Book Reviews

Malcolm Gladwell is a well-known journalist. His writing skills are extraordinary. Consequently, his book BLINK is well readable and describes the concepts Gladwell presents in a way that is easy to understand. I don’t think I would go too far by calling BLINK one of the grandmothers of modern popular scientific books that deal with psychological matters. The term blink refers to the blink of an eye, that is, to a very short moment that leaves no time for conscious... more

Not by chance did I read the latest book by Zimbardo and Boyd, called The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life shortly before Christmas. Doing so, I had two goals in mind. Firstly, I am establishing a custom of giving personal Christmas gifts, i.e. books that I like and specifically chose for someone in particular. Therefore, when Christmas approaches my books-to-read list is filled with titles that I have gathered throughout the year as... more

Freud’s genius has left an indelible mark on the field of psychology. For decades, Freudian Psychoanalysis was the gold standard in psychotherapeutic treatment. However, the process of psychoanalytic psychotherapy can be costly and could keep the client in therapy for years as a regular couch attendant. As a result, the clients might attain the insights they seek to know about their inner enigmas which have engendered a subjective and perceived neurosis, and healing might ensue. Anthony Dugdale, a psychology instructor... more

Kenrick has a very nice writing style and is quite self-deprecating in most of the anecdotes he presents. In his book Sex, Murder and the Meaning of Life, Kenrick talks about his years growing up in a tough neighborhood, his priorities in the different times of his life, and finally provides some advice based on his experience. His approach is to explain how and why humans behave in particular ways from an evolutionary psychologist’s perspective. However, this book was not... more

There are probably more misconceptions about Sigmund Freud than any other psychologist, or to be precise, medical doctor. My knowledge about Freud was limited to what I learned in my bachelor program and I felt that it was time to find out more about the founder of psychoanalysis. Therefore, when my PhD endeavor took me to a conference in Vienna, I decided to mix business with pleasure and grabbed Freud’s narrative biography written by Irving Stone. Irving Stone is a... more

“The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis”- Dante Alighieri Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be a sociopath? Or maybe you would rather not even think about it? M. E. Thomas (a pseudonym), the author of Confessions of a sociopath: A life spent hiding in plain sight doesn’t need to imagine it, she experiences it every day. She is a diagnosed sociopath, and one that seems... more

As a psychotherapist you come into contact with your clients and build a high level of intimacy within a relatively short period of time. You try to use all your professional skills to help the client build up their ressources or resolve their inner conflicts in order to live a more happy and fulfilled life. The shortcoming is that, in case you are succesful, you never see your clients again. Most practitioners accept that fact without a further ado and... more

What can psychologists learn from economists when it comes to learning? When it comes to studying skills, usually psychologists are asked for advice – cognitive and developmental psychology provides insights into how we think and learn new things. Therefore, the fact that this book was written by an economist is somehow surprising. But it shows that psychology can benefit from adopting the economical point of view on the market of knowledge. Rob van Tulder is professor of international business at... more

Existentialism as a philosophy was made popular by the writings of Kierkegaard, Heidegger and Sartre. However, existentialism as a tradition has also had a great impact on psychology, as evidenced by the creation of existential psychotherapy as well as the present work on experimental psychology. How do we define existentialism in relation to psychology? We can say that the common denominator of existential philosophy as compared to existential psychology is what Jean Paul Sartre described as “Existence precedes essence”; “We... more