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December 2021 MBR The Psychology Shelf
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Midwest Book Review
Jan 1, 2022, 3:58:01 PM1/1/22
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The Psychology Shelf
Psychedelics and Psychotherapy
Tim Read, editor
Maria Papaspyrou, editor
Park Street Press
c/o Inner Traditions International, Ltd.
One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
www.innertraditions.com
9781644113325, $24.99, PB, 424pp
https://www.amazon.com/Psychedelics-Psychotherapy-Healing-Potential-Expanded/dp/1644113325
Synopsis: Exploring the latest developments in the flourishing field of modern psychedelic psycho-therapy, the articles comprising "Psychedelics and Psychotherapy: The Healing Potential of Expanded States" (expertly compiled by Tim Read and Maria Papaspyrou, co-directors of the Institute of Psychedelic Therapy in the UK) shares practical experiences and insights from both elders and newer research voices in the psychedelic research and clinical communities.
The contributors examine new findings on safe and skillful work with psychedelic and expanded states for therapeutic, personal, and spiritual growth. They explain the dual process of opening and healing. They explore new approaches for individual inner work as well as for the healing of ancestral and collective trauma. They examine the power of expanded states for reparative attachment work and offer insights on the integration process through the lens of Holotropic Breathwork. The contributors also examine the use of cannabis as a psychedelic tool, spiritual exploration with LSD, microdosing with Iboga, treating depression with psilocybin, and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD.
Revealing diverse ways of working with psychedelics in terms of set, setting, and type of substance, "Psychedelics and Psychotherapy: The Healing Potential of Expanded States" concludes with discussions of ethics and professional development for those working in the field as well as explores considerations for training the next generation of psychedelic therapists.
Critique: Expertly compiled and co-edited by Tim Read and Maria Papaspyrou, and with specific attention to the use of cannabis as a psychedelic tool, spiritual exploration with LSD, micro-dosing with Iboga, and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, "Psychedelics and Psychotherapy: The Healing Potential of Expanded States" is a uniquely informed and informative addition to community, counseling center, college, and university library Psychology, Psychiatry, and Pharmacology collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for psychology students, academia, therapists, counselors, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Psychedelics and Psychotherapy: The Healing Potential of Expanded States" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $16.99).
Editorial Note #1: Currently residing in London, England, Tim Read, M.D. is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist with degrees in neuroscience and medicine. After heading the services for psychiatric emergencies and crisis intervention at the Royal London Hospital for 20 years, he is now involved in clinical research at King's College and Imperial College, London University, on the therapeutic use of psychedelics.
Editorial Note #2: Currently residing in Brighton, England, Maria Papaspyrou, MSC, is an integrative psychotherapist, supervisor, and family constellations facilitator. She has given talks and published articles on the sacramental and healing properties of entheogens, supporting their reintroduction in psychotherapy. She is also the co-editor of Psychedelic Mysteries of the Feminine.
Polyvagal Safety: Attachment, Communication, Self-Regulation
Stephen W. Porges
W. W. Norton & Company
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
www.wwnorton.com
www.tantor.com
9781324016274, $45.00, HC, 320pp
https://www.amazon.com/Polyvagal-Safety-Attachment-Communication-Self-Regulation/dp/1324016272
Synopsis: Polyvagal theory (poly- "many" + vagal "wandering") is a collection of evolutionary, neuroscientific and psychological claims pertaining to the role of the vagus nerve in emotion regulation, social connection and fear response, introduced in 1994 by Stephen Porges. Polyvagal Theory takes its name from the vagus, a cranial nerve that forms the primary component of the parasympathetic nervous system. The traditional view of the autonomic nervous system presents a two-part system: the sympathetic nervous system, which is more activating ("fight/flight"), and the parasympathetic nervous system, which supports health, growth, and restoration ("rest and digest"). Polyvagal theory, by contrast, views the parasympathetic nervous system as being split into two distinct branches: a "ventral vagal system" which supports social engagement, and a "dorsal vagal system" which supports immobilisation behaviours, both "rest and digest" and defensive immobilisation or "shutdown". (Wikipedia)
Ever since publication of The Polyvagal Theory in 2011, demand for information about this innovative perspective has been constant. With the publication of "Polyvagal Safety: Attachment, Communication, Self-Regulation", Professor Stephen W. Porges brings together his most important writings since the publication of that seminal work. At its heart, polyvagal theory is about safety. It provides an understanding that feeling safe is dependent on autonomic states, and that our cognitive evaluations of risk in the environment, including identifying potentially dangerous relationships, play a secondary role to our visceral reactions to people and places.
