Mind Matters:Not necessarily for the beach reading

Summertime is here, at least for a little while
longer. The books thumbnail-reviewed here are hardly escapist beach reading, so
perhaps you’ll choose to read them by a wintry fire. However, consider how they
might engender great topics for conversation on a breezy summer evening.

·
The Age
of Empathy: Nature’s Lessons for a Kinder Society
, by Frans
de Waal, Ph.D.
This book reverses the misnomer that evolution is all about cutthroat
competition. It was the business world of the 1800’s, not Darwin, that coined
the term, “survival of the fittest.” De Waal shows us that it is empathy that
is deeply ingrained in our DNA and is an “innate, age-old capacity.” And we are
not singular in this: our distant relatives up our ancient family
tree—animals—show empathy as well—sometimes even to us. Empathy has been
necessary for our survival: where would we be if mothers (and fathers) did not
respond to the cries of their young for nurture and protection? (Women, by the
way, seem to have a dollop more of empathy.)

·
Unnatural
Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of
Men
, by Mara Hvistendahl.
Hvistendahl sounds a warning about sex selection that is occurring all over the
world. The ratio of boys to girls is becoming more and more skewed, with boys
being the desired gender. This imbalance has already lead to a rise in sex
trafficking and bride buying in Asia. This is a provocative read that questions
past American policies regarding “population control”—especially in the
developing nations.

·
Reality
Bites Back: The Troubling Truth about Guilty Pleasure TV
, by
Jennifer L. Pozner.
This is a bubble bursting book to anyone thoroughly enamored with Reality TV.
Pozner reminds us that these shows aren’t really so prodigious because “it’s
what the viewer wants,” but because they are dirt cheap to produce. However,
Pozner argues, Reality TV, in both their content and their ads, are denigrating
women and minorities. Pozner dissects the shadow side of reality TV: her book
may be bitter medicine for some, but certainly she gives a strong antidote to
TV’s toxicity.

So summer at least is an easy time to turn off that
TV and read some hefty books in the hammock. Then go back to those mysteries
that are so much easier to solve. Just remember: the bottom line is empathy.

* Kayta
Curzie Gajdos holds a doctorate in counseling psychology and is in private
practice in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. She welcomes comments at
MindMatters@DrGajdos.com or (610)388-2888. Past columns are posted to
www.drgajdos.com.

About Kayta Gajdos

Dr. Kathleen Curzie Gajdos ("Kayta") is a licensed psychologist (Pennsylvania and Delaware) who has worked with individuals, couples, and families with a spectrum of problems. She has experience and training in the fields of alcohol and drug addictions, hypnosis, family therapy, Jungian theory, Gestalt therapy, EMDR, and bereavement. Dr. Gajdos developed a private practice in the Pittsburgh area, and was affiliated with the Family Therapy Institute of Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, having written numerous articles for the Family Therapy Newsletter there. She has published in the American Psychological Association Bulletin, the Family Psychologist, and in the Swedenborgian publications, Chrysalis and The Messenger. Dr. Gajdos has taught at the college level, most recently for West Chester University and Wilmington College, and has served as field faculty for Vermont College of Norwich University the Union Institute's Center for Distance Learning, Cincinnati, Ohio. She has also served as consulting psychologist to the Irene Stacy Community MH/MR Center in Western Pennsylvania where she supervised psychologists in training. Currently active in disaster relief, Dr. Gajdos serves with the American Red Cross and participated in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts as a member of teams from the Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.Now living in Chadds Ford, in the Brandywine Valley of eastern Pennsylvania, Dr. Gajdos combines her private practice working with individuals, couples and families, with leading workshops on such topics as grief and healing, the impact of multigenerational grief and trauma shame, the shadow and self, Women Who Run with the Wolves, motherless daughters, and mediation and relaxation. Each year at Temenos Retreat Center in West Chester, PA she leads a griefs of birthing ritual for those who have suffered losses of procreation (abortions, miscarriages, infertility, etc.); she also holds yearly A Day of Re-Collection at Temenos.Dr. Gajdos holds Master's degrees in both philosophy and clinical psychology and received her Ph.D. in counseling at the University of Pittsburgh. Among her professional affiliations, she includes having been a founding member and board member of the C.G. Jung Educational Center of Pittsburgh, as well as being listed in Who's Who of American Women. Currently, she is a member of the American Psychological Association, The Pennsylvania Psychological Association, the Delaware Psychological Association, the American Family Therapy Academy, The Association for Death Education and Counseling, and the Delaware County Mental Health and Mental Retardation Board. Woven into her professional career are Dr. Gajdos' pursuits of dancing, singing, and writing poetry.

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