Here are 100 books that Characters on the Couch fans have personally recommended if you like
Characters on the Couch.
Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.
I have a reputation as an expert on the portrayal of psychopathology in contemporary cinema, and I have lectured on this topic hundreds of times in dozens of different countries. This reputation builds on five editions of Movies and Mental Illness and two editions of Positive Psychology at the Movies. I am also currently coauthoring a third book: Movies, Mini-series, and Multiculturalism: Using Films to Understand Culture, and I edit a series of film reviews for Hogrefe titled A Clinical Psychologist Goes to the Movies. Much of my career has been devoted to exploring the fascinating interface of psychopathology and media.
I loved this book. It is a quick read (100 pages) that will introduce readers to the importance of film in contemporary society.
Schlozman is a child psychiatrist who writes beautifully; he is also one of the world’s leading authorities on the relationship between cinema and mental illness, and he is someone who is deeply concerned by the ways in which films perpetuate stigma for people who are coping with mental illness, substance abuse or a developmental disability. Schlozman was an English teacher before becoming a psychiatrist; this is likely one of the reasons he writes so well.
Our world is inundated by film. Our best stories are told on movie screens, on televisions, on smartphones and laptops. Film argues that on-screen storytelling is the most ubiquitous format for art to intersect with health and well-being, offering a way for us to appreciate, understand and even celebrate the most nuanced and complex notions of what it means to be healthy through the stories that we watch unfolding. Clinicians use film to better understand their patients, and individuals use film to better understand themselves and each other.
Using case histories and based on academic research from a range of…
The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.
The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.
Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…
I have a reputation as an expert on the portrayal of psychopathology in contemporary cinema, and I have lectured on this topic hundreds of times in dozens of different countries. This reputation builds on five editions of Movies and Mental Illness and two editions of Positive Psychology at the Movies. I am also currently coauthoring a third book: Movies, Mini-series, and Multiculturalism: Using Films to Understand Culture, and I edit a series of film reviews for Hogrefe titled A Clinical Psychologist Goes to the Movies. Much of my career has been devoted to exploring the fascinating interface of psychopathology and media.
I have devoted much of my life to teaching medical students about mental illness and medical ethics, and this edited book is the best source for recommending films that are appropriate for the classroom. Medical students don’t have enough free time to watch entire films, but they love it when I bring in clips that illustrate schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, for example.
I found the book especially helpful for teaching interviewing skills–it is far less threatening for students to see examples of bad practice than to have these same behaviors pop up in clinical settings or in role-playing scenarios.
"Whole System Working" is an approach that enables people to find sustainable solutions to local problems. It is also a theoretical approach to organizational development that views groups of people who share a common purpose as a "living system". Based on King's Fund work over four years with health agencies and their local partners in housing, local government, the independent sector, transport, and local people, this book describes the founding principles which characterize the approach, gives examples of its application in practice, and answers common questions.
I have a reputation as an expert on the portrayal of psychopathology in contemporary cinema, and I have lectured on this topic hundreds of times in dozens of different countries. This reputation builds on five editions of Movies and Mental Illness and two editions of Positive Psychology at the Movies. I am also currently coauthoring a third book: Movies, Mini-series, and Multiculturalism: Using Films to Understand Culture, and I edit a series of film reviews for Hogrefe titled A Clinical Psychologist Goes to the Movies. Much of my career has been devoted to exploring the fascinating interface of psychopathology and media.
I found Young’s book to be tremendously helpful as I searched for films to use in my abnormal psychology courses. There are numerous recommendations for psychologically relevant films that my students found fascinating.
The book is relatively short, but it is scholarly and a quick read. Young is a clinical psychologist, and he draws on his professional background in recommending relevant films. I came away from this book with dozens of new ideas for films to use in the classroom.
Psychology at the Movies explores the insights to be gained by applying various psychological lenses to popular films including cinematic depictions of human behavior, the psychology of filmmakers, and the impact of viewing movies.
Uses the widest range of psychological approaches to explore movies, the people who make them, and the people who watch them
Written in an accessible style with vivid examples from a diverse group of popular films, such as The Silence of the Lambs, The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, Taxi Driver, Good Will Hunting, and A Beautiful Mind
Brings together psychology, film studies, mass communication, and…
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
I have a reputation as an expert on the portrayal of psychopathology in contemporary cinema, and I have lectured on this topic hundreds of times in dozens of different countries. This reputation builds on five editions of Movies and Mental Illness and two editions of Positive Psychology at the Movies. I am also currently coauthoring a third book: Movies, Mini-series, and Multiculturalism: Using Films to Understand Culture, and I edit a series of film reviews for Hogrefe titled A Clinical Psychologist Goes to the Movies. Much of my career has been devoted to exploring the fascinating interface of psychopathology and media.
