Lesley Murdin – författare

Money speaks in everyday life and in literature of our greed and our generosity, our pride and our humiliation and as it passes among us it shows our creativity and our ability to co-operate even while it can also lead us to fight to the death. This book is for psychological therapists and for the general reader interested in human nature. Money has mattered since the first human attempts to symbolise value and enable people to wait for the return on their own labours. Since the financial crisis of 2008 its impact at a macro as well as a micro level is inescapable. It has become a means of exchange, much like language and has opened up social mobility to factors other than birth. This book looks at the origin of money and its history but most of all, what attitudes to money tell us about the way we connect to each other.

This book is about the difficulty of endings, but it is also about learning from the endings that we know have gone wrong as well as those that have worked well. It sets out how the psychological therapist can help a person to live well while life is available, and to face the endings that confront all of us with honesty, and the acceptance of our human fragility. Therapists suffer through the fears and failures of the people they see as well as through their own endings. These difficulties can either help each one to be more understanding and helpful, or can lead to disaster. This book is about making sure that we use experience as well as theory constructively.

How Much is Enough? addresses this important question, looking at the reasons why therapy can go on for too long or can come to a destructively premature ending, and offering advice on how to avoid either, with a timely conclusion. Using vivid examples and practical guidelines, Lesley Murdin examines the theoretical, technical and ethical aspects of endings. She emphasises that it is not only the patient who needs to change if one is to achieve a satisfactory outcome. The therapist must discover the changes in him/herself which are needed to enable an ending in psychotherapy. How Much is Enough? is a unique contribution to therapeutic literature, and will prove invaluable to students and professionals alike.

How Much is Enough? addresses this important question, looking at the reasons why therapy can go on for too long or can come to a destructively premature ending, and offering advice on how to avoid either, with a timely conclusion. Using vivid examples and practical guidelines, Lesley Murdin examines the theoretical, technical and ethical aspects of endings. She emphasises that it is not only the patient who needs to change if one is to achieve a satisfactory outcome. The therapist must discover the changes in him/herself which are needed to enable an ending in psychotherapy. How Much is Enough? is a unique contribution to therapeutic literature, and will prove invaluable to students and professionals alike.

Supernovae are gigantic stellar explosions. The effects of these rare events pervade astronomy, creating and spreading the chemical elements, triggering the formation of new stars, creating black holes and pulsars. Originally published in 1978 and first published by Cambridge as this revised edition in 1985, is the story of supernovae. It captures the flavour of ancient astronomy and lays out the accidents, coincidences, false leads and flashes of inspiration that followed as astronomers grasped the implications behind the rare appearance of supernovae. Two supernovae, seen in 1572 and 1604, made scientists aware that the stars changed and could be studied like everything else. Eventually, modern astronomers came to link supernovae with black holes, pulsars, and even with the creation of the chemical elements. The whole entertaining story is told clearly, in non-technical language, showing the triumph of human imagination as we discovered our place in the universe.

Professor Eric Forbes left behind at his death an important collection of the letters of John Flamsteed (1646-1719), First Astronomer Royal. A leading figure in the final phases of the seventeenth-century scientific revolution, his extensive correspondence with 129 British and foreign scholars all over the world touches on many of the scientific discussions of the day.A detailed, scholarly work of reference, The Correspondence of John Flamsteed, The First Astronomer Royal: Volume 1 is an essential guide to the exciting developments in scientific thinking that occurred during the seventeenth century. It supplements the published correspondence of Isaac Newton and Henry Oldenburg, and will be an invaluable research tool, not only for historians of astronomy, but also for researchers examining how scientific thought developed.

The Correspondence of John Flamsteed discusses this leading figure in the final phases of the seventeenth-century scientific revolution, presents his extensive correspondence with 129 British and foreign scholars all over the world, and touches on many of the scientific discussions of the day. This book, the last volume of the set, contains his letters from number 901 to 1515.

The Correspondence of John Flamsteed: The First Astronomer Royal, Three Volume Set explores the work of Flamsteed through his letters.The first volume serves as an essential guide to the exciting developments in scientific thinking that occurred during the seventeenth century by supplementing the published correspondence of Isaac Newton and Henry Oldenburg. It will be an invaluable research tool, not only for historians of astronomy, but also for researchers examining how scientific thought developed.The second volume contains the letters Flamsteed wrote and received from June 1682 to the spring of 1703. A leading figure in the final phases of the seventeenth-century scientific revolution, his extensive correspondence with 129 British and foreign scholars touches on many of the scientific discussions of the day. Some of these exchanges involved established correspondents, chiefly Newton and Wallis, but members of a younger generation, such as Stephen Gray, William Derham, and Abraham Sharp, appear with increasing frequency, especially after 1700.The last volume of the set includes letters from 451 to 1250.

