens's modest answer is through appropriate language, and he demonstrates exactly what he means: when to ask questions, when to direct or draw back, when to sympathize.

Practitioners now must deal with less dramatic, but more stubborn, problems of character and situation; lack of purpose, isolation, submissiveness, invasiveness, deep yet vague dissatisfaction. Some kind of human presence must be discovered in the patient, and Havens gives concrete, absorbing examples of ways of "speaking to absence," of making contact. The emphasis is on verbal technique, but the underlying broad, humane intent is everywhere evident. It is no less than to transform passivity, by means of disciplined therapeutic concern, into a state of being Human.

A book for finding purpose and strength in times of great despair, the international best-seller is still just as relevant today as when it was first published.

"This is a book I reread a lot . . . it gives me hope . . . it gives me a sense of strength."
--Anderson Cooper, Anderson Cooper 360/CNN

This seminal book, which has been called "one of the outstanding contributions to psychological thought" by Carl Rogers and "one of the great books of our time" by Harold Kushner, has been translated into more than fifty languages and sold over sixteen million copies. "An enduring work of survival literature," according to the New York Times, Viktor Frankl's riveting account of his time in the Nazi concentration camps, and his insightful exploration of the human will to find meaning in spite of the worst adversity, has offered solace and guidance to generations of readers since it was first published in 1946. At the heart of Frankl's theory of logotherapy (from the Greek word for "meaning") is a conviction that the primary human drive is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but rather the discovery and pursuit of what the individual finds meaningful. Today, as new generations face new challenges and an ever more complex and uncertain world, Frankl's classic work continues to inspire us all to find significance in the very act of living, in spite of all obstacles.

A must-read companion to this classic work, a new, never-before-published work by Frankl entitled Yes to Life: In Spite of Everything, is now available in English.

This book was published with two different covers. Customers will be shipped the book with one of the available covers.

Few women can walk away from the experience of abortion without some lingering emotional discomfort. Unresolved feelings of guilt, shame, and sadness may not surface until months, often years, after an abortion. These feelings, if ignored, can possibly manifest themselves in more troubling ways, resulting in unstable relationships, self-destructive and addictive behaviors, depression, and low self-esteem. Now, two experienced psychotherapists share their approach to dealing with the sensitive and long-overlooked issue of post-abortion pain or trauma. The Healing Choice breaks the silence surrounding a topic often clouded by debate and focuses exclusively on helping women chart a path toward emotional recovery. Through a step-by-step process, complete with self-tests, exercises, and interviews with women who share their own post-abortion experiences, Dr. Candance De Puy and Dr. Dana Dovitch will help you come to terms with your post-abortion emotions and offer support a you begin the process of healing.

By now, the lines of battle have become so many and so criss-crossed that it is not easy to see the original causus belli clearly. This anthology will encourage current and new generations of debaters, and discourage the circulation of simplistic versions of what Freud supposedly said about women.

Chronologically arranged, this first volume to collect Freud's writing about women shows clearly how his views arose, then were refined, systematized, and revised. Certain theories stayed constant--such as the notion of universal bisexuality--while others changed. Elisabeth Young-Breuhl, in her comprehensive introduction, illuminates the theory and tracks the core elements. Each selection, based on the James Strachey translation, carries a brief commentary; and an annotated bibliography covers field developments since Freud's death. While appreciating the genius of Freud, this anthology aims not to present a point of view but to allow readers to discern for themselves the evolution of Freud's thinking.

Has Sigmund Freud been seriously misunderstood? The author of The Uses of Enchantment argues that mistranslation has distorted Freud's work in English and led students to see a system intended to cooperate flexibly with individual needs as a set of rigid rules to be applied by external authority. This provocative argument cuts through the myths to reveal a greater, more compassoinate and also far more disturbing figure.

"VITAL...an eloquent attempt to reclaim Freud's reputation in America." --THE NEW YORK TIMES

"Lucid and provocative." --THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK REVIEW

A fascinating case study that reads like a detective novel, pulling readers deep into the twisted world and dark mental corners of one of Sigmund Freud's most intriguing psychological patients.

An intelligent but troubled eighteen-year-old girl to whom Freud gives the pseudonym "Dora" is at the center of this captivating case study. Freud's analysis focuses on Dora, however she is surrounded by an emotionally disturbed cast of characters that thicken the psychological intrigue. As Dora falls into the paralysis of psychological hysteria, Freud uses all of his analytical genius and literary skill to explore Dora's inner life and explain the cause of her neuroses.

Written in the decade before Freud s death, Civilization and Its Discontents may be his most famous and most brilliant work. It has been praised, dissected, lambasted, interpreted, and reinterpreted. Originally published in 1930, it seeks to answer several questions fundamental to human society and its organization: What influences led to the creation of civilization? Why and how did it come to be? What determines civilization s trajectory? Freud s theories on the effect of the knowledge of death on human existence and the birth of art are central to his work. Of the various English translations of Freud s major works to appear in his lifetime, only Norton s Standard Edition, under the general editorship of James Strachey, was authorized by Freud himself. This new edition includes both an introduction by the renowned cultural critic and writer Christopher Hitchens as well as Peter Gay s classic biographical note on Freud."