Annotated reading list, with comments from Barbara. Each book contains a link to enable you to purchase any of the items listed.

2003 NAICR BOOK LIST

Hellinger's clear, clean constellation systems work is showing people how their lives are influenced by what happened in the generations that preceded them. He shows that the legacy of entanglements can influence us toward disease, accidents, mental problems and difficult lives. The immense influence of war and brutality on human kind begins to emerge. When we make peace with "what is," and honor those who have made our lives possible, dramatic change and healing often occurs. This work has profound implications for the field of conflict resolution. For more information, see http://www.hellinger.com/

This latest book deepens the exploration of how acknowledging what is can heal is even more powerful than the first book in English. Hellinger works with groups of people, now, only the terminally ill, with hundreds looking on. The simple but consecrated act of placing representatives of one's family members within the circle, in relationship to one another, and then allowing them to speak for the ones represented, reveals the workings of the family system and its influence on the individual. Acknowledgement of those excluded, once the representatives shift in such a way that everyone is reasonably comfortable, can untangle what was tangled, and heal what was thought untreatable.

Opens new ways of having real discussions, where the fear and dishonesty and other common impediments to connection are laid aside and the group is able to move beyond the limitations of individuals to a true group wisdom. A book to rely on and to delve into again and again.

This compelling book reveals how widespread trauma is and how it leaves toxic residue in our bodies that can bring about mental, physical and emotional problems as well as antisocial behavior. The analogy to animal behaviors in terrifying circumstances, and how recovery is made, compared to our own treatment modalities shows how far off the mark we've been these past many decades. Fresh, readable and insightful. Chances are, you'll easily find ways of applying its insights.

This book is filled with positive approaches to life that bring energy, delight and remarkable results, whether in teaching, relationships, conflict resolution, work, music or poking around the neighborhood. It draws from the authors' experiences some simple strategies that defy much of what we've spent our lives learning, that still stands in the way of living life fully. Good for adding zest to whatever you are doing.

The grand bath in human systems: showing how what we think is something individual is in fact only a tiny part of a large system. Reveals the interplay of individual and system action and reaction, showing how each influences the other. Great continuing relevance and vitality.

This book helps break the bonds of habit and belief about who you are and what you're about, by getting into it with sound and movement. Doing the little party-game type exercises she offers seems to loosen the control of mind and produce a lightness and delight many haven't felt since childhood.

The book that led to a world-wide renewal of labyrinth walking. The impeccable shape of the Chartres labyrinth and the profound experiences people have walking it touches the soul. This well-written little book provides a window on its history and use through the ages.

This little book, reprinted more than a dozen times, is a practical and accessible introduction to the creative and healing power of the voice.

A very accessible and useful introduction and manual for Neuro Linguistic Programming, what has been widely considered the state-of-the-art communications.

An inspiring account of how South Africa's predominantly black, but multi-racial government, came to reject the retribution model and instead to use the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address the atrocities of the period of apartheid. This story is told with great tenderness and compassion, even for the reader, who is spared much of the horror.

This is a highly readable and insightful book on how individuals from all over the world have broken the bonds of hate, and what remarkable grace has filled their lives afterwards. The self-punishment required to keep hating literally eats people alive. When they let go, it is like a flood of goodness that wells up. These are their stories.

This collection of essays is directed more toward therapists. Still, there is a powerful critique of the practice of encouraging people to act out their anger, coupled with suggestions to orient clients toward forgiveness. And there are personal stories of transformation that take your breath away. See this book for the implications of forgiveness for institutions, communities and nations. Forgiveness is an inside job.

These 21 guidelines for" beginning, improving and changing your most meaningful relationships" has much to offer conflict resolution practitioners. For example, he explores how to respond constructively to anger and abusive behavior. The analysis of "payoffs" for staying stuck in demands is a gold mine of for developing your own creative ideas about how to loosen such stuckness. "Being right" is a payoff, for example, but one that rarely gets a person relief from what they insist on being right about.

