Mental Health Education and Resource Centre (MHERC)
We provide a FREE mental health Library for everyone in Christchurch & the South Island of New Zealand.Click here to view our Libary Database
Open Monday to Friday 9.00am to 4.30pm
Our free mental health library is open to the public and provides information on all aspects of mental health and mental illness. We have available for loan - books, DVD's, CD's, videos, free pamphlets and articles on topics such as depression, bipolar (manic depression), personality disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety, phobia, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), agoraphobia, ADHD, children's health, parenting, abuse, violence, personal development, personal experience and much more! Download the Borrower Form to become a MHERC library member.
Newsletters
Features new developments and latest additions to the Library.December 2007
February 2008
March 2008
May 2008
Our Latest Resources
Books
Working With Young People and Anger. From attachment anxieties and feelings of powerlessness, to frustration at difficult family relations, Nick Luxmoore considers the common reasons for young people's anger during this difficult
stage of their development. Through accounts of his work with a range of young people, he offers tried-and-tested exercises and talking points to help work through common counterproductive responses to anger such as anti-social behaviour
and physical or verbal violence. Crucially, he also recognizes the needs of those working with these young people with anger problems.Nick Luxmoore
Divine Madness - 10 Stories of Creative Struggle. This book is filled with the compelling stories of emotional turmoil that many great artists have undergone as they struggle for success and survival. Jeffrey Kottler writes about the
dramatic and tragic lives of cultural icons Sylvia Plath, Judy Garland, Mark Rothko, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, Charles Mingus, Vaslav Nijinsky, Marilyn Monroe, Lenny Bruce, and Brian Wilson. In this riveting book, Kottler highlights
the personal story of each of these extraordinary individuals and analyzes how they struggled to overcome their emotional hardships.Jeffrey A. Kottler
The Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Skills Workbook: Practical DBT Exercises for Learning Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation & Distress Tolerance. First developed for treating borderline personality disorder, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) has proven effective as treatment for a range of other mental health problems, especially for those characterized by out-of-control emotions. Tens of thousands of individuals around the world are receiving DBT or participating in DBT-based support groups, yet to date there are few resources available to help them learn core DBT skills. This book, a collaborative effort from several of New Harbinger's most esteemed authors,
fills a conspicuous gap in the DBT literature. It offers general readers and professionals alike straightforward, step-by-step exercises for learning and putting into practice the four core DBT skills: mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance. Whether used to support work done in therapy or as the basis for self-help, this workbook will bring DBT to readers with unrivaled clarity and effectivenes.Matthew McKay, Jeffrey C. Wood
Finding Life Beyond Trauma: Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Heal from Post-Traumatic Stress and Trauma-Related Problems. This book helps readers learn to accept the unpleasant feeling they associated with past trauma. It also shows them why strategies that have them "control" these negative feelings can have severe long-term consequences, such as substance abuse and chronic anxiety--especially when the attempts at control result in the avoidance of normal activities and situations. Instead of control, the book encourages readers to develop psychological flexibility and a willingness to embrace "clean" painful experience that is a necessary and unavoidable part of living. By committing to live in ways that really matter to them despite painful experiences, readers move beyond problems with past trauma. In the end, they will discover that life after trauma is very much worth the bumps and scrapes they receive on the way to living it.Victor Follette, Jacqueline Pistorello
Scripts People Live. A great book for those interested in Transactional Analysis as a way of changing life patterns. An ideal read for students and psychotherapy practitioners alike. Clinical psychologist Claude Steiner looks at ways of changing our scripts in order to achieve the happiness and fulfilment we desire, with practical solutions to change our lives.Claude Steiner
Healing the Child Within: Discovery and Recovery for Adult Children of Dysfunctional Families. Have you ever heard of your inner child? Well, this is the classic book that started it all.In 1987, Charlie Whitfield's breakthrough concept of the child within—that part of us which is truly alive, energetic, creative and fulfilled—launched the inner child movement. Healing the Child Within describes how the inner child is lost to trauma and loss, and how by recovering it, we can heal the fear, confusion and unhappiness of adult life. Eighteen years and more than a million copies sold later, Healing the Child Within is a perennial selling classic in the field of psychology, and it is even more timely today than it was in 1987. Recent brain research, particularly on the effects of trauma on the brain of developing children, has supported Whitfield's intuitive understanding as a psychiatrist.Charles L. Whitfield
Trauma and Addiction: Ending the Cycle of Pain Through Emotional Literacy. This groundbreaking book offers readers effective ways to work through their traumas in order to heal their addictions and their predilection toward what clinicians call "self-medicating" (the abuse of substances [alcohol, drugs, food], activities [work, sex, gambling, etc.] and/or possessions [money, material things].) Readers caught up in the endless cycle of trauma and addiction will permanently transform their lives by reading this book.Tian Dayton