Our reaction to the continuing global pandemic supports one of the central concepts of polyvagal theory: that a desire to connect safely with others is our biological imperative. Indeed, life may be seen as an inherent quest for safety. These ideas, and more, are outlined in chapters on therapeutic presence, group psychotherapy, yoga and music therapy, autism, trauma, date rape, medical trauma, and COVID-19.
Critique: An absolutely essential and core addition to college and university library Contemporary Clinical Psychology, Neuroscience, and Neuropsychology collections, "Polyvagal Safety: Attachment, Communication, Self-Regulation" is an extraordinary, unique, and invaluable contribution to psychology. An exceptionally well written, organized and presented work of impeccable scholarship, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, psychologists, counselors, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Polyvagal Safety: Attachment, Communication, Self-Regulation is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $19.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Tantor Media/Blackstone Audio, 9798200890217, $41.99, CD).
Editorial Note: Stephen W. Porges, PhD, originator of polyvagal theory, is a Distinguished University Scientist and the founding director of the Kinsey Institute Traumatic Stress Research Consortium at Indiana University. He is also a professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina and a co-founder of the Polyvagal Institute.
Transcending Trauma
Frank G. Anderson, M.D.
PESI Publishing Inc.
9781683733973, $29.99, PB, 224pp
https://www.amazon.com/Transcending-Trauma-Healing-Complex-Internal/dp/1683733975
Synopsis: With the publication of "Transcending Trauma: Healing Complex PTSD with Internal Family Systems", Dr. Frank G. Andersn explores a unique, compassionate, and evidence-based approach to resolving complex and dissociative trauma. In this transformative book Dr. Anderson, masterfully details an IFS (Internal Family Systems) path to therapy that allows clients to access their inherent capacity for healing (called Self-energy) while also helping them welcome, as opposed to manage, the extreme emotions frequently associated with trauma.
Included in "Transcending Trauma" are clinical case examples, summary charts, current neuroscience research, and personal stories that will enable your clients to reclaim self-connection, experience self-love, and regain the ability to connect with and love others.
Specifically designed with clinicians, therapists, and counselors, in mind, "Transcending Trauma" offers a comprehensive map to complex trauma treatment that will enable readers to:
Learn how to stay calm and steady in the presence of extreme symptoms; Discover a different approach to resolving attachment trauma; Gain confidence when addressing shame, neglect, and dissociation; Understand the neurobiology of PTSD and dissociation; Integrate neuroscience-informed therapeutic interventions; Effectively address medications and common co-morbidities; Incorporate IFS with other models of treatment.
Critique: Deftly composed in seven major sections, (Trauma and IFS; The IFS Techniques Working With Protective Parts; The Neuroscience of Trauma and Dissociations; Attachment and Relational Trauma; Common Reactions to Relational Trauma; Associated Features of Trauma; Healing, "Transcending Trauma: Healing Complex PTSD with Internal Family Systems" is an exceptionally well organized and presented volume that is enhanced further with the inclusion of a four page listing of References, and a six page Index. While an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to professional, college, and university library Clinical Psychology, Neurology, and Dissociative Disorders collections and supplemental curriculum studies, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of psychology students, academia, counselors, therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Transcending Trauma: Healing Complex PTSD with Internal Family Systems" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).
Editorial Note: Frank G. Anderson, MD, is the former chair and executive director of the Foundation for Self Leadership, an organization focusing on Internal Family Systems (IFS) research and the expansion of the IFS model beyond psychotherapy. He coauthored the bestseller Internal Family Systems Skills Training Manual. He is also a lead trainer and program consultant for the IFS Institute, an advisor to the International Association of Trauma Professionals (IATP), and maintains a private practice.
Brain Storm: A Life in Pieces
Shelley Kolton, MD
FLR Press
9780578736471, $14.95, PB, 318pp
https://www.amazon.com/Brain-Storm-Shelley-Kolton-MD/dp/0578736470
Synopsis: The sad 7-year-old girl. The aggressive 14-year-old boy. The terrified 3-year-old child. The cult leader. She lived with these, and over thirty other parts of her mind, no less real than you and I, throughout endless cycles of deepest depression, paralyzing panic, thoughts of suicide, and a revolving door of psychotherapists.
