Large Group Awareness Training: An Historical Context Groups associated with the human potential movement have been a controversial feature of American life during the last three decades. In the 1950's and 1960's, the movement was dominated by various types of small groups (SGs), which included sensitivity training groups, encounter groups, as well as several others (see Lieberman, Yalom, & Miles, 1973). Some people viewed SGs as an effective means for attaining personal and organizational growth, and Carl Rogers, one of the founders of this movement, labeled small groups as . . the most rapidly spreading social invention of the century, and probably the most potent" (Rogers, 1970). In contrast, others attacked SGs as "the most extreme exhibition thus far of man's talent for reducing, distorting, evading, and vulgarizing his own reality" (Koch, 1973, p. 639). Nevertheless, SGs generally became an accepted tool for personal development and were incorporated into university curricula and mana gerial training programs. During the 1970's the prevalence and appeal of SGs declined (cf. Back, 1978), and at about the same time, large group awareness training programs (LGATs) appeared. ' LGATs are offered to the general public by profit-making or ganizations and examine philosophical, psychological and ethical issues concern ing personal effectiveness, decision-making, personal responsibility and commit ment After addressing these topics, participants are encouraged to apply their recently attained insights to their lives.

Large Group Awareness Training: An Historical Context Groups associated with the human potential movement have been a controversial feature of American life during the last three decades. In the 1950's and 1960's, the movement was dominated by various types of small groups (SGs), which included sensitivity training groups, encounter groups, as well as several others (see Lieberman, Yalom, & Miles, 1973). Some people viewed SGs as an effective means for attaining personal and organizational growth, and Carl Rogers, one of the founders of this movement, labeled small groups as . . the most rapidly spreading social invention of the century, and probably the most potent" (Rogers, 1970). In contrast, others attacked SGs as "the most extreme exhibition thus far of man's talent for reducing, distorting, evading, and vulgarizing his own reality" (Koch, 1973, p. 639). Nevertheless, SGs generally became an accepted tool for personal development and were incorporated into university curricula and mana gerial training programs. During the 1970's the prevalence and appeal of SGs declined (cf. Back, 1978), and at about the same time, large group awareness training programs (LGATs) appeared. ' LGATs are offered to the general public by profit-making or ganizations and examine philosophical, psychological and ethical issues concern ing personal effectiveness, decision-making, personal responsibility and commit ment After addressing these topics, participants are encouraged to apply their recently attained insights to their lives.

With its unique self-improvement program and ever-growing number of satisfied graduates, Lifespring is the largest and most successful human potential movement in America today. And now it can be available to everyone!

Self-awareness is the bedrock of emotional intelligence that enables you to see your talents, shortcomings, and potential. But you won't be able to achieve true self-awareness with the usual quarterly feedback and self-reflection alone. This book will teach you how to understand your thoughts and emotions, how to persuade your colleagues to share what they really think of you, and why self-awareness will spark more productive and rewarding relationships with your employees and bosses. This volume includes the work of: Daniel Goleman Robert Steven Kaplan Susan David HOW TO BE HUMAN AT WORK. The HBR Emotional Intelligence Series features smart, essential reading on the human side of professional life from the pages of Harvard Business Review. Each book in the series offers proven research showing how our emotions impact our work lives, practical advice for managing difficult people and situations, and inspiring essays on what it means to tend to our emotional well-being at work. Uplifting and practical, these books describe the social skills that are critical for ambitious professionals to master.

Exploring Masculinity, Sexuality, and Culture in Gestalt Therapy is an invitation to explore social and political issues within the psychotherapeutic framework. It describes and analyses the author’s journey of becoming a gestalt therapist in Poland and England through analyses of masculinity, sexuality, relationality, and culture. This book addresses the collective gestalts exploring the psychotherapeutic taboos of sexual transference, same-sex attraction, use or lack of touch, gender equality, and inter-cultural conflicts. Each chapter is an exploration of prejudices embedded in our cultures and therapeutic work, and provides a theoretical challenge to current practices within gestalt therapy and beyond. The author advocates for a more collective understanding of embodied sensations emerging in the therapeutic context as collective gestalts. Through the use of autoethnographic research methodology, this book shows how personal embodied experiences are intertwined with the social, political, and material context. It is essential reading for gestalt therapists, as well as readers interested in gestalt approaches.

This book, first published in 1996, presents a collection of papers by Gordon Foxall charting the development of the Behavioural Perspective Model (BPM) which he devised in the early 1980s and subsequently developed. The model offers a unique and original behaviour-based theory of consumer choice. In seeking to answer the question ‘where does consumer choice take place?’ by drawing upon behavioural psychology, Foxall presents an exciting challenge to previous theories whose emphasis has been on the internal working of the consumer’s mind in reaching rational decisions and choices. Bringing alive the important subject of economic consumption, this seminal volume will be of great interest to students and researchers in consumer research.

Self Change: Social Psychological and Clinical Perspectives examines cognitive and motivational factors affecting the intention to seek change, processes involved in the initiation and maintenance of change, the role of social networks as facilitators or inhibitors of change, and measurement and assessment of personal change. At any given moment millions of people are contemplating changing various aspects of themselves; a general theory on volitional change is sorely needed. This book, which is of interest to social psychologists, clinical psychologists and psychotherapists, to researchers and practitioners, is a significant contribution to a more thorough understanding of self change.

Interpretive consumer research usually proceeds with a minimum of structure and preconceptions. This book presents a more structured approach than is usual, showing how a simple framework that embodies the rewards and costs associated with consumer choice can be used to interpret a wide range of consumer behaviours from everyday purchasing and saving, innovative choice, imitation, ‘green’ consumer behavior, to compulsive behaviors such as addictions (to shopping, to gambling, to alcohol and other drugs, etc). Foxall takes a qualitative approach to interpreting behavior, focusing on the epistemological problems that arise in such research and emphasizing the emotional as well as cognitive aspects of consumption. The author argues that consumer behaviour can be understood with the aid of a very simple model that proposes how the consequences of consumption impact consumers’ subsequent choices. The objective is to show that a basic model can be used to interpret consumer behaviour in general, not in isolation from the marketing influences that shape it, but as a course of human choice that is dynamically linked with managerial concerns.

Practical, effective, evidence-based reading interventions that change students' lives Essentials of Understanding and Assessing Reading Difficulties is a practical, accessible, in-depth guide to reading assessment and intervention. It provides a detailed discussion of the nature and causes of reading difficulties, which will help develop the knowledge and confidence needed to accurately assess why a student is struggling. Readers will learn a framework for organizing testing results from current assessment batteries such as the WJ-IV, KTEA-3, and CTOPP-2. Case studies illustrate each of the concepts covered. A thorough discussion is provided on the assessment of phonics skills, phonological awareness, word recognition, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Formatted for easy reading as well as quick reference, the text includes bullet points, icons, callout boxes, and other design elements to call attention to important information. Although a substantial amount of research has shown that most reading difficulties can be prevented or corrected, standard reading remediation efforts have proven largely ineffective. School psychologists are routinely called upon to evaluate students with reading difficulties and to make recommendations to address such difficulties. This book provides an overview of the best assessment and intervention techniques, backed by the most current research findings. Bridge the gap between research and practice Accurately assess the reason(s) why a student struggles in reading Improve reading skills using the most highly effective evidence-based techniques Reading may well be the most important thing students are taught during their school careers. It is a skill they will use every day of their lives; one that will dictate, in part, later life success. Struggling students need help now, and Essentials of Understanding and Assessing Reading Difficulties shows how to get these students on track.