Healing Your Emotional Self. A comprehensive self-help plan to help you provide for yourself what you missed as a child Those who were emotionally abused or neglected in childhood tend to suffer from self-criticism, low self-esteem, self-doubt, a poor body image, perfectionism, and unhealthy shame. Now renowned psychotherapist Beverly Engel presents a psychologically sound, step-by-step program to help adult survivors heal the damage to their self-image caused by negative parental messages and treatment. Healing Your Emotional Self shows readers how to become reunited with their true self, quiet their inner critic, raise their self-esteem, and begin to love their body.Beverly Engel
Recovery of Your Inner Child : The Highly Acclaimed Method for Liberating Your Inner Self. Recovery of Your Inner Child is the only book that shows how to have a firsthand experience with the Inner Child--actually feeling its emotions and recapturing its dominant hand. Expanding on the technique she introduced in The Power of Your Other Hand, Dr. Capacchione shares scores of hands-on activities that will help readers to re-parent their vulnerable Inner Child and heal their lives.Lucia Capacchione
Warning: Psychiatry Can Be Hazardous to Your Mental Health. This book appears to be written primarily as a self-help reference for non-professionals. Nonetheless, many psychotherapists will find the book interesting and informative, especially if they are still searching for ways to formulate explanations and discussions with patients. Dr. Glasser uses this book to discuss his approach to what he terms "unhappiness." The ideas presented are based on his previously published Choice Theory.William Glasser
The Mind: A User's Guide. This book has been written by distinguished experts and offers information on the latest research into brain and mind sciences. It gives distinctive descriptions of behaviour, feelings and thoughts relating to a variety of conditions - including Addictions, Body Image and Bipolar Disorders, Depression and OCD - and helps us to clarify and understand symptoms and treatments. This handbook also confronts and debunks some of the most damaging myths and misconceptions surrounding the subject of mental health.Dr Raj Persaud
From the Edge of the Couch. Fascinating, illuminating and complete with absorbing real-life case studies, From the Edge of the Couch reveals how scientists still struggle to understand the outer limits of the mind. Even more provocatively, Dr Persaud argues that despite the medical profession's current love affair with the technology of the latest body scanners, it is still the extraordinary clinical cases that offer the ultimate insight into how the brain produces consciousness. In throwing open the usually secret world of the psychiatrist's casebook, Dr Raj Persaud proves that fact really is much stranger than fiction.Dr Raj Persaud
Born to Win: Transactional Analysis with Gestalt Experiments. A national bestseller in 1971, Born to Win still sells thousands of copies each year. The insights in the book are now fundamental to how we see ourselves. It was one of the first self-help books to analyze communication styles and its 50 gestalt exercises are as revealing as ever about the roles people reenact in their Parent and Child ego states. Muriel James and Dorothy Jongeward
Living With Your Looks. This is a topical and comprehensive release looking at the social, cultural and historical influences which effect the way people view their bodies and how concerns about body image can give rise to a range of body image disorders. It surveys the processes by which how a person views their body can become so distorted that their obsession(s) manifest themselves as a psychiatric disorder. It counters any preconceived notions that these issues
are limited to women. As the book demonstrates, muscle dysmorphia (the belief that one is too small or puny) is as prevalent among men as bulimia and anorexia are amongst women. It includes chapters on: The 'Looks Heritage' (an historical
background); Changing Our Looks: Tattoos, Body Piercing and Plastic Surgery; Weight and Shape: Fat and Thin (looks at Anorexia and Bulimia); Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD): General Considerations Treatment of BDD; Skin Picking and Hair
Pulling: Recognition and Treatment; and Living With Our Looks. Given its subject matter and lively and accessible style, "Living With Your Looks" is likely to arouse considerable national media interest.David J Castle, Roberta Honigman
The Secret Language of Eating Disorders. The Secret Language of Eating Disorders is an in-depth, systematic examination of the causes of eating disorders, specifically Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. In addition to presenting various case studies, Peggy Claude-Pierre offers a revolutionary way of conceptualising and treating eating disorders by explaining them in terms of the underlying cognitive issues instead of the symptoms. She further reveals methods of treatment that address and counteract the underlying negativity that causes and exacerbates eating disorders in many sufferers.Peggy Claude-Pierre
Why Am I Still Depressed? Recognizing and Managing the Ups and Downs of Bipolar II and Soft Bipolar Disorder. Tried everything but still not feeling better? If your depression keeps coming back or is even getting worse, then
you may be suffering from bipolar II or “soft” bipolar disorder. Commonly misdiagnosed, these mood disorders are characterized by recurring bouts of depression along with anxiety, irritability, mood swings, sleep problems, or intrusive
thoughts. Why Am I Still Depressed? shows you how to identify if you have a nonmanic form of bipolar disorder and how to work with your doctor to safely and effectively treat it.Jim Phelps
