Philosophers and therapists have long theorised about how psychological mechanisms for love, jealousy, anxiety, depression and many other human characteristics may have evolved over millions of years. In the dawn of the new insights on evolution, provided by Darwin's theories of natural selection, Freud, Jung and Klein sought to identify and understand human motives, emotions and information processing as functions deeply-rooted in our evolved history. Despite this promising start and major developments in modern evolutionary psychology, anthropology and sociobiology, the last fifty years has seen little in the way of therapies derived from an evolutionary understanding of human psychology. The contributors to this timely book illuminate how an evolution focused approach to psychopathology can offer new insights for different schools of therapy and provide a rationale for therapeutic integration. Genes on the Couch brings together respected clinicians who have integrated evolutionary insights into their case conceptualisations and therapeutic interventions. Various psychotherapy schools are represented, and each author provides illustrative examples of the interventions used. Specific topics addressed include the nature of evolved mental mechanisms; regulation/dysregulation of internal processes; attachment and kinship in therapy; the importance of internalising warmth as a therapeutic goal; kin selection and incest avoidance; co-operation and deception in social relations; difficulties in working with certain male clients; gender differences in therapy and the roles of shame and guilt in treatment. Providing up-to-date summaries of recent thinking in this increasing important but diverse area, Genes on the Couch will be of interest to psychotherapists, psychiatrists and a wide range of mental health professionals.

Providing intriguing insights for students, film buffs, and readers of various genres of fiction, this fascinating book delves into the psychology of 100 well-known fictional characters. Our favorite fictional characters from books and movies often display an impressive and wide range of psychological attributes, both positive and negative. We admire their resilience, courage, humanity, or justice, and we are intrigued by other characters who show signs of personality disorders and mental illness-psychopathy, narcissism, antisocial personality, paranoia, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, among many other conditions. This book examines the psychological attributes and motivations of 100 fascinating characters that include examples of both accurate and misleading depictions of psychological traits and conditions, enabling readers to distinguish realistic from inaccurate depictions of human behavior. An introductory section provides a background of the interplay between psychology and fiction and is followed by psychological profiles of 100 fictional characters from classic and popular literature, film, and television. Each profile summarizes the plot, describes the character's dominant psychological traits or mental conditions, and analyzes the accuracy of such depictions. Additional material includes author profiles, a glossary of psychological and literary terms, a list of sources, and recommended readings.

Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine are concerned with medical conditions affecting brain, mind and behaviour in manifold ways. Traditional approaches have focused on a restricted array of potential causes of psychiatric and psychosomatic conditions - including adverse experiences such as trauma, neglect or abuse, genetic vulnerability and epigenetic regulation of gene expression. Whilst essential for the understanding of mental disorders, these approaches have disregarded important questions such as why the human mind is vulnerable to dysfunction at all. The Textbook of Evolutionary Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine updates and expands on the original Textbook of Evolutionary Psychiatry (OUP, 2008) to provide answers to these questions by emphasising an evolutionary perspective on psychiatric and psychosomatic conditions. It explains how the human brain/mind has been shaped by natural and sexual selection; why adaptations to environmental conditions in our evolutionary past may nowadays work in suboptimal ways; and how human cognition, emotions, and behaviour can be scientifically framed to improve our understanding of how people try to attain important biosocial goals pertaining to one's status in society, mating, eliciting and providing care, and maintaining rewarding relationships. The evolutionary topics relevant to the understanding of psychiatric and psychosomatic conditions include the concepts of genetic plasticity, life history theory, stress regulation and immunological aspects. In addition, it is argued that an evolutionary framework is also necessary to understand how psychotherapy and psychopharmacology work to improve the lives of patients with psychiatric and psychosomatic disorders. The Textbook of Evolutionary Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine is a valuable text for all students of Psychology, Medicine, and Psychotherapy who seek an understanding of the evolutionary issues surrounding health and disease.

Evolutionary psychology has recently made inroads in clinical psychology, bringing the understanding that, in some cases, mental symptoms are not manifestations of brain disorders, but rather evolved mechanisms that might function in overdrive or signal fitness problems. Thus, improvements in fitness may lead to improvements in those symptoms. Armed with such insights, this brief describes a comprehensive therapy protocol for depression – Cognitive Evolutionary Therapy (CET) –, which incorporates evolutionary understandings of this condition into well-validated cognitive techniques. CET starts with an evaluation of the evolutionary fitness of an individual, which represents the springboard for specific, evolutionary-driven behavioral and cognitive interventions. Based on the fitness evaluation, which takes place at intake, the CET therapist comes pre-equipped with a list of the patient’s fitness problems and can start working on them very early on in therapy, potentially leading to shorter interventions and cost savings. This brief will appeal to clinical psychologists and therapists who frequently employ CBT principles in therapy, as well as to clinicians who want to incorporate insights from evolutionary disciplines into their approaches.

A volume in the Psychoanalytic Ideas Series, published for the Institute of Psychoanalysis by Karnac. Here, shame and jealousy are examined as hidden turmoils; as basic human feelings found in everyone but often suppressed and neglected. An unfulfilled need, unanswered plea for help, and failure to connect with and understand other people are all underlying causes for shame and feeling inadequate. The author argues that feelings of shame form an intrinsic part of the analytic encounter but 'astonishingly, this shame-laden quality of the psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic setting is rarely addressed. This lucidly written and much-needed volume explores the profound effects shame and jealousy can have on self-esteem and how this can eventually lead to a chronic condition.

The New York Times bestseller – with a new afterword about early specialization in youth sports – from the author of Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. The debate is as old as physical competition. Are stars like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, and Serena Williams genetic freaks put on Earth to dominate their respective sports? Or are they simply normal people who overcame their biological limits through sheer force of will and obsessive training? In this controversial and engaging exploration of athletic success and the so-called 10,000-hour rule, David Epstein tackles the great nature vs. nurture debate and traces how far science has come in solving it. Through on-the-ground reporting from below the equator and above the Arctic Circle, revealing conversations with leading scientists and Olympic champions, and interviews with athletes who have rare genetic mutations or physical traits, Epstein forces us to rethink the very nature of athleticism.