PsychoBible: Behavior, Religion & the Holy Book

With 2,000 religious denominations and nearly 500,000 churches and temples in the United States, the Bible is not only doctrinally confusing, but behaviorally confusing, too. Is it a sin to drink alcohol? Will prayer cure the sick? Is homosexuality an abomination? Why is celibacy so highly valued? Do belief and feminism mix? How should the Passion be interpreted? In this enlightening and entertaining work, Armando Favazza, a world-renowned psychiatrist specializing in culture and society, explores these and other questions and examines the impact of the Bible on behavior through time and space—from the Holy Book's gradual formation thousands of years ago to the present day. This is an indispensable work for all those interested in better understanding the foundations of society's—and perhaps even their own—beliefs and behaviors, and is a thought-provoking read for those not afraid to inform their faith.

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Favazza, Armando

Psychology & Counseling

Pitchstone Publishing

Blind Trust is the culmination of more than three decades of profound immersion in the most pressing sociopolitical conflicts of our time, by the psychoanalyst with probably the most direct experience with such issues of any in the world. Author Vamik Volkan applies his knowledge of depth psychology to the turbulent and destructive human experiences in the current cauldrons of the greatest unrest and disaster throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Illuminating the etiologic bases of war, revolution, massacres, and terror, as these have disturbed the world from ancient times to modern civilization, his voice speaks for the imperative of reason and the application of modern analytic knowledge for conflict resolution at the highest levels. The subjects are large groups and their leaders: windows into the lives of the Prophet Muhammad, Stalin, Milosevic, Osama Bin Laden, and David Koresh are interspersed with examinations of religion and fundamentalism and a sober study of suicide attackers. Volkan’s detailed and scholarly description of regressive movements in large-group identities, complemented by an equal attention to progressive and creative reparative forces, represents a significant expansion of our understanding of group psychology.

Blind Trust: Large Groups and Their Leaders in Times of Crisis and Terror

Volkan, Vamik

Blind Trust is the culmination of more than three decades of profound immersion in the most pressing sociopolitical conflicts of our time, by the psychoanalyst with probably the most direct experience with such issues of any in the world. Author Vamik Volkan applies his knowledge of depth psychology to the turbulent and destructive human experiences in the current cauldrons of the greatest unrest and disaster throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Illuminating the etiologic bases of war, revolution, massacres, and terror, as these have disturbed the world from ancient times to modern civilization, his voice speaks for the imperative of reason and the application of modern analytic knowledge for conflict resolution at the highest levels. The subjects are large groups and their leaders; windows into the lives of the Prophet Muhammad, Stalin, Milosevic, Osama Bin Laden, and David Koresh are interspersed with examinations of religion and fundamentalism, and a sober study of suicide attackers. Volkan’s detailed and scholarly description of regressive movements in large-group identities, complemented by an equal attention to progressive and creative reparative forces, represents a significant expansion of our understanding of group psychology.

Volkan M.D., Vamik

By the early 1990s, four thousand Jews remained in Poland, a startling figure considering 3.25 million Jews lived there at the start of World War II. Indeed, of all the horrors of the Holocaust, Polish Jewry suffered the worst fate. But miraculously, the Jewish community in Poland has been experiencing a rebirth over the past decade. The Jewish population there is now estimated at twenty thousand. This increase is not due to immigration, but to the surfacing of secrets, family truths that have been buried since the early days of the Holocaust, when many Jews hid their identity, their religion, and their heritage in order to survive. Vera Muller-Paisner, a psychoanalyst who specializes in the transmission of trauma, became interested in this hidden legacy of the Holocaust and traveled to Poland to investigate this phenomenon and understand the impact it had on both the individual and family. She had many questions. What happens when these long-held secrets—hidden from spouses and children—are finally revealed? What is it like to consider yourself a part of “us” one day, only to discover the next you're really one of “them”? How do you cope? What becomes of your identity? She found such questions to be especially salient given Poland's anti-Semitic past and present. Herself a daughter of Jewish Holocaust survivors from Poland, Muller-Paisner was uniquely qualified to undertake this exploration. She relates her experiences—and the answers she found—in this compelling volume. Many of her findings come directly from support groups she initiated in Warsaw for Gentiles who had recently discovered their Jewish roots. The stories she shares from her interviews and group sessions are both heartbreaking and heartwarming, offering us a glimpse into the lives of those who “discover.” And like those she went to help, she has struggled with her family's own hidden secrets. She speaks candidly about this and her internal dilemma about setting foot in a land that violently took so many members of her own family.