The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide: What You and Your Family Need to Know. Thanks to sharper diagnosis and better medicine, the future is brighter for people with bipolar disorder than in past generations. But if you or someone
you love is struggling with the frantic highs and crushing lows of this illness, there are still many hurdles to surmount at home, at work, and in daily life. How can you learn to distinguish between the early warning signs of mood swings
and the normal ups and downs of life? What medications are available, and what are their side effects? What should you do when you find yourself escalating into mania or descending into depression?David J. Miklowitz
Bipolar Disorder Demystified: Mastering the Tightrope of Manic Depression. Castle provides a firsthand experience with the pleasures and perils of bipolar disorder and the struggles to bring it under control. She then expands to a comprehensive and generally understandable exposition on diagnosis, differential diagnosis, etiology, and treatment. Mental illness myths are confronted and dispelled, bad-parenting myths destroyed, and great efforts made to destigmatise
the illness. Cogent advice is provided about getting help and providing help.Lana R Castle
Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for Patients and Families. This book is a must-read and a must-have reference for every health care professional. A great many ailing people could be rescued if the simply stated ideas it contains
are passed along to those who need them in a timely and clear manner. Is the book an effective aid to patients and families? That is the question that we, as family members who have lost a loved one to bipolar disorder through suicide—even after he had experienced years of intensive psychiatric attention—attempt to answer here. Francis Mark Mondimore, M.D
Stress Management for Dummies. Whether it’s love, work, family, or something else that’s got your anxiety in the red zone, here’s an easy way to improve your outlook. Stress Management For Dummies will help you identify the stress triggers in your life and cut them down to size quickly. Certified stress manager Allen Elkin, PhD takes the guesswork (and the added stress!) out of finding the stress relief system that’s right for you. After determining
your stress level with a few simple tests, you’ll get step-by-step guidance on finding and eliminating sources of stress, in both your mind and body. Inside are hassle-free techniques, helpful advice, self-evaluation quizzes.Allen Elkin, Ph.D
Working Through Panic. An update of the bestselling title by Bronwyn Fox, first published in 1996. The book will give readers a simple and practical approach to understanding and overcoming anxiety disorders. It has been expanded significantly to include early intervention strategies to prevent the development of an anxiety disorder. Bronwyn Fox
Phobias and How to Overcome Them: Understanding and Beating Your Fears. More than half of all Americans suffer from one or more phobias at some time during their lives. This book draws upon the extraordinary wealth of current scientific and clinical research on phobias, including Dr. Gardner's own experiences with patients, to answer six pressing questions for anyone who suffers from phobias and for the friends and relatives of such sufferers: What is a phobia? What
are its typical symptoms? How do I know if I have a phobia? What causes phobias? Are they inherited or learned? Who is vulnerable to phobias? Do phobias indicate mental illness?James Gardner & Arthur H Bell, Ph.D.
Overcoming Anxiety for Dummies. Fight anxiety and win the war against your worries! Think you worry too much? You're not alone – over 25 million Americans suffer from some form of anxiety. Help is here in this friendly guide, which offers sound advice on identifying anxiety triggers through taking self-tests, improving your eating habits, relaxing, and finding support for you and your loved ones.Charles H. Elliott, Ph.D. & Laura L. Smith, Ph.D.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders: A Complete Guide to Getting Well and Staying Well. In Obsessive-Compulsive
Disorders, Dr. Penzel discusses the entire spectrum of these disorders, from the classic form characterized by intrusive, repetitive, and often unpleasant thoughts, to body dysmorphic disorder ("imagined ugliness"), trichotillomania
(compulsive hair pulling), compulsive skin picking, and nail biting. Dr. Penzel takes the reader through each step of the most effective behavioral therapies, detailing how progress is made and how to avoid relapse. He also offers a completely
up-to-date discussion of medication—how medication is used as part of the overall treatment, its effect on pregnancy, how to choose the best medicine, and how to know if it is working.Fred Penzel
Audio and Video
De-Stress - CD. The Ultimate Tool for Relaxation! De-Stress was created by world renowned sound healer and musician Jonathan Goldman as a listening tool to enhance tranquility and relaxation. Utilizing the science of sound and
the art of music, Goldman has created a powerful, beautiful experience that demonstrates the healing power of sound. De-Stress includes beautiful and relaxing ambient music, gentle environmental water sounds, and slow-pulsed frequencies
to calm heart rate and respiration.Jonathan Goldman
Dolphin Dreams - CD. This unique sound experience with ocean, heart beat, choral voices and dolphins is a classic! Jonathan Goldman, author of Healing Sounds, has created an amazing sonic environment for birthing, meditation and deep relaxation. Used globally by meditators and health practitioners to enhance health and wellnessJonathan Goldman
The Lost Chord - CD. According to Jonathan Goldman's extensive liner notes, the Lost Chord is the primary sound that launched creation, "a divine sound that could heal and transform." This concept has long fascinated
Goldman, and The Lost Chord is an extension of his studies of using sounds and sonics "as a therapeutic and transformational modality."Jonathan Goldman
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