How our once-helpful instincts got hijacked by our garish modern world.Have you ever wondered why some men choose pornography over actual women? Why so many people watch Friends instead of going out with their own buddies? Why a person would “feed” a plastic Pocket Pet while shirking real duties? Why both sides of every war see the other as the aggressor against whom their “Department of Defense” must respond?Harvard evolutionary psychologist Deird...

Harvard psychologist Deirdre Barrett tackles the obesity and fitness crisis from an evolutionary standpoint.In the modern jungle of burgers, couches, and remote controls, obesity is an enormous and growing epidemic. Weight-loss books and diet gurus urge us to "listen to our bodies," but our instincts are designed for the African savannah, not food courts. The sugary and fatty foods that we, as hunter-gatherers, are programmed to forage used to be hard to come by. Now they're as clo...

Both a manual on the various methods for working with dreams and an easily understandable description about dreamwork methods and PTSD nightmares for general readers, this book will benefit psychotherapists, counselors, academics, and students.Working with Dreams and PTSD Nightmares: 14 Approaches for Psychotherapists and Counselors is an essential tool for anyone seeking to learn how to work with dreams. It covers all major methods in use today, offering ...

This fascinating reference covers the major topics concerning dreaming and sleep, based on the latest empirical evidence from sleep research as well as drawn from a broad range of dream-related interdisciplinary contexts, including history and anthropology.While many books have been written on the subject of sleep and dreams, no other resource has provided the depth of empirical evidence concerning sleep and dream phenomena nor revealed the latest scientific breakt...

World-renowned contributors across several disciplines reveal how dreams can aid and empower children in daily life.Children can feel powerless in waking life, a fact that is often reflected in their dreams. This book shows how to take an active role in guiding children's dreams to help grow their confidence and improve their coping skills for real-life difficulties. Contributors from across various fields provide simple techniques to help children utilize dreamwor...

#1 New York Times Bestseller from the author of This is Your Mind on Plants, How to Change Your Mind, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and Food RulesFood. There's plenty of it around, and we all love to eat it. So why should anyone need to defend it?Because in the so-called Western diet, food has been replaced by nutrients, and common sense by confusion--most of what we’re consuming today is longer the product of nature bu...

Bringing mindfulness techniques to your psychotherapeutic work with clients.An integrated state of mindful awareness is crucial to achieving mental health. Daniel J. Siegel, an internationally recognized expert on mindfulness and therapy, reveals practical techniques that enable readers to harness their energies to promote healthy minds within themselves and their clients. He charts the nine integrative functions that emerge from the profoundly interconnecting circuits of the brain...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • The author of the bestselling phenomenon Quiet explores the power of the bittersweet personality, revealing a misunderstood side of mental health and creativity while offering a roadmap to facing heartbreak in order to live life to the fullest.“Bittersweet has the power to transform the way you see your life and the world.”—OPRAH“Grabs you by the heart and doesn’t let ...

The surprising truth about what it takes to be healthy In The Cure for Everything! health-law expert Timothy Caulfield exposes the special interests that twist good science about health and fitness in order to sell us services and products that mostly don’t work. Want great abs? You won’t get them by using the latest Ab-Flex-Spinner-Thingy. Are you trying to lose ten pounds? Diet books are a waste of trees. Do you rely on health-care practitioners—either mainstream or alternative—to provid...

A new framework for maintaining mental health and well-being.From the author of the internationally-acclaimed best-selling text The Developing Mind, and esteemed leader and educator in the field of mental health, comes the first book ever to integrate neuroscience research with the ancient art of mindfulness. The result is a groundbreaking approach to not simply mental health, but life in general, which shows readers how personal awareness and attunement can actually stimu...

From the award-winning, groundbreaking author of A Brief History of Anxiety...Yours and Mine comes a touching, exhilarating, challenging exploration of the inexplicable gleamings of another world many of us experience, in life, in grief, and near death.Sparked by extraordinary experiences that occurred in her family when her father and her sister both died in 2008, Patricia Pearson was launched on a journey of investigation into what she calls "a curious sort of modern und...

A scientific exploration that "incisively and compassionately highlights the extraordinary range of mental capabilities of even the youngest child" ( Salon ).For most of us, having a baby is the most profound, intense, and fascinating experience of our lives. Now scientists and philosophers are starting to appreciate babies, too. The last decade has witnessed a revolution in our understanding of infants and young children....