Reviews (1)

Introductory textbook of psychiatry
I have practiced primary care medicine for nearly 30 years and this is, by far, the best textbook of pyschiatry that I have come across. It is clearly organized and gives the practitioner the basics of what he needs to organize mental health care in his mind. It is clearly written and easy to understand. I have read over many years, other textbooks of psychiaty and synopses of the same, and this is a great book for medical students and practitioners alike. More depth will be needed for those in the field but for clearly organizing the subject in one's mind, this is a great text. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. Medical / Nursing    3. Mental Disorders    4. Psychiatry    5. Psychiatry - General    6. Psychology   

Reviews (6)

The unconscious purveyor of 20th century terminology
We are all aware of many of Freud's ideas, even if we're not conscious aware of that derivation. The concept of the id, the ego, the super-ego, Oedipal complex, etc., are now so much a part of our everyday language that we could find it easy to forget that they have not always been so.
I dig Freud!
Yes, it's true that he pretty much reduced everything to sex in some way or other.But if you go beyond that little foible then you see that SF was one of the most brilliant people of the last century, without doubt.There's a section in here on his analysis of jokes and why we tell them that is priceless.And if you are honest with yourself then you will have to admit that he is exactly right on target.This book has definitely spurred my interest in the field and SF himself.I do think that the author glosses over SF's religious views and writings a little too glibly, as though he thinks that SF really didn't believe what he wrote.I actually think that these are some of the most profound of Freud's writings and some that I definitely intend to pursue further.All in all though, this is definitely worth your time and money.

A few words on Freud's genius
I concur with the other reviews I have seen on this book. It is a clearly written , fine introduction to Freud's work. It does what it can in the space it has but cannot provide the interpretation of interpretations of the great over- interpreter of us all.
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Subjects:  1. 1856-1939    2. Freud, Sigmund    3. Freud, Sigmund,    4. History    5. Movements - Psychoanalysis    6. Psychoanalysis    7. Psychology    8. Psychoanalysis & psychoanalytical theory    9. Psychology & Psychiatry / History    10. Psychology | Clinical   

Reviews (9)

Superb summary of Jung's life and thought
A professional with no training in psychology, yet long fascinated by Jung. fluent in German, having read Jung's Memories Dreams & Reflections several times, possessing his collected works and having read a substantial portion of them, I picked up this little book wondering what it could tell me and was amazed at the author's superb job of comprehensively summarizing, sympathetically yet critically, and very clearly and readably Jung's life and his work in what is but an evening's read. I learned things I didn't know and gained something from the bird's-eyeview. This book is a tour de force.Hats off!

Most Excellent
I'll pile on with what everyone else has said.I read this one and the VSI to Freud and they're both excellent......and a nice pair to read in sequence.Everything you probably want to know about Jung is here and it's all explained very clearly.A truly fascinating character and a great book.

Enlightening, fascinating, solid introduction
Books in the 'Very Short Introduction' series almost always do a solid job of introducing their topic.Some, however, do it better than others - and this particular volume, about the important 20th-century psychiatrist and philosopher Carl Jung (1875-1961) is one of the better in the series.
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Subjects:  1. (Carl Gustav),    2. 1875-1961    3. History    4. Jung, C. G    5. Jungian Psychology    6. Movements - Jungian    7. Movements - Psychoanalysis    8. Psychoanalysis    9. Psychology    10. Psychoanalysis & psychoanalytical theory    11. Psychology / Movements / Jungian    12. Psychology | Clinical   

Reviews (14)

Best book I've read in years; many late nights spent on it
Just reading this book gave me a thrilled sort of enthusiasm and compassion towards humanity.I agree that it does not build up very well; it does not have a big powerful climax of revelation, but it is so packed full of interesting true stories, both historical and current, that what you learn is between the lines.He shows how history looked at from the perspective of individual lives is not so much an evolving entity but that different attitudes have been prevelent at different places and times, and what we hold to be proper now has been considered both true and false somewhere else before, or even in our own culture's history, and what really binds us is our always human outlook and response to it all.