A harbinger of the coming storm, darkness followed her everywhere, from infancy to a career as a renowned, openly gay OB/GYN in New York City. A loving wife and three remarkable kids completed the facade she allowed the world to see while inside her mind was a raging tempest. A fierce will to survive sustained her until, at long last, a gifted therapist gave a name to her unrelenting psychic pain: Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). And so the work began.
In "Brain Storm: A Life in Pieces", Dr. Shelley Kolton tells the story of a childhood marked by unimaginable abuse and the distinct parts her brain created to hold those memories and protect her. She balanced the demands of medicine, marriage and family as new parts (each one requiring her attention and care) emerged while grueling therapy sessions consumed her days and nights.
After twelve torturous years, she finally accepted that the alters colliding inside her brain had, in truth, saved her. Dr. Kolton, often using emails and text messages written by her alters, mixed with her own journal entries, paints an honest, intimate and at times humorous portrait of a woman living with DID, managing the inhabitants of her own creation. With memories so raw and real, she puts to rest any doubts as to the existence of multiple personalities.
"Brain Storm: A Life in Pieces" is the heartbreaking account of a mind, fragmented and broken, ultimately made whole by one woman's incomparable strength and courage.
Critique: An inherently fascinating, candid, insightfully descriptive, thoughtful and thought-provoking read from cover to cover, "Brain Storm: A Life in Pieces" is an original and especially, unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library Psychology, Psychiatry, and Contemporary American Biography/Memoir collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of psychology students, academia, therapists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Brain Storm: A Life in Pieces" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.99).
EDITOR'S NOTE:
The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promoting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no funds from authors or publishers. Full permission is given to post any of these reviews on thematically appropriate websites, newsgroups, listserves, internet discussion groups, organizational newsletters, or to interested individuals. Please give the Midwest Book Review a credit line when doing so.
The Midwest Book Review publishes the monthly book review magazines "California Bookwatch", "Internet Bookwatch", "Children's Bookwatch", "MBR Bookwatch", "Reviewer's Bookwatch", and "Small Press Bookwatch". All are available for free on the Midwest Book Review website at www (dot) midwestbookreview (dot) com
Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:
James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129
To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugalmuse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publisher, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number, and list price).
James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
Psychedelics and Psychotherapy
Tim Read, editor
Maria Papaspyrou, editor
Park Street Press
c/o Inner Traditions International, Ltd.
One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767
www.innertraditions.com
9781644113325, $24.99, PB, 424pp
https://www.amazon.com/Psychedelics-Psychotherapy-Healing-Potential-Expanded/dp/1644113325
Synopsis: Exploring the latest developments in the flourishing field of modern psychedelic psycho-therapy, the articles comprising "Psychedelics and Psychotherapy: The Healing Potential of Expanded States" (expertly compiled by Tim Read and Maria Papaspyrou, co-directors of the Institute of Psychedelic Therapy in the UK) shares practical experiences and insights from both elders and newer research voices in the psychedelic research and clinical communities.
The contributors examine new findings on safe and skillful work with psychedelic and expanded states for therapeutic, personal, and spiritual growth. They explain the dual process of opening and healing. They explore new approaches for individual inner work as well as for the healing of ancestral and collective trauma. They examine the power of expanded states for reparative attachment work and offer insights on the integration process through the lens of Holotropic Breathwork. The contributors also examine the use of cannabis as a psychedelic tool, spiritual exploration with LSD, microdosing with Iboga, treating depression with psilocybin, and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD.
Revealing diverse ways of working with psychedelics in terms of set, setting, and type of substance, "Psychedelics and Psychotherapy: The Healing Potential of Expanded States" concludes with discussions of ethics and professional development for those working in the field as well as explores considerations for training the next generation of psychedelic therapists.
Critique: Expertly compiled and co-edited by Tim Read and Maria Papaspyrou, and with specific attention to the use of cannabis as a psychedelic tool, spiritual exploration with LSD, micro-dosing with Iboga, and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, "Psychedelics and Psychotherapy: The Healing Potential of Expanded States" is a uniquely informed and informative addition to community, counseling center, college, and university library Psychology, Psychiatry, and Pharmacology collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for psychology students, academia, therapists, counselors, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Psychedelics and Psychotherapy: The Healing Potential of Expanded States" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $16.99).