Psychoanalytic Insights into Fundamentalism and Conviction: The Certainty Principle examines the role of, and need for, certainty in mental life, addressing questions raised by fundamentalism and extremism and exploring its relation to human nature. Murdin proposes a new synthesis in which certainty itself can be a cause of suffering and part of a defensive manoeuvre, and considers how the need for certainty can be managed in a positive way, rather than creating fear and extreme emotional responses. Illustrated throughout with examples from psychotherapy practice, literature and international politics, this book considers how the quest for certainty dominates much of human thinking. Murdin examines personal relationships, including politics and religion, where assumptions are taken for granted but function to hide fears and doubts, and argues that fundamentalist elements can generate harm in anyone but can be mitigated with understanding and work in therapy.Psychoanalytic Insights into Fundamentalism and Conviction helps to identify the underlying convictions that are causing mental harm. It is essential reading for psychotherapists, psychoanalysts and counsellors in practice and in training, and will be of interest to readers interested in fundamentalist states of mind.

Psychoanalytic Insights into Fundamentalism and Conviction: The Certainty Principle examines the role of, and need for, certainty in mental life, addressing questions raised by fundamentalism and extremism and exploring its relation to human nature. Murdin proposes a new synthesis in which certainty itself can be a cause of suffering and part of a defensive manoeuvre, and considers how the need for certainty can be managed in a positive way, rather than creating fear and extreme emotional responses. Illustrated throughout with examples from psychotherapy practice, literature and international politics, this book considers how the quest for certainty dominates much of human thinking. Murdin examines personal relationships, including politics and religion, where assumptions are taken for granted but function to hide fears and doubts, and argues that fundamentalist elements can generate harm in anyone but can be mitigated with understanding and work in therapy.Psychoanalytic Insights into Fundamentalism and Conviction helps to identify the underlying convictions that are causing mental harm. It is essential reading for psychotherapists, psychoanalysts and counsellors in practice and in training, and will be of interest to readers interested in fundamentalist states of mind.

Emotional links between therapists and their clients can help or hinder the therapeutic process. This comprehensive book examines how the main approaches deal with transference, looking at the technical and ethical difficulties in understanding transference from a theoretical point of view and with clinical illustration.

The nature and the outcome of therapy are always to some extent determined by the way the therapist decides to conduct the initial session. In Setting Out Lesley Murdin and Meg Errington explore the issues surrounding this subject, providing valuable insights into the significance of beginnings in psychotherapy.The book deals with practical issues for the therapist, such as the responsibility for the unfolding of the therapeutic relationship. It also addresses ethical and technical debates over how much should be said at the initial meeting, and how the beginning can determine the outcome. Subjects covered include:*The birth of a narrative self *Diagnosis: should we even begin? *Expectations: the birth of pattern recognition *Transference: the birth of the problem of reality Illustrated throughout with case vignettes, this exploration of the crucial issue of how to manage beginnings will be prove an invaluable resource for students of counselling and psychotherapy as well as experienced practitioners.

The nature and the outcome of therapy are always to some extent determined by the way the therapist decides to conduct the initial session. In Setting Out Lesley Murdin and Meg Errington explore the issues surrounding this subject, providing valuable insights into the significance of beginnings in psychotherapy.The book deals with practical issues for the therapist, such as the responsibility for the unfolding of the therapeutic relationship. It also addresses ethical and technical debates over how much should be said at the initial meeting, and how the beginning can determine the outcome. Subjects covered include:*The birth of a narrative self *Diagnosis: should we even begin? *Expectations: the birth of pattern recognition *Transference: the birth of the problem of reality Illustrated throughout with case vignettes, this exploration of the crucial issue of how to manage beginnings will be prove an invaluable resource for students of counselling and psychotherapy as well as experienced practitioners.

Money speaks in everyday life and in literature of our greed and our generosity, our pride and our humiliation and as it passes among us it shows our creativity and our ability to co-operate even while it can also lead us to fight to the death. This book is for psychological therapists and for the general reader interested in human nature. Money has mattered since the first human attempts to symbolise value and enable people to wait for the return on their own labours. Since the financial crisis of 2008 its impact at a macro as well as a micro level is inescapable. It has become a means of exchange, much like language and has opened up social mobility to factors other than birth.This book looks at the origin of money and its history but most of all, what attitudes to money tell us about the way we connect to each other. The book begins with a fictional narrative of a woman who finds her own way through anxieties and guilt about money to a state of greater understanding about what it has meant in her career and her relationship with her husband. The second half of the book is a discussion of the wider meaning of money through its history and its current trajectory, as demonstrated by money in psychological therapy. The symbolic meaning of money has been familiar since Freud showed the small child's delight in achieving control. Carl Jung showed the alchemist's search for gold and its parallel in the work of the therapist. Jacques Lacan has given us new ways of theorising money and its attraction through following the ways in which we distort and change the signifiers of our communication, both those that we seek to hide and those that are in full view.