Books
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Awakening to AweWhat if I told you that YOU are about to embark on a "great adventure" -- that you are about to be given all the proper equipment for this adventure--food, shelter, clothing? And what if I told you further that you are about to experience the terrors and wonders of the cosmos on this journey, that you will meet a wide array of beings-both human and nonhuman-along the way, and that you will witness a vast range of impressions-- thoughts, feelings, and sensations--as you make your way through... Would you want to go? And given these remarkable anticipations, would you have any inclinations to devalue, exploit, or even kill yourself or others along the way? Or to trim, skim, or prettify the experience? ...Maybe, but it is unlikely. And yet here we are, a couple of hundred thousand years of humanity, and still, as a whole, negligent of our great adventure -- bathed in denial, snared by greed, and numbed by indifference...Why? What can we do about it? What ARE people doing about it? "Awakening to Awe" can show us; and in the process help us find our way back... More detailsSample Content Front and Back CoverBuy from Amazon.comBuy from the publisher |
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The Paradoxical SelfWhy do so many of us develop extremist psychological patterns, from withdrawal to aggression, friendship to enmity? Why do people vicariously live out their extremes through the actions of others? What can we do to transform these extremes in order to live vital and creative lives? Drawing on the vast literature of existential psychology, Dr. Schneider develops what he calls the paradox principle, based on the assumptions that human experience spans a continuum from constriction to expansion. The former is characterised by the capacity to yield and focus, the latter by the capacity to assert and incorporate. People become dysfunctional, polarised, or excessive, says Schneider, when they fear either of these capacities. After applying his model to a variety of dysfunctional syndromes, Schneider goes on to depict its relevance for psychological health. He ties his model directly to subjects' personal histories and shows its pertinence to creativity, physical health, religious and social organisations, child rearing, and psychology. |
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Horror and the HolyThroughout history, human beings have been strangely fascinated by the monstrous and the macabre. In this study of the classic horror story, Dr Schneider explains the enormous attraction of these tales as a result of our thirst for the sacred, and identifies elements of the holy in familiar blood-curdling yarns. Schneider presents an outline and analysis of the underlying themes of "Dracula" ("A Study of Hyperconstriction"), "Frankenstein" ("A Study in Hyperexpansion"), "The Phantom of the Opera", "The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Invisible Man", "The Incredible Shrinking Man", "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde", "The Birds", "Forbidden Planet", "Vertigo", and "Alien". Horror appears when the mundane becomes unexpected and when the contained breaks free of its confining chains to become unlimited. Anything boundless tends to become terrifying, argues Schneider. "Ecstasy is a glimpse of the infinite; terror is full disclosure". Sheer bliss, paradise, or Nirvana, therefore, always has the potential to turn into horror, as limits fall away and the boundless expanses of inifinity open up. A spiritual understanding of life can be reached through horror. Classic horror steers a path between fanaticism and despair - the path of wonderment. Horror teaches us that the human personality is paradoxical, that revulsion and disgust are the obverse of excitement and freedom, and that both poles are vital to individual, social and ecological well-being. |
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Psychology of ExistenceA prestigious, original title co-authored by Rollo May, one of the best selling American fathers of existential psychology. This long awaited text in existential psychology presents a practical, integrative approach to the discipline especially for the training clinician. Three broad dimensions are emphasized: its literary, philosophical, and psychological heritage, its recent and future trends, and its therapeutic applications. |
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The Handbook of Humanistic PsychologyInspired by James F. T. Bugental's classic, Challenges of Humanistic Psychology (1967), The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology represents the latest scholarship in the resurgent field of humanistic psychology and psychotherapy. Set against trends toward psychological standardization and medicalization, the Handbook provides a rich tapestry of reflection by the leading person-centered scholars of our time. The range in topics is far-reaching-from the historical, theoretical, and methodological, to the spiritual, psychotherapeutic, and multicultural. Psychology is poised for a renaissance, and this Handbook will play a critical role in that transformation. As increasing numbers of students and professionals rebel against mechanizing trends, they are looking for the fuller, deeper, and more personal psychological orientation that this book promotes. |
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Rediscovery of Awe"...Schneider's personal synthesis [Rediscovery of Awe] is at the same time an address and challenge not only to every psychologist but also to every thoughtful person in the field of helping, healing, education, and social betterment. It is impossible to overestimate its significance." Rediscovery of Awe offers a potential bridge between two ostensible adversaries today: science and religion (also conceived as relativism vs. absolutism, atheism vs. theism, and postmodernity vs. fundamentalism). At its core, Rediscovery of Awe is a practical, psychological translation of an emerging spiritual transformation—a humanistic spirituality. It presents a provocative, and revolutionary, vision. The aim of the book is to revive a sense of awe—the humility and wonder, thrill and anxiety, splendor and mystery of living—in self, society, and spirit. It is an attempt to revive the capacity to be moved. Rediscovery of Awe promotes a new relation to life, and illustrates this relation over a broad range: from child-raising to education to the workplace, and from religion to politics and ethics. Set against our awe-deprived times, in which we tend to favor either a high tech, consumerist mentality or, contrastingly, a dogmatic, fundamentalist orientation, it presents a dynamic and rejuvenating alternative. Written in an engaging yet scholarly manner, Rediscovery of Awe is different from inspirational books in that it aims at revolutionizing, not just our individual lives, but the institutions that shape and inform them. It is a hard-hitting critique, but also a challenge to the very purpose of our contemporary lives, a purpose that begs to be nurtured and explored. At this time, two dominant worldviews—nihilistic relativism and dogmatic fundamentalism—threaten to tear our world asunder, Rediscovery of Awe offers a restorative alternative. It weds faith to doubt, and the depth and pathos of religiosity to the openness and discernment of science. The starting point of consciousness is awe. We humans first experience the world as overwhelming. From the moment we are first aware, we are aware of our meagerness. From the moment we reflect on the world, we sense how hopeless, helpless, and vulnerable we are. And yet, close on the heels of this despair is a riveting sense of possibility… We are thrilled, enthralled, and exalted by our condition as much as it overpowers us. There are many problems with conventional maxims of balance. The conventional center is dull and static whereas the proposal of this book is a ‘fluid’ center wherein the possibility for a poignant and passionate life becomes attainable. |
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Existential-Integrative PsychotherapyExistential-Integrative Psychotherapy promises to be a landmark in the fields of psychotherapeutic theory and practice. A comprehensive revision of its predecessor, The Psychology of Existence, co-edited by Kirk Schneider and Rollo May, Existential-Integrative Psychotherapy combines clear and updated guidelines for practice with vivid and timely case vignettes. These vignettes feature the very latest in both mainstream and existential therapeutic integrative application, by the top innovators in the field. The book highlights several notable dimensions: a novel and comprehensive theory of integrative existential practice; a premium on mainstream integrations of existential theory as well as existential-humanistic integrations of mainstream theory; a focus on integrative mainstream as well as existential-humanistic practitioners, students, and theorists; a discussion of short-term and cognitive-behavioral existential-integrative strategies; a focus on ethnic and diagnostic diversity, from case studies of multicultural populations to vignettes on gender, sexuality, and power, and from contributions to the treatment of alcoholism to those elucidating religiosity, psychoses, and intersubjectivity. |
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Existential-Humanistic TherapyIn Existential–Humanistic Therapy, Kirk J. Schneider and Orah T. Krug discuss the |