See Forgiveness Overview and Forgiveness Steps

The book on the Stauffer method of unconditional love and forgiveness. Translated into five languages, it has amazing vitality.

purchase at 
Amazon.com

The clarity and compassion in this book is utterly compelling. Read it for truths about the nature of reality and the purpose of life that shake you and won't let you go - for example, "Mixing spirituality with anything is mixing internal effort with everything. That makes everything worse. Spirituality is a distraction into some form of personal and internal achievement. And the moment you become honest inside, you will see right through it." Worth reading and re-reading. Check out the web site as well, for tapes, videos and retreat schedules. www.johnderuiter.com

A simple, direct communication from the I AM within you about the nature of reality, what your purpose in life is and what it means to be fully human.

An essential read for understanding the inner and outer nature of the world we live in. It shows why and how thoughts are so powerful and how form and physical matter intersect.

This book is a clear, challenging but simple guide to conscious soul practice, which means a way of building capacity to connect with others and with the world. It's not about meditation practices, but rather a more meaningful way of interacting in the world.

"This is a book about love. Although the title says it's about fear . . . [it is about what] fear can teach us [about loving] in entirely new ways: the ultimate secret of fear. When we don't run from fear, or try to eradicate it, we discover ourselves anew. We discover ourselves as beings of love." Introduction, p. vii

Looking at various aspects of culture, from food to buildings to violence, this author offers new revelations concerning the ensouled nature of things. It is this author who later goes on to attack existing approaches to psychology and to propose replacing it with a psychology that focuses on the human in relation to the world, not on individual human pathologies. The pieces on learning to see soul in the world and the nature, extent and meaning of violence are worth the purchase price of the whole book.

See, particularly, Socrates' Second Speech, proving the divine nature of the human soul, Bobbs Merrill, The Library of the Liberal Arts, 1956, page 25 ff.

Socrates offers the unforgettable story of The Cave to explore how limited is the understanding of men of the nature of the world, how dependent on our sensory experience which can be (and often is) completely false and what kind of approach might bring wisdom and wholesome community into the world as a reality.

A poetic translation filled with grace.

A radical re-thinking of the relationship of the mind and the body, with scientific research support. His theory of attractor patterns is useful in business and personal contexts. Challenging perspective, persuasively presented.

James Carse invites us to "see how extraordinary the ordinary is." As we see and experience through his eyes, we begin to befriend our own blindness -- our narrow way of looking at the world, conditioned by culture, family and preferences. This book touches on how differently things appear when ever so slightly we loosen our hold on our present beliefs and ways of seeing things.

Tender book showing how lawyers are transforming their practices from something that is killing them to something that is nourishing to themselves and their clients as well.

For further information about this book visit http://www.transformingpractices.com/bi/toc.html

This little book chronicles Van der Post's discovery that an authentic African Bushman had lived for some time with a family in New York City in the early part of the 20th century. The emerging story, told through the hearts of van der Post and his source, is deeply touching. It challenges ways we think about how interconnectedness really works.

A collection of essays on the gift of blindness and the meaning of life in the most intense pressure imaginable. Clear and clean: worth reading and re-reading. The chapter on Poetry in Buchenwald is worth the price of the book.

How many biographies are about the first twenty years of a man's life? This man, blinded at the age of eight, who became a brilliant scholar, a leader of the Paris Resistance Movement at the age of 16, and spent 18 months interned at Buchenwald Concentration Camp, shows through the beautiful telling of his story, that joy always comes from within and that light is within us, even if we have no eyes.

An original, fresh and inspiring look at the nature of the gift economy. Through discussion around stories and myths revealing the elusive laws of life, the author shows us something of our own deeper nature.

This classic and challenging book shows how, again and again, to unmask falseness in mediator behaviors and motivations and to move to more open and creative space. Ken's scholarship is wide-ranging and inspiring. "At a deep level," he writes, the issue in every dispute is ourselves and our relationship not only with our adversaries, but with life itself." Or this: "Systems acquire power because people surrender it." Enjoy.

Misc

For programs in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Northwest Territories, Karen Chambers offers a fine example of Silva Method training, including an annual children's program. Renaissance Training Centre, 780-453-5118, fax 780-452-1654, renaissancetraining@shaw.ca