The Hidden Worldviews of Psychology’s Theory, Research, and Practice


Book Description

By revealing underlying assumptions that influence the field of psychology, this book challenges psychologists to reconsider the origins of ideas they may take as psychological truths




Handbook for Theory, Research, and Practice in Gestalt Therapy (2nd Edition)


Book Description

This is a true second edition, so much so that it approaches being a different book. It includes among its new authors some of the most sought-after theorists in contemporary gestalt therapy. There is a section on the philosophy of science, research and research methodology, and one devoted to gestalt therapy and its teaching and research in diverse parts of the world. There is disagreement and critique, for this is not a simple book. It is so packed with information that it serves as both a challenge and a resource. This second edition of the Handbook will take its place as an aid in understanding the evolution of contemporary gestalt therapy and as a guide to the evolving research tradition in gestalt therapy. It rightfully belongs on the shelves of both beginning trainees in gestalt therapy and advanced and experienced practitioners, and certainly represents a resource for practitioner-researchers involved in practice-based research.




Christian Higher Education


Book Description

Our world is growing increasingly complex and confused—a unique and urgent context that calls for a grounded and fresh approach to Christian higher education. Christian higher education involves a distinctive way of thinking about teaching, learning, scholarship, curriculum, student life, administration, and governance that is rooted in the historic Christian faith. In this volume, twenty-nine experts from a variety of fields, including theology, the humanities, science, mathematics, social science, philosophy, the arts, and professional programs, explore how the foundational beliefs of Christianity influence higher education and its disciplines. Aimed at equipping the next generation to better engage the shifting cultural context, this book calls students, professors, trustees, administrators, and church leaders to a renewed commitment to the distinctive work of Christian higher education—for the good of the society, the good of the church, and the glory of God.




Embracing Well-Being in Diverse African Contexts: Research Perspectives


Book Description

This is the first volume providing a research platform to showcase research in the field of positive psychology and well-being science in African contexts. Next to enhancing context-sensitive theory and practice on the African continent, it also contributes to the global discourse in positive psychology and facilitates the development of a science that reflects and is relevant to complexity and diversity in a globalising society. This volume brings together work from African scholars, featuring research on theoretical perspectives on well-being in Africa, measurement of well-being in Africa, manifestations and dynamics of well-being in Africa, and well-being promotion in Africa. It stimulates further research in positive psychology and well-being science in the African context and globally, and emphasises the interconnectedness and situatedness of human functioning and well-being, contributing to a more balanced perspective on well-being in an international perspective. The volume benefits researchers, students and practitioners in Africa and other international contexts who study or apply the science of positive psychology and well-being in diverse contexts. Chapter 1 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.




Handbook of Quality of Life in African Societies


Book Description

This handbook reflects on quality-of-life in societies on the continent of Africa. It provides a widely interdisciplinary text with insights on quality-of-life from a variety of scientific perspectives. The handbook is structured into sections covering themes of social context, culture and community; the environment and technology; health; education; and family. It is aimed at scholars who are working towards sustainable development at the intersections of multiple scientific fields and it provides measures of both objective and subjective quality-of-life. The scholarly contributions in the text are based on original research and it spans fields of research such as cultures of positivity, wellbeing, literacy and multilinguism, digital and mobile technologies, economic growth, food and nutrition, health promotion, community development, teacher education and family life. Some chapters take a broad approach and report on research findings involving thousands, and in one case millions, of participants. Other chapters zoom in and illustrate the importance of specificity in quality-of-life studies. Collectively, the handbook illuminates the particularity of quality-of-life in Africa, the unique contextual challenges and the resourcefulness with which challenges are being mediated. This handbook provides empirically grounded conceptualizations about life in Africa that also encapsulate the dynamic, ingenious ways in which we, as Africans, enhance our quality-of-life.




Christian Meditation in Clinical Practice


Book Description

What would it look like to turn to the Christian faith to cultivate meditation practices? Presenting Christian meditation as an alternative to Buddhist-informed mindfulness, this workbook from Dr. Joshua Knabb offers a Christian-sensitive approach to meditation in clinical practice, focusing on both building theory and providing replicable practices for Christian clients and their therapists.




