A beneficial therapeutic journey led by a sensitive, compassionate guide.
A counseling psychologist shares her insights for achieving emotional well-being.
Rabenstein, aka Dr. Kelly, pulls back the veil of her practice in this engaging self-improvement manual, conveying what she terms “layers of exploration” to create “deeper connections.” The first-person account, in which the author reveals portions of her personal journey, provides a warm intimacy to a book that could otherwise be intimidating. The content takes a deep dive into emotional health and addresses topics typically covered in counseling sessions, including identity, defense mechanisms, bias and privilege, the understanding of feelings, and mindfulness. In each chapter, Rabenstein presents psychological theories, integrates her own experiences, and, most important, offers well-crafted exploratory exercises that immerse readers in serious self-reflection. The numerous exercises that appear throughout the volume cannot be taken lightly; they involve answering questions, completing rating scales, practicing skills, and employing thoughtful introspection. Some of them encourage creative expression; for example, in “Emotion Rainbow,” Rabenstein asks readers to review a comprehensive list of feelings and then use crayons or markers to “color-code the emotions” in order to understand their own and others’ reactions. These therapeutic forays are a large part of the book’s appeal. The overriding subject of her work, writes the author, is empathy: “Empathy is so powerful that I’ve spent half of a book preparing you for it and the other half discussing it.” If nothing else, Rabenstein’s perspective on empathy (and the related exercises) should help readers become more sensitized to others. A particularly important empathetic skill is active listening, which she renames “mindful listening.” The author encourages readers to practice mindful listening skills with another person. The manual includes a useful section concerning how to connect with children that should be valuable for both parents and teachers. Also in the mix is a chapter entitled “Emotional Success at Work,” in which Rabenstein explores the psychological aspects of work, the identification of one’s worth, the setting of work-life boundaries, and the special challenges of remote employment. In her conclusion, the author urges readers to use the book as a “basic template” for life.
A beneficial therapeutic journey led by a sensitive, compassionate guide.Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2022
ISBN: 9781646637621
Page Count: 356
Publisher: Koehler Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
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These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
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