BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
(written
by Steve Wooding)
 States
of Equilibrium
(John Burton)
States of Equilibrium is a book about
personality. Burton approaches 'personality' from the
point of view of us being the product of our learning,
specifically about what 'states' we utilise as part
of our daily lives. (A 'state' is essentially a combination
of mental, emotional and physiological activity that
we can label, such as 'happiness', 'relaxation', 'anger'
etc.)
His well-argued standpoint is that we
are all born innately capable of equilibrium - that
is, occupying the most beneficial and useful states
when necessary. However, our life experiences can teach
us that certain states are 'off limits' because 'bad
things' happened to us when we occupied those states.
He also tackles some developmental psychology too, looking
at the development of childhood logic and thinking and
how we all too often carry that into our adult lives.
For example, if we've been constantly
shouted down as a child we learn that 'assertiveness'
is a no-go area because we've been verbally (or perhaps
physically) abused when we've utilised that state. So
we learn that 'passivity' is safer, or we begin to model
the state of 'anger' that we've been at the receiving
end of for so long, abandoning the more positive and
productive 'assertive' middle-ground permanently.
As you can imagine, if this happens with
a variety of emotional scales, we begin to cut ourselves
off from a whole tranche of states that would make life
so much more fulfilling for ourselves and those around
us. Burton also looks at ways that we can help people
who've lost their equilibrium to regain it in a therapeutic
or coaching setting.
I'm already on my third read through
this book and refer to it fairly often. If you're interested
in learning more about new models of personality and
behavioural development then this is a great book.
Amazon.co.uk
link
(Please note that
this book can be less than easy to get hold of, so if
you're interested, try Anglo-American
Books)
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"THE SHIP" - A THERAPEUTIC
METAPHOR..?
Stories are powerful things, and
are often used to teach principles in non-threatening
ways. They can also be used in a therapeutic setting
- the classic model for this is Milton Erickson, who
was renowned for his use of metaphor in therapy (though
he also used more 'standard' approaches when appropriate
too). 'The Ship' was designed to be a therapeutic metaphor
for... well, read it and see what you get out of it!
TheShip.pdf
(~46Kb)
As this
is an original work, please keep the copyright notice
with all copies of this story and, if you modify it
in any way, please give credit to the original source.
"FLOWERS, TEA AND POETRY"
I like stories laden with meaning
for both the conscious and unconscious mind to be
intrigued by. At a recent 'brain-friendly learning trainers
training' I attended with Kaizen
Training, a shorter version of this tale was told
by Kimberley Hare, based on a story she was told. I've
since discovered that it has its origins in a traditional
Japanese folk tale. I was inspired to add my own embellishments
to it, and offer my version to you for your personal
reading, your comments, and to use as is, or modify,
in whatever situations you find it appropriate.
FlowersTeaPoetry.pdf
(~63Kb)
If
you distribute this particular version of the tale,
please leave the copyright notice intact, and give credit
where credit is due.
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