'What brings you here?' is the standard question posed to patients at the outset of their therapeutic journey. In A Curious Calling, this question is posed to therapists themselves. Applicants to psychotherapy training programs commonly state that they wish 'to help people'—but this tells us very little. What are the unconscious factors underlying the decision to become a psychotherapist? Guilt, compassion, a sense of moral duty, a sense of power? Or a wish to be needed, or to enjoy vicariously the prospect of receiving aid and comfort? For each individual with a 'need to help' there exists a unique constellation of underlying motives and aims. Without exploring and facing up to these hidden sources of motivation, therapists run the risk of exploiting patients for their own needs. The only comprehensive text on this topic, Sussman's book presents a survey of motivations to practice psychotherapy, through an extensive review of the available literature and discussion of the results of a qualitative study of therapists conducted by the author.

This book presents a comprehensive survey of motivations to practice psychotherapy through the extensive review of the available literature and discussion of the result of a qualitative study of therapists conducted by the author."--BOOK JACKET.

What are the consequences of prolonged exposure to the mental andemotional sufferings of others? In what ways can the practice ofpsychotherapy impede a person's ability to form healthy, fulfillingpersonal relationships? Is it true that psychotherapists areunusually prone to mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse, sexualacting out, workaholism, and suicide? Is there something aboutpeople who are drawn to a life in psychotherapy that puts them athigher risk of developing certain behavioral disorders? Now in a candid and revealing look into the private andprofessional lives of psychotherapists, a group of notedpractitioners attempt to answer these and other hard questionsabout the women and men who pursue this most perilous ofcallings. Throughout the pages of this fascinating book, nearly thirtypsychotherapists--including psychologists, psychiatrists,psychoanalysts, and social workers--provide intimate, at timespainfully frank, accounts of their inner experiences and struggles.In a series of compelling first-person narratives, written in avariety of styles, they explore such topics as the therapist'spersonal development and unconscious motivations for becoming atherapist, the emotional impact of clinical work on thepsychotherapist, the stresses and strains that the practice ofpsychotherapy can exert on a marriage, parenting and psychotherapy,disillusionment and the physical and psychic isolation of clinicalwork, the struggles of therapists who suffer from characterologicalproblems of their own, and the extreme perils of dealing withsuicidal patients. They also delve into a number of importantprofessional, ethical, and legal hazards practitioners face in thisage of the medical "quick-fix." A Perilous Calling offers readers unparalleled insight into thepsychotherapist's deepest concerns and conflicts. It reveals theperils of practice and candidly explores how some psychotherapistshave learned to cope with them. In reading this book, professionalswill learn how to take better care of themselves both in theirprofessional and personal lives and will find new ways to transformthose perils into opportunities for growth and mastery. At the sametime, their patients, friends, and loved ones will gain a deeperunderstanding of these complex and uniquely caring individuals.

A scientific take on the still-central therapeutic concept of “the unconscious.” More than one hundred years after Freud began publishing some of his seminal theories, the concept of the unconscious still occupies a central position in many theoretical frameworks and clinical approaches. When trying to understand clients’ internal and interpersonal struggles it is almost inconceivable not to look for unconscious motivation, conflicts, and relational patterns. Clinicians also consider it a breakthrough to recognize how our own unconscious patterns have interacted with those of our clients. Although clinicians use concepts such as the unconscious and dissociation, in actuality many do not take into account the newly emerging neuropsychological attributes of nonconscious processes. As a result, assumptions and lack of clarity overtake information that can become central in our clinical work. This revolutionary book presents a new model of the unconscious, one that is continuing to emerge from the integration of neuropsychological research with clinical experience. Drawing from clinical observations of specific therapeutic cases, affect theory, research into cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychological findings, the book presents an expanded picture of nonconscious processes. The model moves from a focus on dissociated affects, behaviors, memories, and the fantasies that are unconsciously created, to viewing unconscious as giving expression to whole patterns of feeling, thinking and behaving, patterns that are so integrated and entrenched as to make them our personality traits. Topics covered include: the centrality of subcortical regions, automaticity, repetition, and biased memory systems; role of the amygdala and its sensitivity to fears in shaping and coloring unconscious self-systems; self-narratives; therapeutic enactments; therapeutic resistance; defensive systems and narcissism; therapeutic approaches designed to utilize some of the new understandings regarding unconscious processes and their interaction with higher level conscious ones embedded in the prefrontal cortex.

Here is a practical guide to doing psychotherapy which, unlike most other manuals that present an idealized view of the therapist-patient relationship, shows what the therapeutic encounter is really like. Using detailed excerpts from clinical protocols, and without omitting the inevitable mistakes that a therapist will make, Dr. Basch draws the reader into the therapeutic dialogue as a way of experiencing what actually happens in the course of treatment with cases of varying complexity.The author focuses on the treatment of the kind of patients who, though likely to make up the majority of a therapist's practice, are generally ignored in training guides--those who are not acutely disturbed, whose pathology is minimal, but whose personal relationships are usually troubled, unsatisfying, and frequently destructive. Dr. Basch's approach, developed over twenty years of practicing and teaching psychotherapy, is dynamic and analytic in that he considers the management of the transference relationship as basic to the treatment process. however, he avoids the rigidities often associated with the classical psychoanalytic position and does not hesitate to incorporate into his teaching methods techniques associated with other "schools" of therapy. Throughout, he stresses building on the patient's strengths rather than searching for pathology.This wise and useful book not only will prove invaluable to all beginning psychotherapists--whether their background is one of psychiatry, psychology, or social work--but will also serve as an ideal refresher for those more experienced in clinical work.

Author's note -- Preface -- Dreaming, not doing -- The upside of dreaming -- Fooling our minds -- The wise pursuit of our dreams -- Engaging our nonconscious minds -- The magic of WOOP -- WOOP your life -- Your friend for life -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Index

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of The Drunkard’s Walk, a startling, eye-opening examination of how the unconscious mind shapes our experience of the world. “Mlodinow plunges into the realm of the unconscious mind accompanied by the latest scientific research ... [with] plenty of his trademark humor.” —Los Angeles Times Over the past two decades of neurological research, it has become increasingly clear that the way we experience the world—our perception, behavior, memory, and social judgment—is largely driven by the mind's subliminal processes and not by the conscious ones, as we have long believed. In Subliminal, Leonard Mlodinow employs his signature concise, accessible explanations of the most obscure scientific subjects to unravel the complexities of the subliminal mind. In the process he shows the many ways it influences how we misperceive our relationships with family, friends, and business associates; how we misunderstand the reasons for our investment decisions; and how we misremember important events—along the way, changing our view of ourselves and the world around us.

Written by leading researchers in educational and social psychology, learning science, and neuroscience, this edited volume is suitable for a wide-academic readership. It gives definitions of key terms related to motivation and learning alongside developed explanations of significant findings in the field. It also presents cohesive descriptions concerning how motivation relates to learning, and produces a novel and insightful combination of issues and findings from studies of motivation and/or learning across the authors' collective range of scientific fields. The authors provide a variety of perspectives on motivational constructs and their measurement, which can be used by multiple and distinct scientific communities, both basic and applied.

When time goes backwards, granting six-year-old Otto his wish that his attention-stealing baby sister was never born, it keeps going backwards, and Otto finds himself getting younger and younger.