From faculty and associates of the Stone Center's Jean Baker Miller Training Institute, this practice-oriented casebook shows how relational-cultural theory (RCT) translates into therapeutic action. Richly textured chapters-all written especially for this volume-explain key concepts of RCT and demonstrate their application with diverse individuals, couples, families, and groups, as well as in institutional settings. Emphasizing that relationship is the work of therapy, case narratives illuminate both the therapist and client factors that promote or interfere with movement toward connection. Highlighted are the ways in which cultural contexts profoundly influence relationships; how growthful connection inevitably includes conflict; and how experienced therapists work on a moment-by-moment basis to engage with and counteract personal and cultural forces of disconnection.

From faculty and associates of the Stone Center's Jean Baker Miller Training Institute, this practice-oriented casebook shows how relational-cultural theory (RCT) translates into therapeutic action. Richly textured chapters-all written especially for this volume-explain key concepts of RCT and demonstrate their application with diverse individuals, couples, families, and groups, as well as in institutional settings. Emphasizing that relationship is the work of therapy, case narratives illuminate both the therapist and client factors that promote or interfere with movement toward connection. Highlighted are the ways in which cultural contexts profoundly influence relationships; how growthful connection inevitably includes conflict; and how experienced therapists work on a moment-by-moment basis to engage with and counteract personal and cultural forces of disconnection.

A “wonderfully readable” study of the importance of human connection and how we form intimate relationships, from two pioneering psychiatrists (Psychiatric Times) In The Healing Connection, best-selling author Jean Baker Miller, M.D., and Irene Stiver, Ph.D., argue that relationships are the integral source of psychological health. In so doing they offer a new understanding of human development that points a way to change in all of our institutions—work, community, school, and family—and is sure to transform lives.

How growing in self-awareness deepens relationships From their years of counseling individuals, couples, and families, George Faller and Heather Wright show how to repair conflict, move from disconnection to reconnection, and discover God's movement in our life and relationships. They call their model NAME IT (Notice, Acknowledge, Merge, Embrace, Integrate, and Thank). To heal a relationship, first we connect with our own hearts and stories, then understand the other person's position, and finally merge those two truths (or versions of what is happening), giving birth to a new connection. By telling their own stories and those of clients they have cared for, Faller and Wright encourage those who feel disconnected not to despair in the midst of their trials but to find faith and a community to help them survive and grow. They show readers that rather than letting painful relationships leave them feeling alone and despairing, they can find hope in a deepened self-awareness that leads to richer relationships and spiritual vitality. Whether readers hope to experience the magical glow of romance, the joy of parenting, the satisfaction of community life, or a loving view of God, the NAME IT model will help them transform all their relationships.

Dr. John E. Sarno's groundbreaking research on TMS (Tension Myoneural Syndrome) reveals how stress and other psychological factors can cause back pain-and how you can be pain free without drugs, exercise, or surgery. Dr. Sarno's program has helped thousands of patients find relief from chronic back conditions. In this New York Times bestseller, Dr. Sarno teaches you how to identify stress and other psychological factors that cause back pain and demonstrates how to heal yourself--without drugs, surgery or exercise. Find out: Why self-motivated and successful people are prone to Tension Myoneural Syndrome (TMS) How anxiety and repressed anger trigger muscle spasms How people condition themselves to accept back pain as inevitable With case histories and the results of in-depth mind-body research, Dr. Sarno reveals how you can recognize the emotional roots of your TMS and sever the connections between mental and physical pain...and start recovering from back pain today.

A Healing Relationship is about a relationally focused psychotherapy, how the author works, and why. The first couple of chapters provide a brief orientation to relationally focused aspects of an integrative psychotherapy. The heart of the book are the transaction-by-transaction examples of what actually occurred in the psychotherapeutic dialogue. It is composed of three verbatim transcripts along with annotations about what the author was thinking and feeling when he engaged in psychotherapy with each client. Many of the annotated comments as well as the actual therapeutic dialogue will describe some elements of the process of relationally focused psychotherapy and the reasoning behind his therapeutic comments, silences, and challenge. This book is intended to elicit a dialogue between the reader and the psychotherapist / author and is written as though a personal letter. Psychotherapy is such an interpersonal encounter - an intimate meeting of two souls. No two psychotherapists will ever do the same therapy, even with the same client, even if they use the same theory and methods. It is important to appreciate how each think about theories, the concepts that underlie the methods chosen, how each assess the therapeutic setting, and express personal temperament. Richard G. Erskine has taken an important step in communication about the practice of psychotherapy. Not only with this excellent book but also with video footage of the three therapy sessions, which will be made accessible to purchasers of the book. The overarching aim is to stimulate important conversations between colleagues; to both agree and disagree, to influence each other, to grow professionally, and to share knowledge.

