I'm Blogging FOR Mental Health: Bibliotherapy and Beyond May 2011

There's nothing like a good book to learn what's new in psychology and how to apply it towards improving your life.

The quality and readability of psychology books intended for a general audience has vastly improved over recent years.  These books provide a practical but comprehensive summary of recent advances in the field without having to pore over basic research findings or dense journal articles.  Many of these titles are also available as audio books, which can be downloaded to your iPod or MP3 disks you can pop into your car’s audio system so you can multitask and learn while you drive.   I particularly enjoy listening while I garden, cook or do household chores.  Here are some of my recent favorites:

Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Gail Steketee PhD and Randy Frost PhD is a compassionate discussion of hoarding and recent advances in treatment of this common disorder.  Warning, while most of the book is not gratuitously sensationalistic a few of the case examples will curl your toes and make you want to go take a long hot shower and scrub yourself clean.

The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout, PhD: The word chilling features prominently in many of the reviews written about this book, which presents a frank discussion of everyday sociopathy and its shocking impact on us non-sociopaths who have to share their world.

On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins and Sandra Blakeslee PhD: Jeff Hawkins is not a psychologist but he is the architect of the PalmPilot and the Treo.  Along with Dr. Blakeslee, he presents a fascinating framework integrating recent findings in cognitive neuroscience and computer design to revolutionize our understanding of intelligence and how it functions.

The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientists Quest for What Makes Us Human by V.S. Ramachandran MD:  You can never go wrong with Dr. Ramachandran.  His skill at making complex concepts interesting and approachable is matchless. 

Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation by Daniel J. Siegel MD describes an innovative system of psychotherapy that integrates research in neuroanatomy, cognitive neuroscience, mindfulness practice, developmental psychology and neuroplasticity to treat psychiatric disorders like depression, anxiety and PTSD.

Sleights of Mind:  What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about Our Everyday Deceptions by Stephen l. Macknik, PhD, Susana Martinez-Conde, PhD and Sandra Blakeslee, PhD.: Dr. Blakeslee is highly skilled at helping psychologists with great ideas write books that are so interesting you don’t want to put them down.  Drs. Macknick and Martinez-Conde are a married couple who explore how neural adaptation, afterimages, occlusion, perspective, saccades, inattentional blindness and other neuropsychological processes contribute to our delight in magic tricks.  We also enjoy a birds eye view of their odyssey from cognitive neuroscientists to magicians auditioning at the famed Magic Castle.  This is a rare book that combines hard science, provocative inquiry, a little suspense and excellent writing in a way that is just plain fun!  How often can you say that about nonfiction?

I hope some of these suggestions pique your interest.  Stay tuned for more in my next blog post and until then, happy reading!

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Bibliotherapy and Beyond 06/2008: Memoirs

The summer reading season is upon us!  How delightful it is to lounge on a warm Sunday afternoon sipping a cold glass of iced tea while savoring a good book.  I always try to save my best reads for the summer because somehow summer reading is the best of all.  Most of us are so chronically busy these days that relaxing with a good book on Sunday afternoon may seem like too much of a frivolous luxury to indulge in.  After all, there are so many other more constructive things we should be doing, right?  Wrong!  First of all, we must practice what we preach.  If we preach balance to our clients, we must practice balance ourselves.  So a little indulgence becomes self-care, which is professionally responsible.  Second, if you read the books I recommend in this column you get to enjoy yourself, relax AND get some work done.  That’s a win-win all around.

This month, I am focusing on memoirs.  Memoirs are huge assets in our work as psychotherapists.  They can be as engrossing as novels but they have much more credibility.  After all, what better way to learn than to hear about it from someone who has actually been there and prevailed in a way that is interesting enough to publish?  Its far more efficient and enjoyable than actually having to go through the experiences ourselves!  There are so many great memoirs out there so it was hard to winnow down my list but upon reflection, these are my top three:

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (1969)

Maya Angelou is an amazing person and she seems even more amazing after you read her memoir.  Ms. Angelou is an African American poet who has inspired many women, including Oprah, to rise above oppression.  Considering all she’s been through, we would completely understand it if she spent the rest of her life curled up in the corner in a fetal position in a Seroquel haze instead of writing prize winning poetry.  The book is beautifully written.  Although some of her experiences are truly horrifying, the lovely prose keeps you reading.  She writes about victimization and helplessness with journalistic precision paired with compassion and hard-earned wisdom.  Reading this book is an enjoyable, engrossing and inspiring experience.

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Wells (2005)

This New York Times bestseller is one of the starkest dysfunctional family dramas I’ve ever read (and I’ve read a LOT of them).  Both of the author’s parents drag their four kids through the horrors of their mental illnesses. Depending on their parents’ folie de jour the children alternate between feeling neglected or abused and believing they are the luckiest, most special, cherished children on earth.   Their father is a master spinner of tales paired with misguided genius and unrequited dreams.  He is never formally diagnosed but symptoms of narcissism, antisocial personality, paranoid delusions, psychosis, bipolar disorder and alcoholism are evident.  Their mother is depressed, dependent, histrionic and ineffectual (borderline comes to mind).  One sister ends up schizophrenic but the other three children demonstrate a resilience that is remarkable to behold.  This book demonstrates that all children from dysfunctional households do not have to end up dysfunctional themselves.  The author’s compassionate but unflinching consideration of her complex, chaotic and heartbreaking childhood raises fascinating questions about the varying roles of adversity, resilience, love and redemption in personality development.          