I found this book perfect for my dual interests in mental illness and cinema; it is current (copyright 2023) and engaging. Charney is a practicing child psychiatry who brings extensive clinical experience to his writing. He also loves films, and this comes across in this book.
I especially like the numerous film grabs that illustrate this interesting volume, and it was especially interesting to see another therapist’s reactions to dozens of films I have watched and loved.
A unique exploration of how mental illness is portrayed in classic and contemporary films.
The study of classic and contemporary films can provide a powerful avenue to understand the experience of mental illness. In Madness at the Movies, James Charney, MD, a practicing psychiatrist and long-time cinephile, examines films that delve deeply into characters' inner worlds, and he analyzes moments that help define their particular mental illness.
Based on the highly popular course that Charney taught at Yale University and the American University of Rome, Madness at the Movies introduces readers to films that may be new to them and…
From the age of ten, I became enthralled with Abraham Lincoln. The story of his life captured my imagination. I had to know more about him. Through the decades I searched out little-known stories, eyewitness accounts, and letters thought lost. Becoming fascinated how he went from an almost illiterate young man to becoming the person we know from history; I went to the Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield Illinois and to where he lived in New Salem to do additional research. After that, I started writing a three-year labor of love: my own Lincoln book, primarily focusing on one key period of his life.
This is an insightful examination of Lincoln’s struggles with depression and thoughts of suicide. The author has done a masterful job of exploring Lincoln’s bouts of sadness, which began in his childhood and continued throughout his life, often closing in on him. My own research revealed much the same: from a cruel father with no real understanding of his son to the tragic loss of those he loved. It was always in the back of his mind, eating at him.
The National Mental Health Association and others have praised this book. If you want to get inside Lincoln, read this wonderful study of the man.
A nuanced psychological portrait of Abraham Lincoln that finds his legendary political strengths rooted in his most personal struggles.
Giving shape to the deep depression that pervaded Lincoln's adult life, Joshua Wolf Shenk’s Lincoln’s Melancholy reveals how this illness influenced both the President’s character and his leadership. Mired in personal suffering as a young man, Lincoln forged a hard path toward mental health. Shenk draws on seven years of research from historical record, interviews with Lincoln scholars, and contemporary research on depression to understand the nature of Lincoln’s unhappiness. In the process, Shenk discovers that the President’s coping strategies—among them,…
I spent my childhood in the shadow of my father’s mental illness, forced to grapple with its mysteries before I possessed the tools to do so. In other words, I lived the ignorance that surrounds mental illness. This experience led me to study psychiatry, its foibles and tragedies, both past and present. Now, I am a professor of sociology at the University of New Mexico, where I spend my days thinking and writing about mental health and illness. I am working on a new book about the current crisis in community mental health.
The abuse of power is a running theme in the history of psychiatry. Psychiatry has often been wielded to control those who challenge the status quo. This book neatly and creatively unearths one such attempt to stifle dissent by labeling it mad.
Focusing on a mental hospital in Michigan, Jonathan Metzl shows how schizophrenia was harnessed to pathologize Black Civil Rights activism in the 1960s. In the process, schizophrenia was transformed from a condition mainly diagnosed in whites to one that stressed violence and aggression and was mainly diagnosed in black males. I especially love how Metzl punctuates his historical analysis with poignant stories of individuals caught up in this dark period of racism in psychiatry.
A powerful account of how cultural anxieties about race shaped American notions of mental illness
The civil rights era is largely remembered as a time of sit-ins, boycotts, and riots. But a very different civil rights history evolved at the Ionia State Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Ionia, Michigan. In The Protest Psychosis, psychiatrist and cultural critic Jonathan Metzl tells the shocking story of how schizophrenia became the diagnostic term overwhelmingly applied to African American protesters at Ionia—for political reasons as well as clinical ones. Expertly sifting through a vast array of cultural documents, Metzl shows how associations between…
A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.
Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…
I’m a veteran teacher, instructional coach, and speaker. I’ve dealt with the bull crap and beauty of education for a decade and a half. As such, I’m dedicated to helping educators find their love of this work, even amidst the struggles. I’m a columnist for Education Leadershipand host of the Educator Happy Hour podcast. I travel all over the world to help teachers and school leaders learn the science of well-being so they can be at their best in order to give their best, even on full-moon, post-holiday, “WIFI crashed” days of student chaos.