Broken Chain: Catholics Uncover the Holocaust's Hidden Legacy and Discover Their Jewish Roots

History

Muller-Paisner, Vera

World

Although Napoleon Bonaparte has been a favorite subject of biographers for nearly two centuries, to date no full-scale psychobiography of arguably the most compelling, fascinating, and complex leader in world history has ever been published. With Napoleon Against Himself, internationally recognized scholar Avner Falk fills this void. He not only considers Napoleon's intellect but also what use he made of it, how it affected his emotional life, and whether he used intellectualization as one of his unconscious defensive processes. Additionally, he examines Napoleon’s ambivalent relationship with his mother, his identification with the “Motherland,” and his fits of narcissistic rage, violence, and aggression. Specifically, Falk focuses on his numerous irrational, self-defeating, and self-destructive actions. In weaving in the psychological interpretations that have previously been proposed for Napoleon's actions with his own new insights, Falk has created a most stimulating and original work that sheds much needed light on Napoleon’s troubled inner world.

Napoleon Against Himself: A Psychobiography

Biographies & Memoirs

Falk, Avner

Historical

Why do they hate us so? Vamik Volkan has the most compelling, humane, and universal response to the riddle of our time. In this extraordinary and timely book, Volkan explains better than anyone the relationship between large-group identities and massive traumas and current events and ongoing conflicts around the world, including those related to the horrific attacks of 9/11

Killing in the Name of Identity: A Study of Bloody Conflicts

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

In this collection of psychoanalytic writings, acclaimed clinician and theoretician Salman Akhtar reviews and reflects on the work of others, covering a broad range of topics in psychiatry and psychoanalysis. Author's most recent book, Objects of Our Desire, was published by Random House. Joseph Reppen, editor of the journal Psychoanalytic Psychology, says about the book, 'To hear Salman Akhtar deliver a paper or recite poetry is a rare treat and in this lovely collection of book reviews, discussions, and miscellanea one hears his sensitive, respectful, and illuminating voice once more. He is truly a man for all seasons and the topics in this volume range over the broadest spectrum of subjects.' Solid scholarship written in a lyrical, accessible style

Regarding Others: Reviews, Responses, and Reflections

Akhtar, Salman

In this provocative book, Dr. Samuel Slipp brings his background as a psychoanalytic scholar and neurological researcher to bear on the timeless—and increasingly timely—intersection of religion and politics. Taking to task those writers who dismiss religion outright as a form of evil mass delusion, Slipp draws on the words of Freud, the teachings of Jesus, and his own original work to point his finger not at religion as the cause of the world's ills but at what corrupts religion—power. He ultimately finds that belief itself is inextricably intertwined with the human condition and argues that reason and religion must be reconciled for the benefit of mankind's future.

The Quest for Power: Religion and Politics

Samuel Slipp

A lively yet tragic novel about jazz, the dawn of psychoanalysis, and the Jewish experience, The Vienna Jazz Trio is framed by an interview with an aging Nathan Mentzel, who relates his life as a piano player and satirist. His story begins in cosmopolitan Vienna in the 1920s, where he and two friends form a jazz ensemble amid the ideological debates and growing anti-Semitism of the era, continues through the suffering and devastation of the Holocaust, and ends with a thrilling operation against two Nazis living in a luxury villa in Southern California. At times melancholy and always moving, The Vienna Jazz Trio speaks to the indomitable spirit of youth and the dignity of man.

The Vienna Jazz Trio: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

Tomas Bohm

Genre Fiction

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Books by Pitchstone Publishing

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Pitchstone Publishing publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

PsychoBible: Behavior, Religion & the Holy Book

PsychoBible: Behavior, Religion & the Holy Book

Blind Trust: Large Groups and Their Leaders in Times of Crisis and Terror

Blind Trust: Large Groups and Their Leaders in Times of Crisis and Terror

Broken Chain: Catholics Uncover the Holocaust's Hidden Legacy and Discover Their Jewish Roots

Napoleon Against Himself: A Psychobiography

Killing in the Name of Identity: A Study of Bloody Conflicts

Regarding Others: Reviews, Responses, and Reflections

The Quest for Power: Religion and Politics

The Vienna Jazz Trio: A Novel