Showing results by publisher "W. F. Howes Ltd" in Psychology & Mental Health

William Burroughs closed his classic novel Junky by saying he had determined to search out a drug he called ‘Yage’, a drug that could be ‘the final fix’. In The Yage Letters, a mix of travel writing, satire, psychedelia, and epistolary novel, he journeys through South America, writing to his friend Allen Ginsberg about his experiments with the strange drug, using it to travel through time and space and derange his senses.

Burroughs’ letters reveal his desire to escape the norms of American society which hemmed him in, and the extraordinary steps he took to break free.

This audiobook is about ghosts and gods and flying saucers and certainty in the absence of knowledge. Weaving together the stories of six extraordinary ordinary people, The Believer looks at the stories we tell ourselves to deal with the distance between the world as it is and the world as we’d like it to be. How they can stunt us - or save us. Some of the people you will meet believe in things most people don’t. Ghosts. UFOs. Heaven and the devil. The literal creation of the universe in six days.

Sobering is the story of an insecure teenager turned Liverpudlian party girl, schoolteacher turned alcoholic and now recovering alcoholic turned award-winning podcaster. Melissa’s story is as dramatic as her unique voice, but her message is universal: mental health issues often drive vulnerable people to addiction, and working on mental health and personal development can help recovery.

In this fascinating examination of our widespread obsession with winning, Cath Bishop draws on her personal experience of high-performance environments to trace the idea of winning through history, language and thought to explore how it has come to be a defining concept in fields from sport to business, from politics to education. Faced with the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century, Cath offers a new, broader approach - the long win. 

Alexa Wú is a brilliant yet darkly self-aware young woman whose chaotic life is manipulated and controlled by a series of alternate personalities. Only three people know about their existence: her therapist, Daniel; her stepmother, Anna; and her enigmatic best friend, Ella. When Ella gets a job at a high-end gentleman’s club, she is gradually drawn into London’s cruel underbelly. With lives at stake, Alexa follows her friend on a daring rescue mission. Threatened and vulnerable, she will discover whether her multiple personalities are her greatest asset, or her biggest obstacle.

Taking inspiration from the fable of the hare and the tortoise, internationally renowned trainer Matt Little recognises that there is no fast path to success. By focusing on immediate results, we can gloss over process in a race to get ahead, skipping over the lessons and experiences that we all need to build solid foundations for our achievements. Matt shows that taking the slow lane can not only help you reach your goals more effectively, it can make your successes more sustainable by increasing your motivation, energy and resilience.

When Vanessa Potter woke up one morning blind and paralysed, she was astonished to discover that it was meditating, not drugs, that saved her. Working with neuroscientists on a unique ‘citizen science’ experiment, wearing a portable EEG headset that records her brain activity, Vanessa becomes a human guinea pig, investigating whether meditation can transform her life, forever. Books on meditation normally teach us how to meditate - not what happens when we try. For the curious or sceptic alike, Vanessa provides a glimpse into how powerful the right practice can be.

Instantly acquire all the knowledge you need to pass as an expert in the world of sex, seduction, and the sensual arts. Never again confuse a Flying Wallenda with an inverted wheelbarrow, food sex with vanilla sex, or a banjo string with a cupid stunt. Bask in the admiration of your fellow enthusiasts as you pronounce confidently on the comparative pleasures of identifying and arousing ‘P-spots’, ‘E-spots’ and ‘G-spots’, and effortlessly learn how to hold your own (figuratively speaking) against keen devotees of ‘frottage’.

Since 2007, entrepreneur and philanthropist Vikas Shah MBE has been on a mission to interview the people shaping our century. Including conversations with world leaders, Nobel prizewinners, business leaders, artists and Olympians, he quizzes the minds that matter on the big questions that concern us all. We often talk of war and conflict, the economy, culture, technology and revolutions as if they are something other than us. But all these things are a product of us - people like you, who have ideas that matter.