Extraordinary...
What a wonderful and intelligent book to read agian and again. Theodore Zeldin discusses in 25 chapters the past, the present and the future. Whose humanity?
Theodore Zeldin announces his project in a brief preface. It bristles with the energy of ambition. We sense that we may be about to launch into something truly revolutionary: Read more

Subjects:  1. Anthropology    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Human behavior    6. Movements - Humanism    7. Philosophical anthropology    8. World - General    9. History / General   

Subjects:  1. History    2. Industrial & Organizational Psychology    3. Psychology    4. Occupational & industrial psychology    5. Psychology & Psychiatry / Occupational & Industrial Psychology   

Reviews (2)

From Behaviorism to fMRI

A 'Must Read' for new psychology students and current practitioners!
Found his book 'Handbook of Child Psychology' rich with fascinating information. Chapter on Human Morality asks then answers some fantastic questions.This book is even more rewarding! Dr. Kagan has written, spoke on and taught many topics in psychology, and in this book he reviews some perspectives or approaches in the field, as well as some predictions and recommendations for the future.Well worth reading for the new psychology student or current practitioner. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. History    3. Psychology    4. Social Scientists & Psychologists    5. Clinical psychology    6. Psychology & Psychiatry / General   

Subjects:  1. (Wilfred Ruprecht),    2. 1897-1979    3. Bion, Wilfred R    4. History    5. Movements - Psychoanalysis    6. Psychoanalysis    7. Psychodynamic psychotherapy    8. Psychology    9. Psychotherapy - General    10. Psychiatry    11. Psychoanalysis & psychoanalytical theory    12. Psychology & Psychiatry / General   

Editorial Review

Alex Beam's Read more

Reviews (31)

Crazy with Class
Alex Beam's Gracefully Insane is written with a twofold purpose in mind.On the one hand, Beam introduces readers to the rolling hills and well-appointed grounds of a MacLean, psychiatric hospital of the rich and famous; its residents often referred to the hospital as a university, to themselves as alumni.On the other hand, through the lens of Maclean one sees the evolution of the history of psychiatric practice in America.Here, for the most part, MacClean was neither better nor worse than most.If it was fashionable to dunk patients in vats of cold water or harness them into gyrating chairs, such practices could be found.About the only fashion that could not be accomodated is that practiced today: where the emphasis is on the efficacy of pharmacological medicine.With the end of the extended observation stay, this bastion of outliers gradually loses its psychiatric niche.Still, Gracefully Insane is worth a leisurely read, if only to glimpse Ray Charles, Sylvia Plath, James Taylor and the other members of its distinguished alumni.

Not as page turning as I thought it would be.
I was bored in some parts, it was interesting in other parts. And sometimes it was almost scattered, I didn't find most of it that well put together. And towards the end, it was hard for me to stay involved.
Rich in Anecdotal History
Beam's "Gracefully Insane" is rich in anecdotal history, but poor in other areas.Makes for a light, enjoyable read, but Beam rarely teases out the interesting insights that arise from his excellent access to the inner workings of America's "Premier" mental hospital.Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. McLean Hospital    3. Mental Illness    4. Psychology    5. 20th century    6. History of medicine    7. Mental health services    8. USA    9. c 1800 to c 1900   

Subjects:  1. History    2. Methodology    3. Personality    4. Psychological Research    5. Psychology    6. Research    7. Social Science    8. Social Sciences Research    9. Social psychology    10. Sociology - General    11. Psychology & Psychiatry / Personality    12. Social psychology--Research--Methodology    13. Social, group or collective psychology   

Reviews (13)

Good Info but Not Complete
I enjoyed reading this book, it, as one review points out, was not perfect. I found it easy to understand as far as how it was said, BUT could not understand certain parts such as what occurred in certain experiments because there were no pictures to demonstrate what he was talking about. I also found that he missed certain very relevant parts of the history of psychology, mainly, it's dark side, which you can learn about in one of my books once I get it published.

If you are considering a degree in psychology, read this book
This book is a very well organized and presented history of the development of psychology and survey of current research and clinical applications in psychology. The writing style is accessible and fluid, and the details provided create a colorful and humanistic aspect to the historical figures portrayed.
Very poor writing style, and very biased
This is the worst book on the history of ideas that I've ever read. The writing style is very low quality, and the word 'psychology' is constantly used in places where the words 'philosophy', 'ontology', or 'metaphysics' should be used for accuracy. The author seems more interested in discussing how theorists looked physically (completely irrelevant) rather than forming an intricate, cohesive summary of each theorist. Moreover, he does ridiculous things like say "the rest of this philosopher's work was rightfully ignored" in reference to Leibniz here. Obviously he does not understand the history of the philosophy of mind enough to recognize that Leibniz had an intricate theory of the unconscious mind 200 years before Freud did. He also seems to think he knows what is true and is constantly declaring various theoretical premises as 'true' or 'false' (which is very childish language) and he also very annoying often uses words like 'right' and 'wrong', etc. Also, he leaves out several important theorists and concepts in the history leading up to what we now call clinical psychology (e.g.: the existentialists, Foucault, Laing, and countless others). This author is extremely narrow in his views, which scream through the pages, showing an unsophisticated writer behind the words, and he does not truly understand what he is writing about in many cases; especially the philosophers. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. Psychology    3. History of ideas, intellectual history    4. Popular psychology    5. Psychology & Psychiatry / General   

