Psychoanalyst Horowitz (Psychiatry/UCSF, Stress Response Syndromes, 2011, etc.) provides a crash course in understanding the true nature of the self, from defining and redefining identity and building harmonious relationships to identifying destructive behavioral patterns and discarding bad habits.
With a slew of prestigious credentials (President of the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis; Director of the Program on Conscious and Unconscious Mental Processes of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation) and a number of awards recognizing his work on PTSD (Pioneer and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the International Society of Trauma and Stress Studies), Horowitz clearly knows his stuff—and it shows in his academic, jargon-heavy writing. But the heady psychobabble shouldn’t deter anyone; his latest endeavor is perfectly accessible (although those searching for breezy self-help tomes touting trendy quick fixes best look elsewhere). A flip through these pages first takes readers on a general tour of personal and interpersonal development with an emphasis on self-improvement through introspection, the text providing question prompts as guides (“What is the difference between what I need and what I desire?”) and case studies as examples of what, and what not, to do. Sections devoted to early childhood and adolescence—when most behaviors are first formed—are standouts. Horowitz delves into maladaptive response patterns (passive-aggression, perfectionism, self-sabotage) and explains how to adopt healthier coping skills, such as maintaining safe boundaries, tolerating tension within unfamiliar or uncomfortable situations, and testing new solutions to old problems. In the last and perhaps most useful third of the book, Horowitz unpacks how to control undesirable emotional states (denial and suppression, dissociation, idealization and projection) and effect positive change by using the past as a barometer for solving conflicts. The presentation of information might seem dense at times, though bulleted “Points to Remember” are included at the conclusion of each chapter, and Horowitz pays careful attention to looping new ideas back to concepts explained earlier in the book. While light therapy-seekers might not relate to every topic covered in the book (i.e. the bits covering masochism or erotogenic fantasies), there are plenty of other contemplative nuggets worth noodling over.
A stint on Horowitz’s proverbial couch promises hearty rewards at a fraction of the price.
Pub Date: May 17, 2012
ISBN: 978-1470013424
Page Count: 234
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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