The thirty-four journal articles, book reviews and conference papers collected in this volume were written over the same period of time as the author's three clinical monographs (Psychoanalytic theory and clinical relevance [Analytic Press, 1985], Substance abuse as symptom [Analytic Press, 1991], and Psychotherapy as praxis [Trafford, 2002]). While the books provide broad critiques of clinical, societal and philosophical issues in psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, and general psychology, the papers enlarge on specific subtopics, including some not addressed in the monographs.

The chapters in the present work are grouped into four subject areas:
Part I-conceptual frameworks;
Part II-psychotherapy and psychoanalysis;
Part III-society and culture; and
Part IV-general psychology.

Individual topics explored under these rubrics span a wide, diverse spectrum including neonatal models, personality theory, psychoanalytic defense analysis, the false memory syndrome, physical reductionism in psychiatry, ontology of language, mental health policies in the work place, psychological testing in forensic settings, national drug policy, and conflict resolution. These more narrowly focused papers collectively complement and further illuminate the general critiques presented in the author's previous books.

Most of the separate Parts and individual Chapters are preceded by new Introductions which were written specifically for this collection.

For over thirty years, Louis Berger has challenged and criticized psychotherapy's scientific ambitions and claims. However, while most critics of the mental health field typically have maintained that what was needed is more and better science, the author, surprisingly, recommended just the opposite: psychotherapy should rely on science less. This recommendation, based on Dr. Berger's extensive clinical and technical-scientific background, links up with the past century's many recurring criticisms of "rational-calculative" thinking in general. Major figures such as the philosopher Martin Heidegger have pointed out that all too often in Western culture, the scientific world view and its attendant practices - "technology" in the broadest sense S has been and continues to be dangerously misapplied, used in the wrong areas with destructive results.

In two earlier monographs and more than 40 journal articles, Dr. Berger had presented critiques of the mainstream, scientifically-oriented psychotherapies ("technotherapies), and proposed alternative approaches. The present volume enlarges on these earlier efforts by introducing a new ingredient: Aristotle's idea of praxis. This complex, unconventional, unfamiliar concept, only very distantly related to our contemporary notion of "practice" (as in "theory and practice") , was intended by Aristotle for use in those disciplines where scientific approaches are inadequate and unsatisfactory. The author asserts that psychotherapy is one of these disciplines.

Aristotle's general ideas about praxis are integrated with unorthodox aspects of psychoanalysis to yield a praxis-based psychotherapy, a clinical praxis. A detailed example is presented which demonstrates the advantages that such a praxial psychotherapy has over therapies that presumably are grounded in scientific thinking and research.

The final chapter, "Bringing about change," includes a discussion of the potential that the praxial approach has for being used in other important applications. It indicates that suitably modified generalized versions of a clinical praxis could be brought to bear, for example, on societal conflicts (including those that may be raised in the mental health field by the introduction of a non-technological, praxis-based psychotherapy), or on philosophical problems. Thus, Psychotherapy as Praxis is a multifaceted work that operates on a constellation of levels S clinical, cultural, and philosophical S and consequently will interest generalists as well as readers from diverse disciplines.

Becoming a Wise Parent for your Grown Child is a warm and practical guide that gives parents a step-by-step approach to handling the many problems that can arise with grown children:

• How to relate to a grown child who has chosen a lifestyle radically different from your own
• How to establish boundaries and remain close
• How to support autonomy so they can move away from home successfully
• How to give feedback, not unwanted advice
• When to speak up and when to bite your tongue about the way your son or daughter is treating his or her own children.

Filled with lively real-world examples and challenging self-assessment questions, this book shows you how to gain some distance from the issues you're facing, put your adult children's problems in perspective, and speak up or take action in a way that will strengthen your relationship with them.

Authors and book featured in a special feature on the Failure to Launch DVD.

More information: www.becomingawiseparent.com