What I’ve Been Reading

This book is a cross between a dictionary of emotion-related words and a book of poetry. Arranged in alphabetical order, it presents a sometimes whimsical description and historical overview of 156 emotion concepts, some well-known (like Anger) and others less common and no longer in common usage (like Acedia). Each entry is completely different in […]

This book is a terrific introduction to integrating the body into the work we do. It is well written, provides easy to understand information about research on somatic…and includes many very practical activities to do yourself and to use with individuals and groups in coaching or facilitation. There’s also an impressive list of video links

When Stories Clash: Addressing Conflict with Narrative Mediation by Gerald Monk and John Winslade In this short book, Monk and Winslade provide an overview of how they use narrative mediation to help people in conflict separate themselves from their conflict stories and to develop a new, joint story of the relationship they would prefer. Narrative

The Storytelling Animal: How stories make us human by Jonathan Gottschall This book explains how humans are natural storytellers – in fact, storytelling may be one of the essential things that makes us human! Gottschall draws on research in neuroscience, psychology and evolutionary biology to show how fundamental storytelling is in shaping our beliefs, behaviours

Farsighted: How we make the decisions that matter the most, by Steve Johnson This book is a brilliant exploration about decision making. I love it on so many levels: it provides some very practical tools and strategies for making complex decisions; it discusses the importance of both science and story (including the benefits of reading

Iyengar rose to fame during her doctoral program when she conducted what is now a very well known study in which she set up jam tasting stations in supermarkets. The number of jams on display to taste ranged from 6 to 24 jars. Her research found that when there were more than 7 choices on

This book explores the concept of choice, and the paradox it can create. When people have no choice, life is almost unbearable, and as our choices expand so does our sense of autonomy, control and liberation. Choice improves the quality of our lives (and, side note, our capacity to manage conflict). But Schwartz cautions that

This brand new book is another impressive addition to Bernard Mayer’s work, this time in collaboration with a former colleague. The book considers the intersection between the work we do as conflict intervenors and social activism. It provides a blueprint for how to use conflict intervention as a tool for social change. The authors argue

Paul Ekman has become a household name, and most people are familiar with his work on facial expressions of emotion. He focuses on how we express emotions on our faces, and in particular, how this can happen without any conscious effort on our part. In this book he introduces some foundational information about emotions across

There are two essential books about emotions that everyone should read. One is this one, Emotional Intelligence (published in 1996) and the other is Susan David’s Emotional Agility (published 20 years later in 2016). Both books are about understanding and learning to work with our emotions. Goleman’s book starts with an overview of how our