Recommended Bibliography
Books Written by Process Therapists
Marion Pastor, Ph.D., and Ron Luyet, MFCC, MA. Where Freedom Begins: The Process of Personal Change. Wingbow Press, 1993.
Freedom begins with the realization that we define ourselves through the attitudes and behaviors we’ve inherited from our parents. By relating the experiences of the people in this book to the reader’s own and using the simple exercises, we are given the chance to define ourselves as we are now, not as we were long ago.
“This is a fascinating account of how emotional work can help a person let go of the past and claim freedom and autonomy in the present. “
–Frances Vaughan, Ph.D., author, Gift of Peace and Inward Arc
Purchase through The Institute for Personal Change
James W. Tamm and Ronald J. Luyet. Radical Collaboration: Five Essential Skills to Overcome Defensiveness and Build Successful Relationships, HarperBusiness, 2004
A how-to manual for anyone who wants to be more skillful in building relationships, both professional and personal. Are you defensive and fearful? Is that preventing you from collaborating? Use the exercises in this book to identify your habits, and then learn how to moderate them. You will quickly become more effective at work and at home.
“Insightful, readable, and highly entertaining, Radical Collaboration is the perfect book for anyone interested in creating productive relationships and resolving disputes of all kinds.”
–Fred D’Orazio, chief administrative law judge, California Public Employment Relations Board
Marion Pastor, Ph.D. Psychospiritual Explorations: A Personal Journey, 2010
In this book, Marion Pastor (at ninety years old) describes her chaotic childhood and confused and often unhappy young adulthood, with just enough moments of grace to send her on a quest, starting in her late thirties, to discover a way that she (and others like her) could achieve inner peace and happiness regardless of their early conditioning. She investigated over fifty of the major psychospiritual approaches available in California during the last half of the twentieth century. In this volume she writes of her experiences and tracks her personal growth through her participation in many of these approaches. Her book gives a unique and valuable perspective on some of the historical beginnings of the psychospiritual movement including the Process and its leaders.
Other Resources
Articles
“To Help Kids Thrive, Coach their Parents” Opinion by Paul Tough, New York Times 5/22/2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/opinion/sunday/to-help-kids-thrive-coach-their-parents.html?_r=0 Summary: “…the stress that parents and teachers feel can in turn elevate the stress levels of the children in their care, in ways that can undermine the children’s mental health and intellectual development.” Training parents to encourage attachment, warmth and trust between parent and child has far reaching impacts, including child behavior and learning in school, development of non-cognitive skills, increasing emotional stability and psychological resilience. (Note: The Process is an effective way to help the parents and teachers decrease their own stress levels and encourage attachment, warmth and trust with the children in their care.)
Batuman, Elif. “The Ghosts of Christmas: Was Scrooge the First Psychotherapy Patient?” The New Yorker Magazine, December 24, 2015. http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-ghosts-of-christmas-was-scrooge-the-first-psychotherapy-patient The article considers the value of addressing one’s childhood to make changes in one’s present life. An enjoyable read.
Sroufe, Alan L. “Attachment and development: A prospective, longitudinal study from birth to adulthood.” Attachment & Human Development, December 2005; 7(4): 349 – 367. This paper summarizes some key points regarding the place of infant attachment in the developmental course.
Websites
Circle of Security website: <http://www.circleofsecurity.org> Early Intervention Program for Parents and Children.
Books
Goleman, Daniel. Vital Lies, Simple Truths: The Psychology of Self Deception. Simon & Schuster, 1985. ISBN 0-671-45058-1.
Hanscom, David, MD. Back in Control: A Surgeon’s Roadmap Out of Chronic Pain. Vertus Press, 2016 (Second Edition). ISBN 978-0988272996. In his book Back in Control, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom describes how to escape debilitating chronic mental and physical pain. His approach presents well-documented treatments that today’s medical establishment has largely ignored, including anger management, and addressing emotional trauma and other emotional triggers that can cause and/or exacerbate chronic pain. His methods evolved from his own intense 15-year experience suffering from chronic pain. His resources provide a framework to understand the nature of the problem and action plans to guide you back into the life you desire.
Langer, Ellen J. Mindfulness. Persecus Books Press, 1989. ISBN 0-201-52341-8.
Miller, Alice, The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self. Third Edition. Translated by Ruth Ward. Published by Basic Books, 1997. ISBN 0465016901, 9780465016907, 136 pages.
Pennebaker, J.W. (1997). Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions, revised edition. New York: Guilford Press. (www.guilford.com). ISBN 978-1-57230-238-9. First published in 1990, Opening Up provides a broad overview of the power of writing or talking about emotional experiences. Dozens of studies in recent years have found that when people are able to translate emotional experiences into words, their physical and mental health improves. This book explores how and why emotional disclosure is so powerful.
Pennebaker, J.W. (2004). Writing to Heal: A Guided Journal for Recovering from Trauma and Emotional Upheaval. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Press. ISBN 978-1-57224-365-1. (Out of print). This is a workbook aimed for a general audience. It draws on recent research to help guide people who want to try to write about emotional issues in their lives.
Siegel, Daniel J. The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-being. Published by W. W. Norton & Company, 2007. ISBN 039370470X, 9780393704709. 387 pages.
Siegel, Daniel, MD, and Hartzell, M., M.Ed. Parenting from the Inside Out: How a deeper self-understanding can help you raise children who thrive. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2003. ISBN 1-58542-209-6. 250 pages. “How you make sense of your childhood experiences has a profound effect on how you parent your own children…Understanding more about yourself in a deeper way can help you build a more effective and enjoyable relationship with your children…Research in the field of child development has demonstrated that a child’s security of attachment to parents is very strongly connected to the parents’ understanding of their own early-life experiences.”
Schore, Allan N., Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self: The Neurobiology of Emotional Development. Published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1999. ISBN 0805834591, 9780805834598. 736 pages.