Measuring the Effects of Racism


Book Description

A large body of research has established a causal relationship between experiences of racial discrimination and adverse effects on mental and physical health. In Measuring the Effects of Racism, Robert T. Carter and Alex L. Pieterse offer a manual for mental health professionals on how to understand, assess, and treat the effects of racism as a psychological injury. Carter and Pieterse provide guidance on how to recognize the psychological effects of racism and racial discrimination. They propose an approach to understanding racism that connects particular experiences and incidents with a person’s individual psychological and emotional response. They detail how to evaluate the specific effects of race-based encounters that produce psychological distress and possibly impairment or trauma. Carter and Pieterse outline therapeutic interventions for use with individuals and groups who have experienced racial trauma, and they draw attention to the importance of racial awareness for practitioners. The book features a racial-trauma assessment toolkit, including a race-based traumatic-stress symptoms scale and interview schedule. Useful for both scholars and practitioners, including social workers, educators, and counselors, Measuring the Effects of Racism offers a new framework of race-based traumatic stress that helps legitimize psychological reactions to experiences of racism.




Counseling and Therapy Skills


Book Description

For decades Counseling and Therapy Skills has helped readers navigate from theory to practice on the path to becoming great therapists. The goal of this engagingly written text is to help beginning therapists learn skills without losing sight of the art of therapy. Great therapists are gifted at connecting with clients, achieving an almost artistic attunement. While there are many ways to do successful therapy, common factors include evocative empathy in a strong relationship focused on mutual, collaborative cognitive/experiential processing. Active, arousing, and evocative empathy encourages clients to explore their feelings. Learning to be ahead of clients allows therapists to bring the clients’ deep experiences to life, empowering clients to be problem solvers and giving therapists helpful, active roles. The first section of the book describes fundamental skills. “Observing Therapy,” a five-hour video recording of actual therapy sessions, accompanies the book. This learning tool demonstrates evocative empathy and is a guide for responding to clients. The final chapter in this section addresses experiential understanding, emergent modes of expressing empathy, mindfulness, presence, and being in the zone as a therapist. The second section offers practical advice about beginning therapy sessions, settings for therapy, ethical issues, different formats for therapy, and material on being a culturally competent therapist. The third section summarizes the latest research evidence on what makes therapy effective. It also explores the nature of emotional problems to give therapists a foundation for understanding why evocative empathy works. Counseling and Therapy Skills emphasizes material that the reader can use and translate into behavior. Woven throughout the text are the messages that therapy demands active involvement, empathy must be evocative, and the therapist must work at the leading edge of the client’s experiencing. Significantly updated, the depth and insights of the fifth edition benefit both beginning and experienced counselors.




Psychology and Spiritual Formation in Dialogue


Book Description

Can the phenomena of the human mind be separated from the practices of spiritual formation? Research into the nature of moral and spiritual change has revived in recent years in both the worlds of psychology and theology. Rooted in a year-long discussion held by Biola University's Center for Christian Thought (CCT), this volume bridges the gaps caused by professional specialization among psychology, theology, and philosophy.




The Palgrave Handbook of the History of Human Sciences


Book Description

The Palgrave Handbook of the History of Human Sciences offers a uniquely comprehensive and global overview of the evolution of ideas, concepts and policies within the human sciences. Drawn from histories of the social and psychological sciences, anthropology, the history and philosophy of science, and the history of ideas, this collection analyses the health and welfare of populations, evidence of the changing nature of our local communities, cities, societies or global movements, and studies the way our humanness or ‘human nature’ undergoes shifts because of broader technological shifts or patterns of living. This Handbook serves as an authoritative reference to a vast source of representative scholarly work in interdisciplinary fields, a means of understanding patterns of social change and the conduct of institutions, as well as the histories of these ‘ways of knowing’ probe the contexts, circumstances and conditions which underpin continuity and change in the way we count, analyse and understand ourselves in our different social worlds. It reflects a critical scholarly interest in both traditional and emerging concerns on the relations between the biological and social sciences, and between these and changes and continuities in societies and conducts, as 21st century research moves into new intellectual and geographic territories, more diverse fields and global problematics. ​