Editorial Note #1: Currently residing in London, England, Tim Read, M.D. is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist with degrees in neuroscience and medicine. After heading the services for psychiatric emergencies and crisis intervention at the Royal London Hospital for 20 years, he is now involved in clinical research at King's College and Imperial College, London University, on the therapeutic use of psychedelics.
Editorial Note #2: Currently residing in Brighton, England, Maria Papaspyrou, MSC, is an integrative psychotherapist, supervisor, and family constellations facilitator. She has given talks and published articles on the sacramental and healing properties of entheogens, supporting their reintroduction in psychotherapy. She is also the co-editor of Psychedelic Mysteries of the Feminine.
Polyvagal Safety: Attachment, Communication, Self-Regulation
Stephen W. Porges
W. W. Norton & Company
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
www.wwnorton.com
www.tantor.com
9781324016274, $45.00, HC, 320pp
https://www.amazon.com/Polyvagal-Safety-Attachment-Communication-Self-Regulation/dp/1324016272
Synopsis: Polyvagal theory (poly- "many" + vagal "wandering") is a collection of evolutionary, neuroscientific and psychological claims pertaining to the role of the vagus nerve in emotion regulation, social connection and fear response, introduced in 1994 by Stephen Porges. Polyvagal Theory takes its name from the vagus, a cranial nerve that forms the primary component of the parasympathetic nervous system. The traditional view of the autonomic nervous system presents a two-part system: the sympathetic nervous system, which is more activating ("fight/flight"), and the parasympathetic nervous system, which supports health, growth, and restoration ("rest and digest"). Polyvagal theory, by contrast, views the parasympathetic nervous system as being split into two distinct branches: a "ventral vagal system" which supports social engagement, and a "dorsal vagal system" which supports immobilisation behaviours, both "rest and digest" and defensive immobilisation or "shutdown". (Wikipedia)
Ever since publication of The Polyvagal Theory in 2011, demand for information about this innovative perspective has been constant. With the publication of "Polyvagal Safety: Attachment, Communication, Self-Regulation", Professor Stephen W. Porges brings together his most important writings since the publication of that seminal work. At its heart, polyvagal theory is about safety. It provides an understanding that feeling safe is dependent on autonomic states, and that our cognitive evaluations of risk in the environment, including identifying potentially dangerous relationships, play a secondary role to our visceral reactions to people and places.
Our reaction to the continuing global pandemic supports one of the central concepts of polyvagal theory: that a desire to connect safely with others is our biological imperative. Indeed, life may be seen as an inherent quest for safety. These ideas, and more, are outlined in chapters on therapeutic presence, group psychotherapy, yoga and music therapy, autism, trauma, date rape, medical trauma, and COVID-19.
Critique: An absolutely essential and core addition to college and university library Contemporary Clinical Psychology, Neuroscience, and Neuropsychology collections, "Polyvagal Safety: Attachment, Communication, Self-Regulation" is an extraordinary, unique, and invaluable contribution to psychology. An exceptionally well written, organized and presented work of impeccable scholarship, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, psychologists, counselors, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Polyvagal Safety: Attachment, Communication, Self-Regulation is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $19.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Tantor Media/Blackstone Audio, 9798200890217, $41.99, CD).
Editorial Note: Stephen W. Porges, PhD, originator of polyvagal theory, is a Distinguished University Scientist and the founding director of the Kinsey Institute Traumatic Stress Research Consortium at Indiana University. He is also a professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina and a co-founder of the Polyvagal Institute.
Transcending Trauma
Frank G. Anderson, M.D.
PESI Publishing Inc.
9781683733973, $29.99, PB, 224pp
https://www.amazon.com/Transcending-Trauma-Healing-Complex-Internal/dp/1683733975
Synopsis: With the publication of "Transcending Trauma: Healing Complex PTSD with Internal Family Systems", Dr. Frank G. Andersn explores a unique, compassionate, and evidence-based approach to resolving complex and dissociative trauma. In this transformative book Dr. Anderson, masterfully details an IFS (Internal Family Systems) path to therapy that allows clients to access their inherent capacity for healing (called Self-energy) while also helping them welcome, as opposed to manage, the extreme emotions frequently associated with trauma.
Included in "Transcending Trauma" are clinical case examples, summary charts, current neuroscience research, and personal stories that will enable your clients to reclaim self-connection, experience self-love, and regain the ability to connect with and love others.