Why do we dream? How can you sleep better? How do you control your dreams? Discover the theories and techniques to ensure a rich world of dreams every night. Decode your dreams – over 50 common dream scenarios are interpreted in detail. What do they mean – to you? Ever dream of flying? Winning the lottery? Flunking an exam? Understand what your mind is telling you when you’re asleep and you’ll unlock your true potential when you’re awake. Night Vision holds the answers.

Essential hacks to bring breathing space into busyness. Is stress taking over your life? Are you worn out, flat out or continually going all out? Can you be more own-worse-enemy than own-best-friend? Keeping up with life’s demands can be relentless. Stress can morph you into someone you don’t want to be, living a life you don’t want to live. If you're feeling overwhelmed, stressed out, and can’t see the wood for the trees - fear not! Stresshacking is full of simple strategies to help you. 

Spite covers psychology, economics, genetics, literature and current affairs to examine why humans inflict self-harm just to get one over on someone else. Why do we secretly want our friends to fail? Lots of irresistible stories about toxic behaviour in supermarkets and over the privet hedge, ramping up to incendiary divorces, vicious business practices, backbiting politics, scorched earth terrorism, Trump and Brexit. Was Trump elected because people voted out of spite for Hillary Clinton? 

Anger is all around us, from divisive social media arguments and heightened political divides to road rage and personal spats; from Black Lives Matter and climate justice movements to Trump, incels and white supremacists. When it materialises, it seems to cry out for recognition and response. It affects our bodies and can transition into violence. It can be inherited through the generations; it can manifest in criminal acts. What should we do with it, and can it ever be put to good use?

Challenging the view that autism is something that needs to be ‘cured', Virginia Bovell testifies to the extraordinary care Danny has received for over 30 years and the everyday kindness and decency of the people – ‘the band of angels' – that surround him. She asks us to consider what makes a thriving individual versus an inadequate one; what it means to be ill versus what it means to not to conform; what roles society values and rewards; and how humans might flourish outside of failing political and economic systems.

Soldiers Don't Go Mad tells for the first time the story of the soldiers and doctors who struggled with the effects of industrial warfare on the psyche. As he investigates the roots of what we now know as PTSD, Charles Glass brings historical bearing to how we must consider war's ravaging effects on mental health, and the ways in which creative work helps us come to terms with even the darkest of times.

In 21st century commodity culture, we are all intimately involved with objects: we covet a Birkin bag; we keep trainers box-fresh. We are, in a sense, all fetishists. But occasionally this desire spills into something more subversive. SECOND SKIN offers a tour through the materials, objects and power dynamics commonly fetishised, unpacking their histories, their expressive potential, and the communities they give rise to. Drawing from her encounters with fellow fetishists and kinksters, it is also the story of Anastasiia Fedorova's own journey.

Beyond Happy explores how evolution has wired us to keep happiness just out of reach, leaving us perpetually stuck on a happiness treadmill. Instead of striving to escape it, the book argues, we should focus on making the treadmill a place we want to be. Finding this wellbeing begins with listening to our emotions, discovering intrinsic motivation and pursuing our authentic values. Fabian coaches you through this process of self-actualisation. Wellbeing, however, is not solely an individual pursuit–it is something we cultivate together.

Many of us didn't have a perfect childhood. But that doesn't mean we can't be good parents. In Parent Yourself First, licensed family therapist Bryana Kappadakunnel argues that the secret to successful parenting is to UN-learn the unhealthy patterns you grew up with, so you can find a better way forward with your own children. Even if that means throwing out everything you think you know about raising a kid.

Writer, journalist and podcaster Grace Timothy speaks to experts and those living with ADHD about what life is truly like as a neurodivergent adult, offering support, comfort and advice along the way, as well as providing the reader with tools to understand what ADHD really is. With expert help, this book will bust the myths, offer helpful guides to different aspects of ADHD and give key insight into the lived experience of ADHD, exploring the common—and not so common—symptoms and traits specific to the women.