Perfection's Therapy

Perfection's Therapy PDF Author: Mitchell B. Merback
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 1935408771
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
A deft reinterpretation of the most zealously interpreted picture in the Western canon as a therapeutic artifact. Albrecht Dürer's famous portrayal of creative effort in paralysis, the unsurpassed masterpiece of copperplate engraving titled Melencolia I, has stood for centuries as a pictorial summa of knowledge about the melancholic temperament, a dense allegory of the limits of earthbound arts and sciences and the impossibility of attaining perfection. Dubbed the “image of images” for being the most zealously interpreted picture in the Western canon, Melencolia I also presides over the origins of modern iconology, art history's own science of meaning. Yet we are left with a clutter of mutually contradictory theories, a historiographic ruin that confirms the mood of its object. In Perfection's Therapy, Mitchell Merback reopens the case file and argues for a hidden intentionality in Melencolia's opacity, its structural “chaos,” and its resistance to allegorical closure. That intentionality, he argues, points toward a fascinating possibility never before considered: that Dürer's masterpiece is not only an arresting diagnosis of melancholic distress, but an innovative instrument for its undoing. Merback deftly resituates Dürer's image within the long history of the therapeutic artifact. Placing Dürer's therapeutic project in dialogue with that of humanism's founder, Francesco Petrarch, Merback also unearths Dürer's ambition to act as a physician of the soul. Celebrated as the "Apelles of the black line" in his own day, and ever since as Germany's first Renaissance painter-theorist, the Dürer we encounter here is also the first modern Christian artist, addressing himself to the distress of souls, including his own. Melencolia thus emerges as a key reference point in a venture of spiritual-ethical therapy, a work designed to exercise the mind, restore the body's equilibrium, and help in getting on with the undertaking of perfection.

Perfection's Therapy

Perfection's Therapy PDF Author: Mitchell B. Merback
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 1935408771
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 361

Get Book Here

Book Description
A deft reinterpretation of the most zealously interpreted picture in the Western canon as a therapeutic artifact. Albrecht Dürer's famous portrayal of creative effort in paralysis, the unsurpassed masterpiece of copperplate engraving titled Melencolia I, has stood for centuries as a pictorial summa of knowledge about the melancholic temperament, a dense allegory of the limits of earthbound arts and sciences and the impossibility of attaining perfection. Dubbed the “image of images” for being the most zealously interpreted picture in the Western canon, Melencolia I also presides over the origins of modern iconology, art history's own science of meaning. Yet we are left with a clutter of mutually contradictory theories, a historiographic ruin that confirms the mood of its object. In Perfection's Therapy, Mitchell Merback reopens the case file and argues for a hidden intentionality in Melencolia's opacity, its structural “chaos,” and its resistance to allegorical closure. That intentionality, he argues, points toward a fascinating possibility never before considered: that Dürer's masterpiece is not only an arresting diagnosis of melancholic distress, but an innovative instrument for its undoing. Merback deftly resituates Dürer's image within the long history of the therapeutic artifact. Placing Dürer's therapeutic project in dialogue with that of humanism's founder, Francesco Petrarch, Merback also unearths Dürer's ambition to act as a physician of the soul. Celebrated as the "Apelles of the black line" in his own day, and ever since as Germany's first Renaissance painter-theorist, the Dürer we encounter here is also the first modern Christian artist, addressing himself to the distress of souls, including his own. Melencolia thus emerges as a key reference point in a venture of spiritual-ethical therapy, a work designed to exercise the mind, restore the body's equilibrium, and help in getting on with the undertaking of perfection.

Process Not Perfection

Process Not Perfection PDF Author: Jamie Marich
Publisher: Creative Mindfulness Media
ISBN: 9781733703000
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to healing the wounds of traumatic experiences, although most survivors agree that just talking about the trauma does not work. Expressive arts therapy offers a wide range of potential solutions for trauma survivors by taking an all of the above approach to creative practices, working with multiple expressive pathways in a variety of combinations. This book invites you into artmaking, music, dancing, movement, writing, and other expressive practices to both cultivate your existing strengths and to help you step outside of your comfort zone. Explore how the practices of expressive arts can best support your healing and recovery journey.

