A Behavioral Scientist Notable Book of the Year A Guardian “Best Book about Ideas” of the Year No one likes to be bored. Two leading psychologists explain what causes boredom and how to listen to what it is telling you, so you can live a more engaged life. We avoid boredom at all costs. It makes us feel restless and agitated. Desperate for something to do, we play games on our phones, retie our shoes, or even count ceiling tiles. And if we escape it this time, eventually it will strike again. But what if we listened to boredom instead of banishing it? Psychologists James Danckert and John Eastwood contend that boredom isn’t bad for us. It’s just that we do a bad job of heeding its guidance. When we’re bored, our minds are telling us that whatever we are doing isn’t working—we’re failing to satisfy our basic psychological need to be engaged and effective. Too many of us respond poorly. We become prone to accidents, risky activities, loneliness, and ennui, and we waste ever more time on technological distractions. But, Danckert and Eastwood argue, we can let boredom have the opposite effect, motivating the change we need. The latest research suggests that an adaptive approach to boredom will help us avoid its troubling effects and, through its reminder to become aware and involved, might lead us to live fuller lives. Out of My Skull combines scientific findings with everyday observations to explain an experience we’d like to ignore, but from which we have a lot to learn. Boredom evolved to help us. It’s time we gave it a chance.

"This book defines in non-scientific language what stress and relaxation are, addresses factors related to our daily experiences with stress, identifies the negative effects of stress, and describes how to reduce stress and achieve relaxation. Readers will see how relaxation techniques are practiced around the world--and by people of all ages--and learn how "chilling out" can not only make you happier but may also help you live longer"--Publisher description.

Assertive outreach is a means of helping people with serious and persistent mental health difficulties who have not engaged with conventional mental health services. Reaching Out examines the application of psychological approaches in assertive outreach – a process which involves forming new relationships and offering hope to people who have been alienated from traditional methods. Reaching Out begins with a discussion of topics including: engagement the team approach assessments team case formulation managing stress and burnout for staff. The second half of the book focuses on the task of delivering psychological therapies and considers a range of models including psychodynamic therapy, family therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy and community approaches. Reaching Out: The Psychology of Assertive Outreach demonstrates that the relationship between staff and service users is essential to the process of recovery and personal growth. The approach will apply not only to assertive outreach teams, but also to clinical psychologists, counsellors and other mental health professionals who are interested in psychological approaches to outreach work.

A reader-friendly exploration of the science of emotion. After years of neglect by both mainstream biology and psychology, the study of emotions has emerged as a central topic of scientific inquiry in the vibrant new discipline of affective neuroscience. Elizabeth Johnston and Leah Olson trace how work in this rapidly expanding field speaks to fundamental questions about the nature of emotion: What is the function of emotions? What is the role of the body in emotions? What are "feelings,” and how do they relate to emotions? Why are emotions so difficult to control? Is there an emotional brain? The authors tackle these questions and more in this "tasting menu" of cutting-edge emotion research. They build their story around the path-breaking 19th century works of biologist Charles Darwin and psychologist and philosopher William James. James's 1884 article "What Is an Emotion?" continues to guide contemporary debate about minds, brains, and emotions, while Darwin's treatise on "The Expression of Emotions in Animals and Humans" squarely located the study of emotions as a critical concern in biology. Throughout their study, Johnston and Olson focus on the key scientists whose work has shaped the field, zeroing in on the most brilliant threads in the emerging tapestry of affective neuroscience. Beginning with early work on the brain substrates of emotion by such workers such as James Papez and Paul MacLean, who helped define an emotional brain, they then examine the role of emotion in higher brain functions such as cognition and decision-making. They then investigate the complex interrelations of emotion and pleasure, introducing along the way the work of major researchers such as Antonio Damasio and Joseph LeDoux. In doing so, they braid diverse strands of inquiry into a lucid and concise introduction to this burgeoning field, and begin to answer some of the most compelling questions in the field today. How does the science of "normal" emotion inform our understanding of emotional disorders? To what extent can we regulate our emotions? When can we trust our emotions and when might they lead us astray? How do emotions affect our memories, and vice versa? How can we best describe the relationship between emotion and cognition? Johnston and Olson lay out the most salient questions of contemporary affective neuroscience in this study, expertly situating them in their biological, psychological, and philosophical contexts. They offer a compelling vision of an increasingly exciting and ambitious field for mental health professionals and the interested lay audience, as well as for undergraduate and graduate students.

An introduction to "flow," a new field of behavioral science that offers life-fulfilling potential, explains its principles and shows how to introduce flow into all aspects of life, avoiding the interferences of disharmony.

Find out what makes you tick in this stylish book of 20 illustrated psychological tests based on key psychology methods.