Divided Minds by Pamela Spiro Wagner and Carolyn S. Spiro, M.D. (2005)

What is it really like to be schizophrenic?  How can we even begin to imagine the chaos in the mind of someone who is psychotic?  If you want to know, read this book.  Divided Minds chronicles the lives of a pair of identical twins raised in an upper middle class family in Connecticut from their earliest memories (in the 1950’s) to the present.  One twin, Pam has chronic paranoid schizophrenia and the other twin, Carolyn, is a psychiatrist (I know, I know, hold the jokes please!).  The twins, who are now in their 50s, wrote the book together, primarily during the psychotic twin’s more lucid (aka well-medicated) moments.  For the researchers among us, please note that this pair of twins represents one of the most fascinating natural experiments in the etiology of schizophrenia to date. This illuminating and compellingly readable book will forever change your understanding of psychosis.  

Until next time…Happy Reading! 

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Bibliotherapy and Beyond 06/2009: Healthy Relationships

At the close of our Spring Workshop, we circulated a survey asking members opinions about topics of interest for future workshops.  The most popular choice by a wide margin was marital therapy.  In the interest of meeting the needs of the membership combined with the fact that June is the most popular month for weddings, the topic for this Bibliotherapy and Beyond article is marital therapy.

The two “grand masters” of marital therapy are Harville Hendrix, PhD and John Gottman, PhD.  Both have published many books on why we choose the partners we do, how to have good long lasting relationships and how to get through relationship rough spots and emerge with greater intimacy.  We are very excited that Dr. Hendrix will be the speaker for our Spring 2010 BCPA Workshop!  Dr. Hendrix’ 2 most popular books are “Getting the Love You Want” and “Keeping the Love You Find.”  His books discuss the psychological and emotional reasons why we fall in love with the people we do and how this knowledge can help us heal our emotional wounds and build successful intimate relationships.  His books are insightful and thought provoking.   Dr. Gottman’s approach to successful relationships is more cognitive-behavioral.  His work focuses on a research informed approach to successful marriage.  His book “Why Marriages Succeed or Fail” was one of the first books ever recommended to me about marital therapy.  It is still one of my favorites.  In this book, he describes the “Four Horseman of the Marital Apocalypse” which defines the negative cascade that leads to the collapse of a relationship.  His more recent book, “7 Principles For Making Marriage Work”, provides clear cut guidelines for enhancing problem solving and communication.

Dr. Pat Love’s books provide a different “angle” on relationships.  Her specialty is the neurochemical basis of attraction and how it affects relationship success.  Two of her best books are “Hot Monogamy” and “The Truth About Love: The Highs, The Lows and How You Can Make it Last Forever.”  Her books are interesting, practical and informative and yes, her last name really is “Love!”   There are many authors who discuss marriage and relationships from an attachment perspective.  Of these, my current favorite is Dr. Sue Johnson.  Her recent book, “Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations For a Lifetime of Love”, is a highly readable discussion of  the neurobiology of attachment and how our early attachment experiences influence our romantic relationships.  I just finished a fascinating book by Bonnie Weil, Ph.D. called “Financial Infidelity: Seven Steps to Conquering the #1 Relationship Wrecker.”  In this book, which was just published in March 2009, Dr. Weil uses attachment theory as a basis for understanding financial conflict in couples.  She outlines many practical strategies for managing financial disagreements and how the trust, compassion and cooperation that comes with successful money management can be the foundation for a lasting, satisfying marriage.

            I tried to find some memoirs about marriage with little success.  The best was written by Diane Rehm (of National Public Radio) and her husband John Rehm.  Their book, “On Commitment” is a very frank and open dialogue about their struggle to create a lasting supportive marriage.  I applaud them both for the unflinching honesty and willingness to share their journey with the hope of helping others navigate this treacherous territory that characterizes this wise little book.  I actually keep a copy of this in my waiting room! 

I think novels and movies give us some of the best (and most pleasurable) opportunities to gain an in depth understanding of the vicissitudes of marriage.  Unfortunately, there really aren’t too many movies that provide a meaningful window into the intimate realm of marriage.  Some of my top pics are “The Four Seasons”, “Jerry McQuire”, “Shadowlands”, and “The Bridges of Madison County.”  “I Capture the Castle” is excellent in both the book and movie versions.   Sue Miller is my favorite novelist for an insightful exploration of the emotional landscape of married life.  Her most recent book, “The Senator’s Wife” was a wonderful read.  In my opinion, two of her older books, “The World Below” and “Family Pictures” are her best.  A few recent books I’ve particularly enjoyed, as have the clients I’ve suggested them to, are: “The Time Traveler’s Wife”, by Audrey Niffenegger (which is soon to be released as a major motion picture… I can’t wait!) and “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter” by Kim Edwards.  Put them both on your summer reading list if you have the time, they are worth it!

