What psychologists have you read?

[Lark]

I've read pretty widely in different schools of psychological thought but I wondered what authors have everyone else read? Did you think they were good or not so good? Why?

 

[Maou]

I've not read anything specific, but I did read a few college textbooks. But whether or not I remember who wrote what, is a different thing all together.

I think all of them are valuable/good in their own way.

 

[Deprecator]

I've read a few books by Freud, whom I consider to be the founder and pioneer of modern psychology. To me it's interesting how at the time people thought his theories were not remotely credible or supported by any evidence, and yet fast forward to the modern day and virtually all of his theories -- from dream interpretation to the preeminent role of sex in creating neuroses -- have garnered widespread acceptance.

 

[Obfuscate]

i have read mostly szasz... i like him because he focused on ethics in his field...

 

[Deprecator]

i have read mostly szasz... i like him because he focused on ethics in his field...

Ah, yes, America's most controversial psychiatrist? I like how he correlated the frequency at which a belief is held to the likelihood that it's perceived as a mental illness.

 

[Siúil a Rúin]

Carl Rogers for sure!

He established student-centered learning and client-centered counseling. His techniques were used in peace talks during international diplomacy. He believes in the three basic principles:

1. The therapist is congruent with the client.
2. The therapist provides the client with unconditional positive regard.
3. The therapist shows empathetic understanding to the client.

He also talks about how each person is the expert of their own life and the role of counselor is to create a space where the client feel safe and clear to be able to become aware of the solutions for their problems. I believe he is correct because the individual is the only person with all the knowledge of their own experience, how various events effect them, what they can best tolerate and what they cannot, what they value and what they do not. No one else is very good or knowledgable about what our individual existence is actually like. That respect for the personal boundary and the individual with a focus on empathy is one of my highest ideals and values.

 

[Cellmold]

Carl Rogers for sure!

He established student-centered learning and client-centered counseling. His techniques were used in peace talks during international diplomacy. He believes in the three basic principles:

1. The therapist is congruent with the client.
2. The therapist provides the client with unconditional positive regard.
3. The therapist shows empathetic understanding to the client.

He also talks about how each person is the expert of their own life and the role of counselor is to create a space where the client feel safe and clear to be able to become aware of the solutions for their problems. I believe he is correct because the individual is the only person with all the knowledge of their own experience, how various events effect them, what they can best tolerate and what they cannot, what they value and what they do not. No one else is very good or knowledgable about what our individual existence is actually like. That respect for the personal boundary and the individual with a focus on empathy is one of my highest ideals and values.

That is brilliant, as in 'deep down we know what is wrong with ourselves'.

I'll have to read up on him.

 

[Lark]

That is brilliant, as in 'deep down we know what is wrong with ourselves'.

I'll have to read up on him.

Jung had very similar ideas, derived from biology I think, relating to how the body will heal itself and seek to function healthily, adapting to impairments. I'm not sure but it might be called homeostasis?

Of course the problem with the mind seeking a familiar equilibrium is that it can begin to prefer a familiar pathological or unhealthy state to the stress and strain of change.

A lot of Rogers stuff is interesting and I think, like ALL of the psychologists I've ever read, needs to be understood in context and often as a response or reaction to someone or something. Rogers was responding to some pretty awful orthodoxy among his contemporaries. If you've seen Mad Men you'll know what I'm talking about.

However, I think there's potentially a seriously dark side to Rogerian practice. The principle of unconditional positive regard can be in conflict with any sort of duty of candor what so ever. It is the favourite approach among some criminally insane types for a reason.

 

[Abcdenfp]

Currently reading Jungs essay "The Pyschology of the Transference"
i am also fascinated with Alchemy so I love his correlation with Alchemy, Gnostics and dualism. There is so much to work though.
All the patterns are connected.

 

[typologyenthusiast]

I read Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud.