THE SUMMER "READING LIST"

Ute Ehrhardt - "Good Girls Go to Heaven: Bad Girls Go Everywhere"

German psychologist Ute Ehrhardt touches on a wide complex entrenched system of ideas about women, their role, behavior and place in life, society, and family. Does following these age-long "immutable rules" of female behavior bring happiness? How do I understand what I truly want and feel? No, this is not a rebellious manifesto of total freedom. It's more of a subtle and very deeply psychological attempt to help a woman become aware of herself and her identity, to be happy not in spite of, but because of something.

Henrik Ibsen - "A Doll's House" 

Speaking of Ute Erhard's book, it is impossible not to mention the amazing play by 19th century Norwegian playwright and theater director Henrik Ibsen. Drama theaters around the world put it on almost as often as plays by Shakespeare and Chekhov. Nora, the protagonist of this play, lives a comfortable and seemingly happy life that many of her contemporaries would dream of. But this glamour is soon replaced by drama, when everything that has been bottled up in this fake "doll" life gets out. Ibsen's play was not just groundbreaking, but truly provocative in an era of total female social conformity. The themes of women’s social role, happiness and self-awareness will strike you with depth and realism through the characters' dialogues and atmosphere conveyed with truly theatrical precision.

Norman Doidge - "The Brain that Changes Itself" 

For centuries, people have lived with the notion that the brain is not a self-healing system. If there is a bruise on an arm, it will heal, if a leg is broken, the bone will mend, but if the brain is already damaged in some part of it, that's the end of the line. Modern neurophysiology is developing at an incredible pace. Neuroplasticity, which was discovered in the 21st century, the brain's ability to repair and restructure itself, provides new insights into the brain's flexibility and capacity for restoration. Norman Doidge, M.D., psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, fellow researcher at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research in New York and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, has collected the most interesting examples of contemporary research and patient stories in one work. With this you'll definitely have something to tell your friends over dinner and stay in the center of everyone's attention!

Bruce Lipton - "The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles" 

Modern science is experiencing a boom similar to the one in the 19th century. And the pace of changes and new discoveries is even higher. In addition to technological breakthroughs, new knowledge is certainly being revealed at the intersection of disciplines. Molecular biologist Bruce Lipton has been studying the principles of quantum mechanics since 1982, which allows him to analyze in a different way the knowledge about genes and cells and the way information is stored and transmitted. A new understanding of human biology, where life is not so much governed by genes rather than by our beliefs that can change our "gene code" using a cellular mechanism. Body, mind and spirit come together. How does fear affect cell development? How do you learn to control your mind to change your body on a physical level? How do you foster sanity in your children by helping them build their body and spirit every day? This is a book one will want to reread over and over again!

James Hollis - "Why Good People Do Bad Things" 

Most of us consider ourselves to be good, decent and generally intelligent people. But each of us occasionally does something that we are later ashamed of or tend to recall when we are alone. Don’t we? Why is this happening? Who is this other "I" who sometimes is not such a good person? How do you know yourself and make your path to integrity and an absolutely different level of mindfulness?

World-renowned Jungian psychoanalyst James Hollis not only provides an analysis of “our darker selves”, but also helps us move to the next stage of awareness of our decisions and behavior.