by Brian Balke | Aug 13, 2019 | Book Reviews, Specializations
When I reached 50, friends began advising me to color my hair. I laughed – given what I’d been through in my 40s, I was proud of the evidence that I’d made it that far. In “Elderhood,” Louise Aronson reflects on a career in gerontology (the medical specialty that...
by Brian Balke | Jul 29, 2019 | Book Reviews, Relationships
Natural selection (Darwin’s evolution) drives animals toward faster, stronger, and more lethal. Greater specimens act freely, while lesser creatures scrabble in the shadow of death. Imagination changes that picture: lesser creatures still submit, but may observe and...
by Brian Balke | Jul 16, 2019 | Book Reviews, Mind Management
To play a musical instrument, it’s not enough to put your fingers in the right place. They have to arrive there at the right time. Getting to the right place is controlled by the wiring of the neurons. Right timing is controlled by myelin. Myelin is a fatty...
by Brian Balke | Jun 20, 2019 | Book Reviews
Life is change. For most of history, change was transmitted only through birth. Looking at the natural world, then, Darwin and his followers upheld the survival of our genes as the compulsion that drives our every behavior. In the mental health world, Freud also...
by Brian Balke | Apr 22, 2019 | Book Reviews
Milton Erickson was a titan of psychological research. He’s also a personal hero. His most important paper on trance makes the firm statement that the therapist’s highest priority is to protect the integrity of the subject’s personality. For me, this commitment...
by Brian Balke | Mar 20, 2019 | Book Reviews
In The Women’s Book of Healing, Diane Stein presents both theory and practice for developing our natural skills to project healing energy. In the theory, physical dis-ease (Stein used hyphens to emphasize the tendency of the being toward wellness) is the...
