A Psychology of Hope: An Antidote to the Suicidal Pathology of Western Civilization

( This book offers a new approach by combining the discip...)

This book offers a new approach by combining the disciplines of history, psychology, and religion to explain the suicidal element in both Western culture and the individual, and how to treat it. Ancient Greek society displays in its literature and the lives of its people an obsessive interest in suicide and death. Kaplan and Schwartz have explored the psychodynamic roots of this problem--in particular, the tragic confusion of the Greek heroic impulse and its commitment to unsatisfactory choices that are destructively rigid and harsh. The ancient Hebraic writings speak little of suicide and approach reality and freedom in vastly different terms: God is an involved parent, caring for his children. Therefore, heroism, in the Greek sense, is not needed nor is the individual compelled to choose between impossible alternatives. In each of the first three sections, the authors discuss the issues of suicide from a comparative framework, whether in thought or myth, then the suicide-inducing effects of the Graeco-Roman world, and finally, the suicide-preventing effects of the Hebrew world. The final section draws on this material to present a suicide prevention therapy. Historical in scope, the book offers a new psychological model linking culture to the suicidal personality and suggests an antidote, especially with regard to the treatment of the suicidal individual.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0275943798/?tag=2022091-20

Biblical Stories for Psychotherapy and Counseling: A Sourcebook BIBLICAL STORIES FOR PSYCHOTHERAPY AND COUNSELING: A SOURCEBOOK By Schwartz, Matthew B. ( Author )Apr-15-2004 Paperback

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The Seven Habits of the Good Life: How the Biblical Virtues Free Us from the Seven Deadly Sins

(In The Seven Habits of the Good Life, the authors highlig...)

In The Seven Habits of the Good Life, the authors highlight seven biblical gifts―self-esteem, wisdom, righteousness, love, healthy appetite, prudence, and purpose―and present each one as an alternative to one of the seven deadly sins. Each gift gives readers a chance to enrich their lives by integrating concern for themselves with a healthy concern for others rather than punishing themselves for bad behavior. Incorporating clinical case studies, the voices of real people, and biblical stories, this book shows how the wisdom of the scriptures can provide us concrete ways of redefining difficult situations and approaching life in a way that strives for fullness, harmony, and balance.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0742532747/?tag=2022091-20

Biblical Stories for Psychotherapy and Counseling: A Sourcebook (Haworth Pastoral Press Religion and Mental Health)

(Integrate Biblical spirituality into psychotherapy and ex...)

Integrate Biblical spirituality into psychotherapy and examine centuries-old answers to modern psychological questions! The Joint Commision on the Accreditation of Hospitals now mandates taking spiritual assessments of all patients. This book is devoted to helping therapists employ Biblical spirituality in the actual treatment program. Biblical Stories for Psychotherapy and Counseling: A Sourcebook organizes the wisdom of the Old Testament into episodes that can shed light on specific psychological issues. From the familiar to the obscure, these stories can help us better understand self-esteem, loyalty and obligations, decision making, temptation, anger, morality, various disorders, family dynamics, support systems, developmental issues, recovery issues, aging, suicidal behavior, and more. From the authors: “As brilliant and as penetrating as Freud's insights are, they are limited in the sense that Freud relied heavily on Greek myth and literature for his models and ideas. His view of man was in many ways that of the Greeks—a view that concentrated on the pathological underside of man and on the bedrock of his developmental problems. The Greeks could never really shake the sense of doom, the foreboding and the fatalism that led so many great figures in Greek literature and in real life Greek history to depression and, in a surprising number of cases, to suicide. In contrast, the focus of the Bible is far more optimistic; depression can be successfully dealt with, and suicide is a sad error that should be—and usually can be—avoided. It encourages people to hope and teaches that day-to-day human effort has a purpose and meaning and that heroism is not a fair or useful aim for man to set for himself. The Bible offers the hope of filling every moment of human life with greater meaning and feeling. “New solutions to mental health problems are always welcome. Ours is a new approach, yet a very old one. We present stories that offer a vast treasure of knowledge and wisdom about the way people think and act, and why they do so. The stories are drawn from the Hebrew Bible, a compendium whose latest books are already twenty-four hundred or so years old. Yet, through all those centuries, the basic story of man's searching and yearning has changed little. We shall concentrate on the psychological meaning of these narratives and what they tell us about how their characters dealt with challenges of family, handicap, depression, and more.” You'll also find information drawn from modern clinical research that parallels the Biblical narratives. The wisdom gained from these ancient stories is applied to help people gain self-understanding and deal with their own situations today. For psychotherapists, these Biblical foundation stories can be used as a basis for integrating spirituality into psychotherapy. The story of Moses, who overcame a speech problem, can be applied to the problems of a Midwestern college student, and the account of David and Goliath can help a businessman overcome his fears of “lack of macho.” A small sample of the Bible stories—and their clinical implications—that you'll find in this volume: • the foundation of self-esteem: Saul • the courage to emigrate: Abraham • assuming responsibility for one's self: Lot's wife • focusing on one's main aim: Sarah and Hagar • dealing with commandments: Abraham and Isaac • dealing with temptations: Adam and Eve • drunkenness and disrespect: Noah • reciprocity between generations: Naomi and Ruth • amoral intellectualism: Balaam • aging: Ecclesiastes • dealing with disability: Moses and Aaron • abandonment: David • protected regression: Jonah Biblical Stories for Psychotherapy and Counseling: A Sourcebook will become a well-used reference in your professional/teaching collection. These Biblical stories will be helpful to therapists, cle

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