Book Reviews

Gill Westland’s 2015 release entitled, Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication in Psychotherapy, merits mention. Her voice felt personable, reachable, while professional, informative. There’s something for anyone involved in mental health care as Gill draws on current findings from: infant development studies; neuroscience; various schools and approaches; and mindfulness/Buddhist practices.

There’s always this sense of anticipation when I read a book by editors and authors I personally know. My belly churns; there's an involuntarily pause before I exhale and my heart adds a beat to its rhythmic song because a resonance exists that translates from colleague to text. I hear their voice while reading as if we are together, in person, having an amicable chat. When I heard that Halko Weiss, Courtenay Young and Michael Soth were part of The Handbook of Body Psychotherapy and Somatic Psychology, when I heard that many colleagues had contributed chapters, I immediately had to read it and share my thoughts with SPT Magazine’s readers.

Kamalamani invites you to join her in celebrating the arrival of her newly-born book, Other Than Mother: Choosing Childlessness with Life in Mind, at her book launch, April 15, 2016 in Bristol, UK. Readers' comments include: "a truly beautiful book," "touching on issues close to the heart", "a timely, compassionate, skillful guide."

The book represents a step toward more effective standards and practices and it might prove it to be, even for those professionals who feel they don’t need overt tools for self-diagnosis, an important entry in the contemporary discourse about psychotherapeutic practice.

In the United States, ruled by an unsustainable culture of big businesses, politics, and greed, we are insatiable. Constantly searching for more nourishment, we are never full. Everyone is living in this perpetual state of emergency, but we still feel alone in the struggle. In the United States, ruled by an unsustainable culture of big businesses, politics, and greed, we are insatiable. Constantly searching for more nourishment, we are never full. Everyone is living in this perpetual state of emergency, but we still feel alone in the struggle. In The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief and Praise, Martín Prechtel coalesces ancient wisdom and modern life. We seem to be far from our ancient roots, but Prechtel reconnects us by exploring issues such as war, money, and politics through the lens of a shaman and offers an invitation to heal our distressed souls through grief and praise.

Transforming Emotional Pain in Psychotherapy: An Emotion-Focused Approach presents a review of EFT with well-informed categorization of the many sub-components of emotional pain coupled with real case transcripts and the reasoning behind both the client’s and therapist’s advances.

Modern Psychology and Ancient Wisdom, 2nd edition, brings together experts who explore the use of ancient healing techniques from Buddhism, Christianity, Goddess, Shamanism, Taoism, and Yogic traditions as well as the mystical practices of Judaism and Islam and their application to modern counseling and therapy professions.

Essential Psychopathology & Its Treatment, 4th edition, includes updated research and data in the realm of psychopathology, etiology, and neuroscience. It covers the basics as well as the more complex details associated with disorders, psychopharmacology, and treatment.

8 Keys to Parenting Children with ADHD is a timely contribution to the existing literature and an excellent choice for parents given its concise, accessible presentation of the facts and its suggestions for how to utilize them to optimize the wellbeing of each individual child.

The Human Elements of Psychotherapy is unique in its call for the rebirth of psychotherapy as a nonmedical procedure. David N. Elkins, Ph.D., experienced clinician and professor, cautions that a medical approach, which has long been accepted as the dominant paradigm in psychotherapy, is not the appropriate model when it comes to psychological healing.