Interview with Janet Reibstein, author of Good Relations: Cracking the code of how to get on better
Janet Reibstein, author of Good Relations: Cracking the code of how to get on better recommends an excellent list of books! Before jumping into the interview, please check out Janet's book:
Review from Book Depository:
Psychologist and therapist Janet Reibstein reveals the secrets to effective communication and building long-lasting relationships.
Being able to engage in relationships productively - from intimate domestic ones to relationships with friends and colleagues - is the key to thriving. It impacts our health, well-being, financial security and happiness. In fact, research suggests the ability to do well socially is more important for success than academic excellence or even a high IQ.
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Good Relations: Cracking the code of how to get on better
The case for good relationships is made and settled. But how do we get there?
In the fascinating book, Janet Reibstein takes you through how to 'learn relationships' and explores the skills needed to communicate better, have empathy, and develop more productive and satisfying relationships at all levels.
Peppered with case studies, practical tips and advice, Good Relations delves deeper into the new science and theory to discover exactly how we can interact more effectively.
Buy On:
Book Depository €18.24
Waterstones £18.99
Wordery $17.49
Q. Do you have a favourite smart thinking book (and why that book)?
My favourite smart thinking book is one I used to use as a text when I was teaching undergraduates at the University of Exeter, and many of my students were as affected and educated by it as I had been when I’d first read it, in the early years of my clinical practice in psychology. It’s called Love’s Executioner and Other Tales of Psychotherapy, by the psychiatrist and psychotherapist, Irvin Yalom. The tales read captivatingly, like short stories, but the wisdom about love and the struggles to manage through the course of life is sharply woven through them, as you also are guided through the therapeutic process. It’s a very smooth way to become educated in some key principles of therapy, but also, profoundly, about change and growth more generally.
Review From Book Depository:
The collection of ten absorbing tales by master psychotherapist Irvin D. Yalom uncovers the mysteries, frustrations, pathos, and humour at the heart of the therapeutic encounter. In recounting his patients' dilemmas, Yalom not only gives us a rare and enthralling glimpse into their personal desires and motivations but also tells us his own story as he struggles to reconcile his all-too human responses with his sensibility as a psychiatrist. Not since Freud has an author done so much to clarify what goes on between a psychotherapist and a patient.
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Love's Executioner and Other Tales of Psychotherapy
Buy On:
Book Depository €14.76
Waterstones £9.99
Wordery $15.50
Q. What's the most recent smart thinking book you've read (and how would you rate it)?
I’ve recently read The Teen Interpreter by Terri Apter, and I was wowed by its ability to convey what being an adolescent feels like and why, with fairness, justice and empathy to both sides who live through this challenging and complex period of both development and parenthood. It wears its deep research and knowledge very lightly — you can be confident in the very useful tips Apter gives in each chapter— to cover its subject really engagingly. I have recommended it to parents of teens, in particular, but it also helps anyone reflect back on that curious time of life with more understanding, and affection even. 5 stars.
Review From Book Depository:
Once children hit adolescence, it seems as if overnight "I love you" becomes "leave me alone," and any question from a parent can be dismissed with one word: "fine." But while they may not show it, teenagers rely on their parents' curiosity, delight and connection to guide them through this period of exuberant growth as they navigate complex changes to their bodies, their thought processes, their social world and their self-image.
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The Teen Interpreter: A Guide to the Challenges and Joys of Raising Adolescents
In The Teen Interpreter, psychologist Terri Apter looks into teens' minds-minds that are experiencing powerful new emotions and awareness of the world around them-to show how parents can revitalise their relationship with their children. She illuminates the rapid neurological developments of a teen's brain, along with their new, complex emotions and offers strategies for disciplining unsafe actions constructively and empathetically. Apter includes up-to-the moment case studies that shed light on the anxieties and vulnerabilities that today's teens face, and she thoughtfully explores the positives and pitfalls of social media.
With perceptive conversation exercises that synthesise research from more than thirty years in the field, Apter illustrates how teens signal their changing needs and identities-and how parents can interpret these signals and see the world through their teens' eyes. The Teen Interpreter is a generous roadmap for enjoying the most challenging, and rewarding, parenting years.
Buy On:
Easons €27.99
Book Depository €13.30
Waterstones £12.99
Wordery $23.30
Q. Do you have a favourite childhood book?
I had one book that I’ve recently re-found and re-read with almost as much pleasure I remember when I’d read it at around age nine: Half-Magic, by Edward Eager. It was witty and magical in a completely unexpected way. I also devoured the Mary Poppins books, liking them for similar reasons.
Review From Book Depository:
It all begins with a strange coin on a sun-warmed sidewalk. Jane finds the coin, and because she and her siblings are having the worst, most dreadfully boring summer ever, she idly wishes something exciting would happen.
And something does: Her wish is granted. Or not quite. Only half of her wish comes true. It turns out the coin grants wishes--but only by half, so that you must wish for twice as much as you want.
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Half Magic
Wishing for two times some things is a cinch, but other doubled wishes only cause twice as much trouble. What is half of twice a talking cat? Or to be half-again twice not-here? And how do you double your most heartfelt wish, the one you care about so much it has to be perfect?
This funny and gentle classic series is an enjoyable read-aloud and also a strong choice for independent reading. For fans of such favorite series as The Penderwicks and The Vanderbeekers.
Enjoy all seven of the middle grade novels in Edward Eager's beloved Tales of Magic series!
Buy On:
Book Depository €8.64
Waterstones £4.99
Q. Do you prefer reading on paper, Kindle or listening to an audiobook?
Always on paper, but I have to confess that I also sometimes have a copy on Kindle because I often wake up in the middle of the night and read myself back to sleep; it means I don’t have to turn on a light which would wake my husband. On holiday I load up on books on Kindle so I don’t have the weight of hard copies. But, all things being equal, it’s physical-book- in-hand every time, especially ones that are beautifully designed.
Q. Do you have a favourite bookshop (and why that shop)?
I love Daunts Books on Marylebone High Street. My practice office used to be in that area so I’d go in often, but as my office has moved I’ve missed going there. The books are beautifully laid out and you aren’t overwhelmed— everything looks accessible, and you wander through as if in a sweet shop. In Bristol the Waterstones in Clifton has that same ambience and it’s also a treat to go in there.
Many thanks to Janet for recommending an excellent list of books! Please don't forget to check out Janet's book Good Relations: Cracking the code of how to get on better.
Daryl
Image Copyrights: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (Good Relations), Basic Books (Love's Executioner), WW Norton & Co (The Teen Intepreter), Clarion Books (Half Magic).
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