Editorial Review

Paul Collins and his wife Jennifer thought their son was perfect. At age one, Morgan learned the alphabet; by two, he was reading, counting, even doing multiplication tables--yet he couldn't respond to his own name and scarcely noticed others in the room. He was, as it turned out, autistic--gifted, intelligent, preternaturally focused, but a stranger in the strange land of human emotions. Fortunately, Paul Collins is eminently suited to act as his guide. The author of Read more

Reviews (16)

I'd give it ten stars if I could.
Not Even Wrong: Adventures in Autism was written by historian Paul Collins, the author of Sixpence House. Apparently Collins and his wife don't have enough sense to be devastated that their happy, healthy son Morgan is suffering with a tragic disease. The kid bounces around exuberantly playing verbal games with numbers and letters, banging on the piano, reading everything in sight, and interacting with his nanny and parents in his own way. He's as happy as Mandy West in Paul West's old classic Words for a Deaf Daughter and just as oblivious that he's actually living in a hellish prison and that there must be a real child in there struggling to get out, etc., etc., ad infinitum, while the parents think he's simply a bright kid with many interests. Who cares if he doesn't answer when you ask his name or play along with dumb "look at the funny monkey" games when there's a much more interesting talking computerized camera in the same room?
I loved this book
This is not your typical book about autism, and I mean that as a compliment. As another reviewer said, it's difficult to characterize, but it's very interesting even for someone who doesn't know a lot about autism. Well done!

Just wonderful
After reading "Sixpence House" and finding it delightful, I looked up Paul Collins in the library catalog and saw this book.When I read "adventures in autism" I gasped.Not their little boy?!But yes, their little boy, whose adorableness was palpable in "Sixpence House," was diagnosed with autism around the age of three.
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Subjects:  1. Autism    2. Autism in children    3. Autistic children    4. Caregivers    5. Children with Special Needs    6. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    7. History    8. Patients    9. Psychology    10. Rehabilitation    11. Psychology & Psychiatry / History   

Subjects:  1. (Carl Gustav),    2. 1900-1958    3. Correspondence    4. History    5. Jung, C. G    6. Pauli, Wolfgang,    7. Philosophy    8. Physicists    9. Physics    10. Psychologists    11. Psychology    12. Inter-war period, 1918-1939    13. Mind, Body, Spirit    14. Other prose: from c 1900 -    15. Pauli, Wolfgang    16. Psychoanalysis & psychoanalytical theory    17. Psychology & Psychiatry / History    18. Second World War, 1939-1945    19. c 1945 to c 1960   

Features

• Illustrated

Subjects:  1. (Gordon Willard),    2. 1897-1967    3. 1897-1967.    4. Allport, Gordon W    5. Allport, Gordon W.    6. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    7. General    8. History    9. Nature of prejudice    10. Prejudice    11. Prejudices    12. Psychology    13. Social Psychology    14. ALLPORT, GORDON WILLARD, 1897-1967    15. Racism & racial discrimination    16. Social Science / Discrimination & Race Relations    17. Social, group or collective psychology   

Reviews (5)

Brilliant commentary with tons of psychological insights
Derived from Jan/Feb 1969 lectures @ C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich, this commentary on Gerhard Dorn's 17th c. work complements Jung's "Mysterium Coniunctionis" & "Psychology & Alchemy."It's an advanced book--prior background in Jungian psychology & alchemy are helpful, but p. 21: "One book opens another.Read many books & compare them throughout & then you get the meaning," & this work helps one understand Jung's lengthier/more difficult works.Indeed, despite the erudite material, von Franz clarifies the meaning in her awesome commentary.Per her title, pp. 22-3: "Jung sometimes defined the introverted psychological tradition in alchemy as the art of active imagination with material."Further, p. 147: "Dorn floated over the abysses of the mysteries that Jung was to penetrate."[later]
Where are you tonight, Sweet Marie?
This was the first serious modern work on alchemy that I've read, and boy did I luck out! It is a work charged with authenticity and vision. von Franz gives you some historical background on the origins of alchemy, then introduces this 16th century alchemist, Gerhard Dorn, and his inner and outer struggle to illuminate and heal the schism between spiritual alchemy and Western Christianity. Dorn doesn't come to any happy conclusions, but the chapter on Medieval Magic is worth the entire read. It includes a serious attempt to examine the question of evil (oh thank you!)and the historical process of projecting the contents of the psyche onto some aspect of the body. Also an inspiring section on the "cloud" as symbol in alchemy and christian mysticism for the confusing and darkening part of a person's journey inward to her own core. Also, peppered throughout are juicy tidbits about things like necromancy, pyromancy, hydromancy and something Jung himself was into for a while called Geomancy--which she explains in a brief but fascinating aside. The book is developed from transcripts of a 1969 lecture she gave in Zurich at the Jung Institute. It reads like a lecture, with the rythmns and addendums of the spoken word mostly intact, but obviously translated. That's ok--it flows like pure gold and is a great window into this whole Zurich scene and the living body of work that von Franz and Jung together embodied. This little work is bound to inspire and fuel some aspect of your own imagination. Enjoy!