Another happiness book!? Okay, if a philosophical book on the “art” of happiness isn’t your cup of Tibetan tea, then how about the scienceof happiness? Dr. Martin Seligmann is considered the founder of positive psychology – a movement to understand not just what’s wrong with people but what’s right.
Though Seligman has written a few books over the decades on the research of well-being, I think Authentic Happiness is the best introduction to the many studies helping us find more meaning, engagement, and joy. My favorite part is that Seligman seems like a “natural grouch” – like a guy who didn’t want to believe in positive psychology but couldn’t ignore the robust research showing that we canchange our well-being. Reading this is like chatting with the gruff, 40-year-teaching-veteran who is chock full of stories, wisdom, and insights to look at and live life differently.
A national bestseller, Authentic Happiness launched the revolutionary new science of Positive Psychology—and sparked a coast-to-coast debate on the nature of real happiness.
According to esteemed psychologist and bestselling author Martin Seligman, happiness is not the result of good genes or luck. Real, lasting happiness comes from focusing on one’s personal strengths rather than weaknesses—and working with them to improve all aspects of one’s life. Using practical exercises, brief tests, and a dynamic website program, Seligman shows readers how to identify their highest virtues and use them in ways they haven’t yet considered. Accessible and proven, Authentic Happiness is the…
I have published more than twenty books and hundreds of articles. But not one of those books and articles inspired the kind of devotion I felt toward The Power of Gratitude. In a way, this book encapsulates a lifetime of writing. It is the book I believe I was called to write.
While we sometimes might think of gratitude as just a simple emotion or reaction, Emmons and McCullough show a much more complex side to gratitude.
In this book, Emmons and McCullough explore the scientific and medical aspects of gratitude. The book helps the reader understand all the psychological and medical benefits produced by a life lived with gratitude.
Gratitude, like other positive emotions, has inspired many theological and philosophical writings, but it has inspired very little vigorous, empirical research. In an effort to remedy this oversight, this volume brings together prominent scientists from various disciplines to examine what has become known as the most-neglected emotion. The volume begins with the historical, philosophical, and theoretical foundations of gratitude, then presents the current research perspectives from social, personality, and developmental psychology, as well as from primatology, anthropology, and biology. The volume also includes a comprehensive, annotated bibliography of research on gratitude. This work contributes a great deal to the growing…
During an intensely productive period as a licensed clinical psychologist, I invented virtual reality immersion therapy described in US Patent 6425764 and authored Virtual Therapy: prevention and treatment of psychiatric conditions by immersion in virtual reality environments. UCSF Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Dr. Lawrence Lurie wrote: “Ralph’s vision is of the whole world, the context is history from the beginning of time. The author quotes Emerson, Dante, Chaucer, Jung and many more from before and after the invention of the printing press. The originality, language, and world view make this book interesting reading. The story is well told in verse, pictures, quotations, and more. I enjoyed the vast expansiveness of the story and the details of many people’s lives.”
The Power of Concentration is a practical guide for developing concentration. I liked this book because it helped me through graduate school when stress was high. The book contributes to a discussion of positive psychology. Concentration is placed within the grasp of each person. The author links concentration to the development of desirable habits while overcoming bad habits." Theron Q. Dumont noted, "Concentration is paying attention to a chosen thought." His work is relevant today given distractions from many corners of life.
This course of lessons will stimulate and inspire you to achieve success; it will bring you into perfect harmony with the laws of success. It will give you a firmer hold on your duties and responsibilities. All your real advancement must come from your individual effort. Success is assured when you are able to concentrate for you are then able to utilize for your good all constructive thoughts and shut out all the destructive ones. It is of the greatest value to be able to think only that which will be beneficial.
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
I'm Matt Phelan, and I've always been fascinated by how people think and feel, especially in the workplace. That's why I co-founded The Happiness Index, where we use data to help organizations understand and improve their workplace culture. I love exploring the connection between happiness and performance, and I'm eager to share the insights I've gained along the way.
This book highlights the science behind positive psychology and its impact on workplace success. It demonstrates how happiness fuels productivity, creativity, and resilience, leading to improved performance and better outcomes.
By cultivating positive emotions and fostering strong relationships, you can create a more supportive and enjoyable work environment for everyone.
Most people want to be successful in life. And of course, everyone wants to be happy. When it comes to the pursuit of success and happiness, most people assume the same formula: if you work hard, you will become successful, and once you become successful, then you'll be happy. The only problem is that a decade of cutting-edge research in the field of positive psychology has proven that this formula is backwards. Success does not beget happiness.
Based on the largest study ever conducted on happiness and human potential (a survey conducted by the author of more than 1,600 students),…