Specifically designed with clinicians, therapists, and counselors, in mind, "Transcending Trauma" offers a comprehensive map to complex trauma treatment that will enable readers to:
Learn how to stay calm and steady in the presence of extreme symptoms; Discover a different approach to resolving attachment trauma; Gain confidence when addressing shame, neglect, and dissociation; Understand the neurobiology of PTSD and dissociation; Integrate neuroscience-informed therapeutic interventions; Effectively address medications and common co-morbidities; Incorporate IFS with other models of treatment.
Critique: Deftly composed in seven major sections, (Trauma and IFS; The IFS Techniques Working With Protective Parts; The Neuroscience of Trauma and Dissociations; Attachment and Relational Trauma; Common Reactions to Relational Trauma; Associated Features of Trauma; Healing, "Transcending Trauma: Healing Complex PTSD with Internal Family Systems" is an exceptionally well organized and presented volume that is enhanced further with the inclusion of a four page listing of References, and a six page Index. While an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to professional, college, and university library Clinical Psychology, Neurology, and Dissociative Disorders collections and supplemental curriculum studies, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of psychology students, academia, counselors, therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Transcending Trauma: Healing Complex PTSD with Internal Family Systems" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).
Editorial Note: Frank G. Anderson, MD, is the former chair and executive director of the Foundation for Self Leadership, an organization focusing on Internal Family Systems (IFS) research and the expansion of the IFS model beyond psychotherapy. He coauthored the bestseller Internal Family Systems Skills Training Manual. He is also a lead trainer and program consultant for the IFS Institute, an advisor to the International Association of Trauma Professionals (IATP), and maintains a private practice.
Brain Storm: A Life in Pieces
Shelley Kolton, MD
FLR Press
9780578736471, $14.95, PB, 318pp
https://www.amazon.com/Brain-Storm-Shelley-Kolton-MD/dp/0578736470
Synopsis: The sad 7-year-old girl. The aggressive 14-year-old boy. The terrified 3-year-old child. The cult leader. She lived with these, and over thirty other parts of her mind, no less real than you and I, throughout endless cycles of deepest depression, paralyzing panic, thoughts of suicide, and a revolving door of psychotherapists.
A harbinger of the coming storm, darkness followed her everywhere, from infancy to a career as a renowned, openly gay OB/GYN in New York City. A loving wife and three remarkable kids completed the facade she allowed the world to see while inside her mind was a raging tempest. A fierce will to survive sustained her until, at long last, a gifted therapist gave a name to her unrelenting psychic pain: Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). And so the work began.
In "Brain Storm: A Life in Pieces", Dr. Shelley Kolton tells the story of a childhood marked by unimaginable abuse and the distinct parts her brain created to hold those memories and protect her. She balanced the demands of medicine, marriage and family as new parts (each one requiring her attention and care) emerged while grueling therapy sessions consumed her days and nights.
After twelve torturous years, she finally accepted that the alters colliding inside her brain had, in truth, saved her. Dr. Kolton, often using emails and text messages written by her alters, mixed with her own journal entries, paints an honest, intimate and at times humorous portrait of a woman living with DID, managing the inhabitants of her own creation. With memories so raw and real, she puts to rest any doubts as to the existence of multiple personalities.
"Brain Storm: A Life in Pieces" is the heartbreaking account of a mind, fragmented and broken, ultimately made whole by one woman's incomparable strength and courage.
Critique: An inherently fascinating, candid, insightfully descriptive, thoughtful and thought-provoking read from cover to cover, "Brain Storm: A Life in Pieces" is an original and especially, unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library Psychology, Psychiatry, and Contemporary American Biography/Memoir collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of psychology students, academia, therapists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Brain Storm: A Life in Pieces" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.99).
EDITOR'S NOTE:
The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promoting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no funds from authors or publishers. Full permission is given to post any of these reviews on thematically appropriate websites, newsgroups, listserves, internet discussion groups, organizational newsletters, or to interested individuals. Please give the Midwest Book Review a credit line when doing so.
The Midwest Book Review publishes the monthly book review magazines "California Bookwatch", "Internet Bookwatch", "Children's Bookwatch", "MBR Bookwatch", "Reviewer's Bookwatch", and "Small Press Bookwatch". All are available for free on the Midwest Book Review website at www (dot) midwestbookreview (dot) com
Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:
James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129
To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugalmuse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publisher, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number, and list price).
James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
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