Correction
I haven't read this book yet but couldn't find anywhere to request that you change your information. Ms Von Franz is no longer Jung's greatest living disciple; she no longer lives in Kusnacht; she died recently, perhaps in 1998? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Active imagination    2. Alchemy    3. Dorn, Gerhard,    4. General    5. History    6. Jungian Psychology    7. Movements - Psychoanalysis    8. Psychological aspects    9. Psychology    10. Reference    11. Dorn, Gerhard    12. Kabbalah & hermetic thought    13. Popular psychology    14. Psychoanalysis & psychoanalytical theory    15. Psychology & Psychiatry / General   

Reviews (1)

How homosexuality was cured!
This is an important book for anyone interested in how the diagnosis of homosexuality was dropped by the American Psychiatric Association in 1993.The author of this book gives a reasonable history of the events leading up to that decision and through interviews with psychiatrists who both supported and opposed the decision, illustrates the political nature of using medical diagnoses to determine what constitutes normal and abnormal behavior. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. History    3. Medical    4. Mental Illness    5. Psychiatry - General    6. Psychology    7. Psychopathology - General    8. History of Science and Medicine, Philosophy of Science    9. Homosexuality    10. Neurology & clinical neurophysiology    11. Psychology & Psychiatry / History    12. Psychology & Psychiatry / Pathological Psychology    13. Psychology-History    14. Psychology-Mental Illness    15. Sociology, Social Studies   

Editorial Review

Whether we love or hate Sigmund Freud, we all have to admit that he revolutionized the way we think about ourselves. Much of this revolution can be traced to Read more

Reviews (31)

Dreams = Wish Fulfillment
Freud's thesis, The Interpretation of Dreams, can be summed up as follows - all dreams are the mind's subconscious effort at wish fulfillment.For some dreams this is obvious - if you eat salty foods before going to bed, you may then dream that you are drinking water. This is a simple example of you wanting something and your subconscious trying to fulfill that wish.For most dreams, quite a bit more analysis is required to undercover what exactly you are wishing for, and Freud dedicates the bulk of his book to giving examples of such analysis.Freud argues that dreams are distorted because the upper layer of the mind is trying to censor what the lower layers of the mind are wishing for - usually out of embarrassment, guilt, etc. For example, I may be envious of my friend's success, so I will dream that my friend fails, but I am also embarrassed at wishing ill will on my friend, so the dream is distorted - perhaps the activity that he fails at will be obscure, twisted, strange, etc.Freud also makes the point that all dreams have their trigger in the preceding day's events, and once triggered the dream has access to all the experiences a person has gathered during his lifetime, as long as the experiences can be linked back somehow to the trigger event.Since the mind thinks in terms of symbols, the dreams must by analyzed by trying to understand how the various symbols can be translated into wishes, or the suppression of wishes. Thus the inner layers of the mind, or the Ego (prime desires), will generate a basic wish based on the experiences of the previous day.The Super Ego (refined sense of culture, guilt, morality, consciousness, etc.) then regulates the Ego's basic wish to fit within the mind's framework of right and wrong behavior.The greater the conflict between the Ego and Super Ego, the more distorted the dream becomes.All dreams are wish fulfillment, without exception.
an outstanding read that delivers esteemed perceptivity to t
My version of this book has a translation by Joyce Crick (ISBN 0192823523). She gives an insightful introduction to Freud that is well referenced. However, her style is absolutely monotonous and was far more difficult to complete than Freud's writing which was to follow. What Crick has done well with this version is that she has retained certain significant or vague tests in German (original) with their translations as parentheses, footnotes, or explantory notes. She has also added value to the version with an extensive package of explanatory notes after Freud's work. In addition, her translation of Freud's work "captures the lightness and pace of Freud's style, freed from the jargon and Victorian elaborations of James Strachey's famous version."
Classic contribution to psychoanalytic theory
Although Freud's ideas and psychoanalytic theory haven't fared that well in recent decades (Jung's views and reputation have actually done much better), there is no doubt that Freud's ideas were a major contribution to the understanding of human behavior and the mind and remain at least historically important today. Although perhaps superceded by the cognitive and neurobiological approaches that have developed in the last few decades, Freud was still a brilliant thinker who changed our undestanding of the mind for the better.
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Subjects:  1. Dreams - General    2. History    3. Movements - Psychoanalysis    4. Psychology    5. Psychology & Psychiatry / History    6. Psychology | Clinical    7. Sleep & dreams   