Bird Therapy

Bird Therapy PDF Author: Joe Harkness
Publisher: Unbound Publishing
ISBN: 1783527749
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
Longlisted for the 2020 Wainwright Prize 'I can't remember the last book I read that I could say with absolute assurance would save lives. But this one will' Chris Packham 'Fabulously direct and truthful, filled with energy but devoid of self-pity . . . I was impressed and enchanted. Highly recommended' Stephen Fry 'Succeeds – triumphantly – in articulating with great honesty what it is like to suffer with a mental illness, and in providing strategies for coping' Mail on Sunday When Joe Harkness suffered a breakdown in 2013, he tried all the things his doctor recommended: medication helped, counselling was enlightening, and mindfulness grounded him. But nothing came close to nature, particularly birds. How had he never noticed such beauty before? Soon, every avian encounter took him one step closer to accepting who he is. The positive change in Joe's wellbeing was so profound that he started a blog to record his experience. Three years later he has become a spokesperson for the benefits of birdwatching, spreading the word everywhere from Radio 4 to Downing Street. In this groundbreaking book filled with practical advice, Joe explains the impact that birdwatching had on his life, and invites the reader to discover these extraordinary effects for themselves.

Cultivating the Arts in Education and Therapy

Cultivating the Arts in Education and Therapy PDF Author: Malcolm Ross
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1136738797
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
The constituency for education and therapy in the arts is rapidly expanding beyond the conventional school and clinical settings to include the wider community. In Cultivating the Arts in Education and Therapy, Malcolm Ross integrates traditional Chinese Five Element Theory, also known as The Five Phases of Change, with contemporary Western psychological and cultural studies, to form a new Syncretic Model of creative artistic practice. The Syncretic Model is explored and validated through an analysis of interviews with practising, successful artists, and in a comprehensive review of the latest neuro-scientific research into human consciousness and emotion. The book addresses the well-documented difficulties experienced by arts teachers and therapists intervening in, supporting and evaluating the creative development of individual students and clients. This groundbreaking text repositions the arts as central to the effective initiation and management of change in contemporary society. Besides being of wide general interest, it will have particular relevance for practising and trainee arts teachers, arts therapists and community artists. With the demand for their services growing and pressure to demonstrate effectiveness mounting, the arts community is looking to build bridges between the different arts, and between arts education and therapy across national boundaries. This book offers a fresh, coherent, and challenging framework for a revitalized reflective practice from an experienced authority in the field.

Mom Life: Perfection Pending

Mom Life: Perfection Pending PDF Author: Meredith Ethington
Publisher: Absolute Love Publishing
ISBN: 9780999577318
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description
Out-parented at PTA? Out-liked on social media? Wondering how your best friend from high school’s kids are always color-coordinated, angelic, and beaming from every photo, while your kids look more like feral monkeys? It’s okay. Imperfection is the new perfection! Join Meredith Ethington, “one of the funniest parents on Facebook,” according to Today.com, as she relates encouraging stories of real-mom life in her debut parenting humor book, Mom Life: Perfection Pending. Whether you’re buried in piles of laundry, packing your 50th sack lunch for the week, or almost making it out the door in time for school, you’ll laugh along with stories of what real-mom life is like—and realize that sometimes simply making it through the day is good enough. An uplifting yet real look at all that is expected of moms in the 21st century, Mom Life: Perfection Pending is so relatable you’ll find yourself saying, “I guess I’m doing okay after all.”

Overcoming Perfectionism 2nd Edition

Overcoming Perfectionism 2nd Edition PDF Author: Roz Shafran
Publisher: Robinson
ISBN: 1472140559
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 263

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Book Description
How to break the circle of 'never good enough' Striving for something can be a healthy and positive attribute; it's good to aim high. But sometimes whatever we do just isn't good enough; we want to be too perfect and start setting unrealistic goals. Such high levels of perfectionism, often driven by low self-esteem, can turn against success and develop into unhealthy obsession, triggering serious mental-health problems, such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), on which this self-help book is based, has been found to be a highly effective treatment and provides relief from that disabling sense of not being good enough. In this essential self-help guide, you will learn: - How clinical perfectionism manifests itself - Effective coping strategies with invaluable guidance on how to avoid future relapse OVERCOMING self-help guides use clinically-proven techniques to treat long-standing and disabling conditions, both psychological and physical. Many guides in the Overcoming series are recommended under the Reading Well Books on Prescription scheme. Series Editor: Professor Peter Cooper

