“A fascinating mixture of traditional psychoanalytic thinking with clinical strategies that even today would be considered creative and controversial, The Fifty-Minute Hour has never failed to capture the imagination. . . . No student’s education in psychotherapy is complete without reading this book. Decades after its original publication, it still stands as a pioneering landmark in the history of psychotherapy.”-John Suler

"Slacktivism" is a term that has been coined to cynically describe the token efforts that people devote to some cause, without long-term or meaningful impact. We wear colored wristbands, pins, or ribbons proclaiming support for a particular organization. We might post something on social network sites or send messages to friends about causes dear to our hearts. We might even volunteer our time to work on behalf of marginalized, oppressed, or neglected groups—or donate money to a charity. Yet the key feature of significant social action is follow through—continuing efforts over a period of time so as to build meaningful relationships, provide adequate support, and conduct evaluations to measure results and make needed adjustments that make programs even more responsive. This book is intended as an inspiration for practicing psychotherapists and counselors, as well as students, to become actively involved in a meaningful effort. The authors have searched far and wide to identify practitioners representing different disciplines, helping professions, geographic regions, and social action projects, all of whom have been involved in social justice efforts for some time, whether in their own communities or in far-flung regions of the world. Each of them has an amazing story to tell that reveals the challenges they’ve faced, the incredible satisfactions they’ve experienced, and what lessons they’ve learned along the way. Each story represents a gem of wisdom, revealing both questions of faith, as well as of sustained action. The authors have been encouraged to dig deeply in order to talk about the honest realities of their work. After reading their stories, you will be ready to pick a cause that speaks to you and begin your own work.

It ranks right up there with public speaking. Nearly all of us fear it. And yet it's critical to our success. Asking for money. It makes even the stout-hearted quiver. But now comes a book, Asking: A 59-Minute Guide to Everything Board Members, Staff and Volunteers Must Know to Secure the Gift. And short of a medical elixir, it's the next best thing for emboldening you, your board members and volunteers to ask with skill, finesse -- and powerful results. Jerold Panas, who as a staff person, board member and volunteer has secured gifts ranging from $50 to $50 million, understands the art of asking perhaps better than anyone in America. He has harnessed all of his knowledge and experience and produced what many are already calling a landmark book. What Asking convincingly shows -- and one reason staff will applaud the book and board members will devour it -- is that it doesn't take stellar communication skills to be an effective asker. Nearly everyone, regardless of their persuasive ability, can become an effective fundraiser if they follow Jerold Panas' step-by-step guidelines.

It's an unquestioned truth of modern life: we are starved for time. We tell ourselves we'd like to read more, get to the gym regularly, try new hobbies, and accomplish all kinds of goals. But then we give up because there just aren't enough hours to do it all. Or if we don't make excuses, we make sacrifices- taking time out from other things in order to fit it all in. There has to be a better way...and Laura Vanderkam has found one. After interviewing dozens of successful, happy people, she realized that they allocate their time differently than most of us. Instead of letting the daily grind crowd out the important stuff, they start by making sure there's time for the important stuff. When plans go wrong and they run out of time, only their lesser priorities suffer. Vanderkam shows that with a little examination and prioritizing, you'll find it is possible to sleep eight hours a night, exercise five days a week, take piano lessons, and write a novel without giving up quality time for work, family, and other things that really matter.

‘I like to hear his name, especially when he says it. His voice is rich and dark, like those jams they sell in tiny pots at twice the price of normal jars, and they call “preserves”, to justify the cost. I chose him for his name, in fact – half Mayfair hairdresser and half Vatican incumbent.’ So speaks Nial, a woman with a man’s name, and confused about her gender – uncertain about most things, save her obsession with John-Paul. She shares this obsession with modest Mary and conscientious Bryan. All three lead secret lives. Mary, a conventional housewife with a dream-home in the suburbs, is inflicting burns on her genitals and stockpiling vibrators; Bryan, a mother-harried city clerk, updates his Disaster Scrapbook and takes his snake to bed, seeking refuge from Chaology and the horrors of the quantum revolution; Nial swaps sex for blood-drenched dreams of an ex-Naxi butcher in the High Street. All seek help and healing from the mysterious John-Paul, but is he sage and saviour, or untrained unlicensed con-man? In her powerful and hilarious new novel, Wendy Perriam mixes the blackest of black comedy with a serious examination of madness in its many forms – the religious excesses of miracles and visions; the crazy chaos of modern phsyics; and especially the distortions of the fifty-minute hour itself; those wild or weeping sessions on the analyst’s couch. With her usual wit and gusto, she explores the murky world of the psychologically disturbed – a world as comically bizarre as it is genuinely tragic. ‘A screamingly funny book which almost blows the mind and will outrage the prudish.’ Sunday Telegraph

Vaughan, Susan C., M.D. Many therapists and their patients find that the traditional talking therapy still offers the best hope for long-term relief from depression and other psychological ailments. This is especially true for people who worry about the side effects of Prozac and other similar drugs. Now Dr. Susan Vaughan offers compelling evidence, based on new scientific research, that the process of talking with a trained therapist actually alters the way the brain's neurons are connected and effects permanent, positive changes in how we interact with the world. Dr. Vaughan interweaves stories from therapy sessions with cutting-edge research results. She shows how interpreting dreams, free-associating, and attention to childhood experiences have an impact on the structure of our brain. Anyone who, for one reason or another, questions the value of long-term drug therapy will welcome the alternative approach presented here.