Reviews (2)

Too much for some too little for others
Robinson's book is one of the few attempts to put modern scientific psychology in the long-term historical context of Western Thinking. In this respect the book is very ambitious. While Robinson successfully traces back some of the basic tenets of modern psychology to its historic roots he fails to incorporate important other historical works on the long- and short-term history of psychology (i.e. Ernst Cassirer (18th Century), Kurt Danziger (19th century), Lawrence Smith (20th Century). While the first two parts are strong and convincing, the third part is surprisingly weak. Robinson refuses to contrast his historical interpretation with other interpretations that evolved over the past 100 years! In this context it is particularly odd that on page 259 Wilhelm Wundt is omitted from the list "of those who lay claim to a significant contribution to the manner in which the contemporay psychologist advances the discipline". All in all, however, the book is very worth reading. But it may contain little new to those who are familiar with the subject and may be overwhelming for those who are not familiar with the history of psychology.

Cream Of The Psychology Crop
The rare psychology tome that doesn't mistake psychology's history for history in general!The learned Robinson can stand back enough to place the nascent "science" of psychology within the field of human meta-thought that started at least amongst the Greek philosophers.The book provides a cogent survey of developments in theories that are psychological in nature. The author demonstrates how many of the big deals amongst today's academic psychological concepts were anticipated long ago but forgottten when, I assume, liberal arts education and philosophy became passe.In so doing, he is able to distill from the fractured, specialized field of the currentpsychology scene what is vital, relevant, and productive.By using a historical context, he allows us to see the real progress of ideas instead of being distracted by the yipping of scientism's mutts.I have read earlier editions of this book twice, and plan to continue re-reading it periodically. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. Psychology    3. Science / History   

Reviews (1)

Know the Person, Know the Psychology
Harvey Mindess has written one of the most important introductory books on psychological theory. Certainly other books cover more theories and/or cover them in greater depth. But Harvey's book examines the lives of each of the major theorists he considers, and demonstrates how those lives impacted their theories.Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. History Of Psychology    3. Philosophy    4. Psychologists    5. Psychology   

Reviews (3)

Interesting Reading..
for those interested in the study of memory and the history of the field.

Umm, I think there's a problem here
Unless I'm mistaken, the above review is for a different book altogether!If there's a review of THIS book out there, I'd like to read it ...

Informative, accessible, and highly recommended
Douwe Draaisma is a lecturer in the history of psychology at the University of Groningen. In Metaphors Of Memory: A History Of Ideas About The Mind he explores what memory is, how it is ephemeral, unreliable, and yet essential to everything a person does. Without memory we lose ability to perform simple physical tasks. Memory is elusive to define and from antiquity attempts to discuss or describe it have relied on metaphor. Draaisma provides the reader with a kind of guided tour of these metaphors throughout the ages and presents a compelling, scholarly history of ideas about the mind by exploring the ways these metaphors have been employed. Metaphors Of Memory: is fascinating, informative, accessible, and highly recommended to students of psychology and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in the nature of memory and its relationship to the human mind. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. History    3. Memory    4. Psychology    5. Reference    6. Memory--History    7. Psychology & Psychiatry / General   

Subjects:  1. (Burrhus Frederic),    2. 1904-    3. 1904-1990    4. Behaviorism (Psychology)    5. General    6. History    7. Medical - General    8. Movements - Behaviorism    9. Psychology    10. Skinner, B. F    11. Skinner, B. F.    12. Behavioural theory (Behaviourism)    13. Biography & Autobiography-Medical - General    14. Psychology & Psychiatry / General    15. Psychology / Movements / Behaviorism    16. Psychology-History