Transform Your Relationships by Healing the Wounds, Blockages, and Attachments That Drive Family Members Apart In this brilliant book, Keith Sherwood and Sabine Wittmann show you how to improve your relationships and achieve powerful healing at the deepest levels of consciousness. Energy Healing for Relationships helps you find a compatible partner (or strengthen your connection to your existing partner), heal family dynamics, and overcome parenting challenges. Tips and techniques for working with meditation, energy, positive thinking, chakras, mudras, and visualization will move you forward on your journey with your family and friends while also helping you ensure that the children in your life grow up with all the love and self-confidence they need. Within these pages, you will discover more than one hundred accessible exercises for building skills like centering your awareness in your non-physical field and increasing your empathy for yourself and your loved ones. You will also explore powerful approaches to recognizing and releasing attachments that can interfere with communication while improving your soul vibration and sense of internal balance. This book is a comprehensive guide to getting the most out of your relationships for a life filled with emotional nourishment and spiritual well-being.

The book we need NOW to avoid a social recession, Murthy’s prescient message is about the importance of human connection, the hidden impact of loneliness on our health, and the social power of community. Humans are social creatures: In this simple and obvious fact lies both the problem and the solution to the current crisis of loneliness. In his groundbreaking book, the 19th surgeon general of the United States Dr. Vivek Murthy makes a case for loneliness as a public health concern: a root cause and contributor to many of the epidemics sweeping the world today from alcohol and drug addiction to violence to depression and anxiety. Loneliness, he argues, is affecting not only our health, but also how our children experience school, how we perform in the workplace, and the sense of division and polarization in our society. But, at the center of our loneliness is our innate desire to connect. We have evolved to participate in community, to forge lasting bonds with others, to help one another, and to share life experiences. We are, simply, better together. The lessons in Together have immediate relevance and application. These four key strategies will help us not only to weather this crisis, but also to heal our social world far into the future. Spend time each day with those you love. Devote at least 15 minutes each day to connecting with those you most care about. Focus on each other. Forget about multitasking and give the other person the gift of your full attention, making eye contact, if possible, and genuinely listening. Embrace solitude. The first step toward building stronger connections with others is to build a stronger connection with oneself. Meditation, prayer, art, music, and time spent outdoors can all be sources of solitary comfort and joy. Help and be helped. Service is a form of human connection that reminds us of our value and purpose in life. Checking on a neighbor, seeking advice, even just offering a smile to a stranger six feet away, all can make us stronger. During Murthy’s tenure as Surgeon General and during the research for Together, he found that there were few issues that elicited as much enthusiastic interest from both very conservative and very liberal members of Congress, from young and old people, or from urban and rural residents alike. Loneliness was something so many people have known themselves or have seen in the people around them. In the book, Murthy also shares his own deeply personal experiences with the subject--from struggling with loneliness in school, to the devastating loss of his uncle who succumbed to his own loneliness, as well as the important example of community and connection that his parents modeled. Simply, it’s a universal condition that affects all of us directly or through the people we love—now more than ever.

In this important third volume from the Stone Center at Wellesley College, founding scholars and new voices expand and deepen the Center's widely embraced psychological theory of connection as the core of human growth and development. Demonstrating the increasing sophistication of Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT), the volume presents an absorbing and practical examination of connection and disconnection at both individual and societal levels. Chapters explore how experiences of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, class, and gender influence relationships, and how people can connect across difference and disagreement. Also discussed are practical implications of the theory for psychotherapy, for the raising of sons, and for workplace and organizational issues.

“A rare combination of vivid science, compassionate storytelling, and lasting spiritual lessons. A delight to read.” –Philip Yancey Our bodies are designed to heal. We fall off our bikes and skin our knees—and without effort on our part, the skin looks like new in a few days. But while our skinned knees easily heal, it can sometimes feel like our emotional and relational wounds are left gaping open, broken beyond repair. If our bodies instinctively know how to heal physical injuries, could they also help us understand how to restore painful emotional and relational ruptures? In their groundbreaking debut book, physician Jennie McLaurin and scientist Cymbeline T. Culiat write Designed to Heal: a fascinating look at how the restorative processes of the body can model patterns we may adapt to heal the acute and chronic wounds of our social bodies. Through engaging patient stories, imaginative travels through the body’s microcellular landscapes, accessible references to current research, and reflections on the image of God, Designed to Heal offers a new perspective for healing our social divisions. By learning how the body is created with mechanisms that optimize a flourishing recovery from life’s inevitable wounds, we are given a model for hopeful, faithful, and enduring healing in all other aspects of our lives. Our wounds don’t have to have the last word.