Until next time, happy reading!

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Bibliotherapy and Beyond 6/2010: So Much to Read and So Little Time

So much to read, so little time!  We have paperbacks, hardbacks, ebooks, audiobooks, books on CD or MP3, books for  iPod,  iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Nook and the Sony ereader, magazines, newspapers, as well as emails, blogs and all the other tantalizing material on the internet.   And what about professional reading, journals, newsletters, listserve entries and pamphlets? At any given time, I find myself “reading” several magazines or journals, my book club book, a professional book, an escapist utopian science fiction novel, an audiobook on MP3 in my car and an audiobook on my iPhone.   One or more of these books is usually on my Kindle, which, in my opinion, is the best thing to happen to reading in centuries.  I can put my Kindle down on my nightstand and resume from where I left off on my iPhone while waiting at a restaurant and then pick right back up on my computer at the office.  When I want to read in bed before falling asleep, I grab the Kindle from my nightstand and it knows right where I left off on my computer before leaving the office.  What a miracle of technology!  And I can control the font size to accommodate my less-than-perfect vision.  Changing pages just requires the flick of a finger and the Kindle is lighter than most hardbacks and easier to manage nimbly than most paperbacks.  Apparently it can even read the book to you with its text to speech feature, although I haven’t found any need to experiment with that yet.  An author who is a Facebook friend even suggested putting the Kindle in a zip lock bag to read in the bathtub (and yes, it works great!).  Many self-help books, textbooks and professional books are now available for the Kindle and in other ereader formats, as are some journals, magazines and newspapers.  Another helpful feature with the Kindle is the ability to download the first chapter of a book before actually purchasing it.  I’ve spared myself quite a few duds taking advantage of this feature.  This new technology can help even the busiest among us grab precious snippets of blissful reading when presented with a little spare time, no matter what the location or circumstances. 

Recently, I find particular delight in audio books.  I had eye surgery several years ago and I was unable to spend more than a few minutes reading ordinary written text for months.  For me, reading is as necessary to life as eating so this presented a formidable challenge. I decided I would rise to this challenge by exploring the world of audiobooks and I have been a fan ever since.   I am a member of Audible, an online audiobook club recently purchased by Amazon.  For a basic monthly membership fee of $14.95, I can choose one audiobook each month.  I used to get 2 books for $22.95 but I got backlogged so I dropped down to the basic membership and I just buy extras as I need them.  The quality of audiobooks has dramatically improved in recent years, with professional readers who have delightful accents, lovely voices and excellent diction.  Many audiobooks have unique actors or separate voices for different characters which creates dramatic flair and really enhances the timeless pleasure associated with having someone read to you.

FYI, I have no vested interest in Audible, Kindle or Apple.  I just think they offer wonderful products and services to those who love (or have) to read.  I’ve done a lot of research on these resources, which you can benefit from without having to reinvent the wheel on this issue unless you choose to do so.

I’ve recently listened to several excellent audiobooks, but one in particular was a real stand-out.  For my book club last month, we read a memoir, called “The Kids Are All Right” by Diana Welch, Liz Welch, Amanda Welch and Dan Welch.  These four siblings experienced the death of both parents before they were grown.  At the time of their mother’s death they ranged in age from 8 to 19 years old.  Their parents had not made plans for this eventuality so the children found themselves split up among different families with limited contact with one another and minimal practical or emotional support.  They reconnected as young adults and started sharing memories of their parents and childhood experiences.  To their surprise (but hopefully not ours), they discovered their memories of the same events were wildly different.  So they decided to write about their shared past in a way that would candidly reflect their diverse recollections.  The book recounts the time from their father’s death in a car accident, through their mother’s illness and death from cancer 3.5 years later and the time they were separated from one another.  It’s a raw, honest, poignant account that will touch you deeply.  The siblings abiding love for one another and triumph over adversity is truly inspiring.  I was privileged to have Liz Welch “attend” my May book club meeting via Skype.  I put my laptop on a stand at the head of my dining room table and dialed her up (by prior arrangement, of course).  She was articulate, open, thoughtful, frank and funny.  She had marvelous insight, much of which she admitted had come from a wonderful relationship with an excellent therapist (yay us!).   The discussion that night was one of the best we’ve ever had.  This is no small statement considering my book club has been around for over 20 years and this was not our first meeting with an author in attendance.  I highly recommend this book for fellow psychologists since the opportunity to understand real life events from four separate, insightful, articulate members of the same family is a rare opportunity.  Take advantage of it, you will be glad you did.

Until next time, grab your ebook, audiobook, paperback or hardcover whenever you can, enjoy the summer, and HAPPY READING!    

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