This book is a psychoanalytic detective story that takes the reader back to the late 1890's and to the generally unappreciated, yet single most important, turning point in the history of psychoanalysis. The context is the death of Freud's father and the decision Freud made to abandon his first, reality-centered theory of the mind in favor of a theory focused on inner fantasies and needs. Marshalling a large body of evidence, Langs views this change of heart as a regressive paradigm shift driven by unconsciously influential archetypes that were, in turn, linked to a series of early-life traumas in Freud's life, possibly eight in all, several of them preceding Freud's birth and all but one outside of Freud's conscious awareness. The ramifications of these incidents placed Freud on a later-day precipice from which his fall into equivalents of homicide and suicide were at risk; Freud shifted focus to save his life! Langs' detective work brings him to new insights into such matters as the psychological archetypes that affect the creation and modifications of paradigms, physical and mental; a new, utilitarian view of the design of the emotion-processing mind; recognition of the complex unconscious impact of reality and of death-related traumas on the human psyche and emotionally-charged choices; the vast superiority of Freud's first paradigm over his second theory of the mind; and the unconscious reasons, despite its many flaws, that Freud's second paradigm remains in favor to this very day. Freud saved his life by shifting course, but at the same time he created a theory that must be held partly accountable for the compromised forms of dynamic therapy and broad psychological harm that has followed in its wake. Using an updated version of Freud's first paradigm, Langs shows us a better way to live and work, as a psychotherapist or any other career.

The first in-depth psychoanalytic study of the Old and New Testaments, Beyond Yahweh and Jesus centers on God's role in enabling humans to cope with death and the anxieties it evokes. Yahweh is seen as tending to increase rather than diminish these death anxieties, while Christ offers near-perfect solutions to each type. Why, then, asks Dr. Langs, has Christ failed to bring peace to the world? Langs' answer is focused on what is, he argues, Western religion's lack of a deep understanding of human psychology―i.e., an absence of the psychological wisdom needed to supplement the spiritual wisdom of religion. This is a void bemoaned as early as the mid-1800s by the Archbishop Temple and by Carl Jung in the early 20th century. The journey on which Langs' study embarks leads through an examination of the related topics of knowledge acquisition and divine wisdom; the failure of psychoanalysis to provide religion with the psychology it needs to fulfill its mission; and a set of propositions that are intended to bring psychological wisdom to religion and thereby to initiate the third chapter in the history of God, in which a refashioned morality and fresh divine wisdom play notable roles. Simultaneously, the book offers a foundation for secular forms of spirituality and morality, as well as for human efforts to cope with death and its incumbent anxieties. The mission of this book is a lofty but necessary one: to reinvigorate religion with new dimensions and insights so as to empower it, at long last, to help bring peace to the world, both individually and collectively.

Product Description: Feelings of love, the wish for extra-therapeutic social contact, and the experience of sexual urges between psychotherapy patients and their therapists have been an endless source of confusion and misconceptions for those involved with emotional healing...read more

Product Description: This important text not only brings together a synthesis of Robert Langs' most important ideas and the latest developments in his thinking--many of them of utmost importance to all manner of therapists--it also presents them in a form that is accessible to the reader new to the communicative approach, as well as those with more experience...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: `This book issues a challenge to anyone in the field of psychotherapy who is resigned to seeing psychotherapy as solely a service activity or an art or craft. Instead, Langs invites us to see that psychotherapy, clinical technique and practice may have intricate and fundamental conditions to the scientific laws of nature and the universe...read more

Product Description: Each chapter is written by psychoanalysts that are strongly committed to a particular verion of psychoanalytic theory & practice...a dynamic showcase for the enormous diversity of explorations & thinking that characterize psychoanalysis. (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

(view table of contents)

Product Description: Argues that death anxiety is neglected - in part, because of treatment failures due to countertransference interferences during treatment. Langs then discusses the technical issues connected with this, whilst introducing the controversial concept that mental activities are derived from immune system activities...read more

Product Description: A compelling book for anyone interested in the human mind. Lang offers a solution to the age-old mind/body problem. (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: In attempting to unify psychoanalytic and evolutionary theories, Langs offers a concise account of the most current versions of Darwinian and neo-Darwinian theory. He then develops the arguement that the emotion processing mind is an organ of adaptation that has evolved by natural selection...read more

Product Description: Learn to interpret and benefit from everyday daydreams.

Product Description: This book provides an excellent introduction to the theory and technique of communicative psychoanalysis and links it with the growing field of evolutionary psychoanalysis. It provides a clear and stimulating account of some of the most recent developments of lang's highly original and contraversial work, which many practitioners continue to find deepy unsettling...read more

Product Description: Presents the essentials of supervision, establishes principles of teaching and learning, defines a sequence of optimal supervisory precepts and considers some of the basic issues in this area.

Product Description: Understand what your dreams are saying about your life with step-by-step exercises.

Product Description: 'Self-Processing' is Langs' development of self-analysis. He lays down a detailed technique and ground-rules for using this technique in everyday practice, in order to utilise the encoded impulses and adaptive processes of the client.

Product Description: Reflects a thorough synthesis of the many aspects of psychoanalytic experience and its therapeutic impact. This volume permits the reader to sample areas and topics of particular interest, while presenting a consistent overview of psychotherapy.

Product Description: To find more information about Rowman and LIttlefield titles, please visit www.rowmanlittlefield.com.

Discusses the therapy situation, with explanations of conditions, and a check list of plus and negative statements at the end of each chapter

Argues that the superficiality of the rational, conscious mind causes humans to miss the truth about themselves, work, and friends, and frightens them away from discovering what they really want