Interdisciplinary Book and Film Reviews

  Gender Identity & Faith Clinical Postures, Tools, and Case Studies For Client-Centered Care   By   Mark A. Yarhouse &   Julia A.   Sadusky Reviewed by   Geoffrey W. Sutton Gender Identity & Faith   is not for everyone. Yarhouse and Sadusky have written a guidebook for mental health professionals who need a resource to help patients and their families who are seeking assistance with two identity issues—gender identity and religious identity. The authors are not focused on changing gender identity. Instead, they provide readers with specific ideas to help their patients explore their perceived conflicts between gender and religious identity. Although the authors use the words religious and conventionally religious , the book is focused on Christian patients who perceive a conflict between two salient components of their self-identity. Most Americans are religious and most Americans identify as Christian. It is generally known that some Christians are

  Quiet The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking   By   Susan Cain Reviewed by   Geoffrey W. Sutton As the subtitle explains, Quiet is about introverts in an extroverted culture. As a psychologist, I appreciate Cain’s exploration of personality psychology, which included interviews with experts and an awareness of the differences between her broader view of introversion and extroversion compared to the less encompassing features that comprise the personality construct in psychology. As a person favoring many features linked to introversion, I can identify with her stories and affirm the effort required to adapt to the demands of an extrovert-driven culture. In fact, American culture was a bit of a shock to us when we first came to the United States from England where the norm seems to be a polite reserve punctuated with copious amounts of saying “sorry” when we perceive we may have offended someone. What I did not realize as a child is that entire c

The Myth of Repressed Memory    False memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse By   Elizabeth Loftus &   Katherine Ketcham Reviewed by   Geoffrey W. Sutton The Myth of Repressed Memory is a classic worth reading. Those of us who are psychotherapists along with colleagues in healthcare, spiritual care, and the justice system are well aware that so many people have been abused sexually and otherwise as children and adults. We hear their stories and sense their anguish. Those of us who have studied memory, cognition, and neuropsychology as a part of our preparation for clinical work also know about the fallibility of memory and the work of Elizabeth Loftus. Those of us who were working when Loftus’ memory research trickled across America became acutely aware of the impact of her studies on prosecuting attorneys and their referrals for assessment. Although the book is old in the sense that many are well aware of the malleability of human memory and the problems w

  Discipline with Respect in Caring Relationships By     Geoffrey W. Sutton Reviewed by    Various Discipline with Respect in Caring Relationships is an evidence-based approach to helping parents help children develop self-discipline. The program and the book has been well-received in public and private schools, churches, foster parent meetings, and other venues. ********** “With so many barriers to respectful communication, now more than ever parents need practical strategies to help their children develop into respectful adults. Dr. Sutton’s work connects timeless principles to modern wisdom in a way that challenges family habits and encourages relationship-grounded discipline.” —Jennifer Poindexter, M.S., LPC - South Carolina   “ Discipline with Respect meets many of today’s child-rearing needs. In it, Dr. Sutton conveys for parents and for other concerned adults his tested, effective methods for helping children to develop a sense of personal responsibility and self-discipline.

THERAPY AFTER TERROR:        9/11, PSYCHOTHERAPISTS,    AND MENTAL HEALTH By     Karen M. Seeley  (2008) Reviewed by   September K. Trent       and   Geoffrey W. Sutton “Everybody’s trauma was so raw. It didn’t matter who you were talking to —relief worker, direct victim, other therapists —you were all the same body in some ways”  (p. 152).  Seeley peppers her analysis of the effects of 9/11 on psychotherapists and the field of mental health with excerpts from pungent and thoughtful interviews. We glimpse the chaos through the eyes of psychotherapists who lived the trauma in their personal and professional lives. On the morning of September 11, 2001, New York therapists are running to the Red Cross shelters to donate their time, psychologists are treating patients who are eyewitnesses to the worst enemy attack on the American homeland, and counselors, themselves victims who lost everything, are trying to counsel others through trauma-colored lenses. Seeley examines the diagn

THE PARADOX OF CHOICE:  WHY MORE IS  LESS.  HOW THE CULTURE OF ABUNDANCE ROBS US OF SATISFACTION By Barry Schwartz, Reviewed by   Geoffrey W. Sutton I'm in the market for a new tablet. There are so many good choices. There are things I like about Apple and Android. Then I think about getting close to a lightweight laptop--so, I think about Windows. Schwartz is right--at least based on my experience! Schwartz attributes his thinking about The Paradox of Choice to the preparation of an article on  self-determination for the American Psychologist. In this 265-page paperback, he explores the "darker side" of freedom using humor, examples  from daily life, and easily understood accounts of psychological research to illustrate the psychological cost of an over-abundance of choice.  In the prologue, Schwartz grants that choice is essential to autonomy, which in turn provides the grounds for well-being. However, his thesis is that at some point, "ch