Thought Suppression

Is it possible to ban unwanted thoughts from consciousness? According to the literature on thought suppression, the answer is no. In the 1980s, Wegner and colleges demonstrated that the average person cannot prevent a trivial thought like that of a polar bear from entering consciousness approximately seven times in a five minute period. This experimental finding was followed by a substantial number of replications. This book provides an up-to-date overview of the thought suppression literature. First, similarities and differences between suppression, repression, and dissociation are discussed. Methodological issues are then considered. Finally, the clinical applications of the thought suppression literature are discussed. Although there are numerous conditions to which the phenomenon of suppression can be applied, obsession and traumatic recollection are the main applications. In addition to offering an overview of the literature, this book links the thought suppression paradigm to other research fields, such as directed forgetting and repressive coping. Furthermore, it discusses the phenomenon of thought suppression in the light of broader theories such as the cognitive theory of obsession, and the ego depletion hypothesis. Clinical implications and directions for future research are offered.

For several years, social psychologist Daniel M. Wegner has been investigating the inability to control thoughts. Drawing on the most recent breakthroughs in this area of research, this is an illuminating explanation of just how human minds work and of the glimmerings of madness in all people.

This handbook provides a comprehensive review of social cognition, ranging from its history and core research areas to its relationships with other fields. The 43 chapters included are written by eminent researchers in the field of social cognition, and are designed to be understandable and informative to readers with a wide range of backgrounds.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects one person in 40 and can cause great suffering. This volume provides the first comprehensive summary of our understanding of this enigmatic condition, summarizing current work ranging from genetics and neurobiology through cognitive psychology, treatment, personal experiences, and societal implications.

The Renaissance marked a turning point in Europe’s relationship to Arabic thought. On the one hand, Dag Nikolaus Hasse argues, it was the period in which important Arabic traditions reached the peak of their influence in Europe. On the other hand, it is the time when the West began to forget, and even actively suppress, its debt to Arabic culture. Success and Suppression traces the complex story of Arabic influence on Renaissance thought. It is often assumed that the Renaissance had little interest in Arabic sciences and philosophy, because humanist polemics from the period attacked Arabic learning and championed Greek civilization. Yet Hasse shows that Renaissance denials of Arabic influence emerged not because scholars of the time rejected that intellectual tradition altogether but because a small group of anti-Arab hard-liners strove to suppress its powerful and persuasive influence. The period witnessed a boom in new translations and multivolume editions of Arabic authors, and European philosophers and scientists incorporated—and often celebrated—Arabic thought in their work, especially in medicine, philosophy, and astrology. But the famous Arabic authorities were a prominent obstacle to the Renaissance project of renewing European academic culture through Greece and Rome, and radical reformers accused Arabic science of linguistic corruption, plagiarism, or irreligion. Hasse shows how a mixture of ideological and scientific motives led to the decline of some Arabic traditions in important areas of European culture, while others continued to flourish.

Geropsychology - the field of psychology concerned with the psychological, behavioural, biological, and social aspects of aging - has developed rapidly in the past decade. This clinical casebook describes current best practice in managing complex cases involving common mental health issues in later life, by leading authorities in the field.

Of the many conceptual distinctions present in psychology today, the approach-avoidance distinction stands out as one of, if not the, most fundamental and basic. The distinction between approach and avoidance motivation has a venerable history, not only within but beyond scientific psychology, and the deep utility of this distinction is clearly evident across theoretical traditions, disciplines, and content areas. This volume is designed to illustrate and highlight the central importance of this distinction, to serve as a one-stop resource for scholars working in this area, and to facilitate integration among researchers and theorists with an explicit or implicit interest in approach and avoidance motivation. The main body of this volume is organized according to seven broad sections that represent core areas of interest in the study of approach and avoidance motivation, including neurophysiology and neurobiology, and evaluative processes. Each section contains a minimum of four chapters that cover a specific aspect of approach and avoidance motivation. The broad applicability of the approach-avoidance distinction makes this Handbook an essential resource for researchers, theorists, and students of social psychology and related disciplines.

Advancing our understanding of the cognitive underpinnings of psychopathology, this is the first volume dedicated exclusively to the role of UITs (unwanted intrusive thoughts) across a wide range of psychological disorders. This volume will inform the work of researchers and clinicians alike. In addition, the scope and scientific grounding of the book make it an excellent resource for students in graduate clinical training programs to use in their studies and throughout their careers. It will serve as a unique supplemental text in courses in psychotherapy, abnormal psychology and psychopathology, and cognitive-behavioral theory.

Readership: Academics, clinical psychologists and psychiatrists, cognitive behavioural therapists, and undergraduate and postgraduate students in clinical psychology

Psychotherapy is the dialogue between patient and therapist in the diagnosis and treatment of behavioral, crisis, and mental disorders. Psychoanalysis as formulated by Sigmund Freud is the first modern form of psychotherapy and this approach has given rise to several score of psychodynamic therapies. In more recent times behavioral, cognitive, existential, humanistic, and short-term therapies have been put into practice, each with a particular focus and each giving rise to variations in structure and content of treatment as well as therapeutic outcomes. These therapy approaches relate the patient/therapist dialogue to different aspects of the therapeutic process. For instance, behavior therapies focus on the patient's conduct and cognitive therapies treat the client's thought processes. The Encyclopedia covers the major psychotherapies currently in practice as well as the classical approaches that laid the foundation for the various contemporary treatment approaches. In addition, the Encyclopedia identifies the scientific studies conducted on the efficacy of the therapies and review the theoretical basis of each therapy.