Book Reviews

The search for meaning is a journey that every human being must take in order to make sense of the futility, the emptiness, and the alienation that an indifferent universe has imposed us by random or by divine retribution from the moment of birth and until death. It is often lauded when a skilled author is able to capture his inner most experiences and transduce it into meaningful words that communicate the strangulated truth that was once stifled by a... more

As a psychotherapist you come into contact with your clients and build a high level of intimacy within a relatively short period of time. You try to use all your professional skills to help the client build up their ressources or resolve their inner conflicts in order to live a more happy and fulfilled life. The shortcoming is that, in case you are succesful, you never see your clients again. Most practitioners accept that fact without a further ado and... more

When it comes to studying skills, usually psychologists are asked for advice – cognitive and developmental psychology provides insights into how we think and learn new things. Therefore, the fact that this book was written by an economist is somehow surprising. But it shows that psychology can benefit from adopting the economical point of view on the market of knowledge. more

Existentialism as a philosophy was made popular by the writings of Kierkegaard, Heidegger and Sartre. However, existentialism as a tradition has also had a great impact on psychology, as evidenced by the creation of existential psychotherapy as well as the present work on experimental psychology. How do we define existentialism in relation to psychology? We can say that the common denominator of existential philosophy as compared to existential psychology is what Jean Paul Sartre described as “Existence precedes essence”; “We... more

During the time I was reading this book, I came across an article in my daily newspaper suggesting that people should begin to worry that free will is an illusion. According to this book, the reporter fell victim to the ill-sketched portrait of the topic drawn by some of the leaders in the debate. The collection of essays (13 of them) in this book emphasize that the discourse concerning free will is still lively and heterogeneous in content and offers... more

In these uncertain and confusing times where ambiguity is considered as clarity, marketing is masquerading as science, and problems of living are labeled as disorders, psychotherapy has become a prevalent fad that replaced the support that was once provided by the extended family and the clergy. more

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be a sociopath? Or maybe you would rather not even think about it? M. E. Thomas (a pseudonym), the author of “Confessions of a sociopath: A life spent hiding in plain sight” doesn’t need to imagine it, she experiences it every day. more