Seeking Perfection

Seeking Perfection PDF Author: Matt J. Rossano
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351491644
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
"How would Socrates and Plato react to a modern world where secularism and religious fundamentalism are growing while the gap between the human mind and animal mind is narrowing? Using some creative license mixed with real history, science, and philosophy, Seeking Perfection addresses that question. Matt J. Rossano uses a narrative/dialogue format to superimpose on modern times ancient Greece's two most eminent philosophers, along with its government and culture.The story begins with Plato's daring escape from Sicily, where he tutored Dionysius II in philosophy. On board his homebound ship, Plato recounts his experiences in Sicily. In this narrative, the intellectual difference between practical rewards and the pursuit of ideals provides the basis for a series of dialogue on science, secularism, religion, and the uniqueness of the human mind.Upon the ship's arrival home, Plato's mentor, Socrates, is arrested and his trial provides the venue for the book's final dialogue. The final dialogue serves as a counterweight to the earlier ones. Rossano begins and ends with a philosopher imprisoned by his views, indicative of one of its main messages: the true philosopher uses a well-disciplined mind and the best knowledge of the day to get as close to the truth as possible. In doing so, he invariably gets into trouble. This imaginatively constructed tale will absorb those interested in what the philosophical masters might say about today's world."

Flawed Perfection

Flawed Perfection PDF Author: Jeffrey A. Brauch
Publisher: Lexham Press
ISBN: 1683590252
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description
To understand the problems that face the world, one must understand human nature. From exploitation and violence to decisions about how to wisely govern or care for human life, the problems humanity faces aren't just abstract issues—they impact the day-to-day lives of many individuals and communities across the globe. How should Christians wrestle with these complex and difficult problems in a thoughtful, ethical way? According to Jeffrey A. Brauch, people need to start with an informed grasp of human nature. It's only by understanding human nature that a person can recognize their profound value as God's good creation despite their fallen condition, and uphold equal human rights regardless of differences. Flawed Perfection will help Christians from across the political and cultural spectrum think carefully about and actively respond to these issues with both gravity and grace

The Pursuit of Perfection

The Pursuit of Perfection PDF Author: Sheila Rothman
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307767132
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
What does it mean to live in a time when medical science can not only cure the human body but also reshape it? How should we as individuals and as a society respond to new drugs and genetic technologies? Sheila and David Rothman address these questions with a singular blend of history and analysis, taking us behind the scenes to explain how scientific research, medical practice, drug company policies, and a quest for peak performance combine to exaggerate potential benefits and minimize risks. They present a fascinating and factual story from the rise of estrogen and testosterone use in the 1920s and 1930s to the frenzy around liposuction and growth hormone to the latest research into the genetics of aging. The Rothmans reveal what happens when physicians view patients’ unhappiness and dissatisfaction with their bodies—short stature, thunder thighs, aging—as though they were diseases to be treated. The Pursuit of Perfection takes us from the early days of endocrinology (the belief that you are your hormones) to today’s frontier of genetic enhancements (the idea that you are your genes). It lays bare the always complicated and sometimes compromised positions of science, medicine, and commerce. This is the book to read before signing on for the latest medical fix.

Perfectionism

Perfectionism PDF Author: Paul L. Hewitt
Publisher: Guilford Publications
ISBN: 1462528724
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
Grounded in decades of influential research, this book thoroughly examines perfectionism: how it develops, its underlying mechanisms and psychological costs, and how to target it effectively in psychotherapy. The authors describe how perfectionistic tendencies--rooted in early relational and developmental experiences--make people vulnerable to a wide range of clinical problems. They present an integrative treatment approach and demonstrate ways to tailor interventions to the needs of individual clients. A group treatment model is also detailed. State-of-the-art assessment tools are discussed (and provided at the companion website). Throughout the book, vivid clinical illustrations make the core ideas and techniques concrete.ÿ ÿ