Human Development

Acuff knows the reason why many writers' novels go unfinished - it's the same reason why gyms are filled in the first week of January and empty by the end of the month and why people stop learning a new language once they get past the easy parts. It's not just that people lose momentum or get distracted. People give up on projects when they fail to live up to their own high expectations and decide that if they can't do something perfectly, they won't do it at all. If you're going to finish, you have to kill perfectionism.

Dr. John Gottman, the country's preeminent researcher on marriage, is famous for his Love Lab at the University of Washington in Seattle where he deciphers the mysteries of human relationships through scientific research. His 35 years of exploration have earned him numerous awards, including from the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Psychological Association, and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Now, Dr. Gottman offers surprising findings and advice on the characteristic that is at the heart of all relationships: trust.

A Woman's Guide to How Men Think offers a practical, humorous, yet compassionate guide for women who want to learn the secrets of the elusive male mind. With author Shawn Smith's trademark humor, you'll come to understand why men think and see the world the way they do, and how to work with men to cultivate understanding and communication in relationships, without expecting men to be creatures that they are not.

In the age of high-pressure parenting, when so many of us we feel like we’ve got to get everything exactly right the first time, Dr. Aliza Pressman is the compassionate, reassuring expert we all need—and the one whose advice we can all use. Already beloved by listeners of hit podcast, Raising Good Humans, Dr. Pressman distills it all with a handful of strategies every parent can use to get things right often enough: Relationship, Reflection, Regulation, Rules, and Repair.

Patpong, in the heart of Bangkok, teems with bars and sex shows, catering mainly to farangs - foreigners. Cleo Odzer, a young anthropologist, spent three years studying the area. Gaining the confidence of the bar girls and bar boys, she interviewed them at length, lived among them, accompanied several back to their families in remote villages. She also got to know their customers, those in for a night or in forever (many fell in love and stayed on in Patpong). From Odzer's account emerges a far different picture from the cliched image of the prostitute.

"What is wrong with men today?" That is the question the 27 million single, separated, and divorced women in this country ask themselves again and again. Married women sometimes wonder too. This is the book they’ve all been waiting for. The Love Crisis is a field guide to the contemporary male. Women define the Love Crisis through complaints about skittish men who play destructive games with them or who are unable to make commitments.

This classic work on the rules of sex - updated for a new generation - is still as provocative as the day it was published, providing simple explanations for any and all questions about what happens in the bedroom.

For women today, achieving a successful career, a fulfilling romantic relationship, and a rewarding personal life can feel like opposing goals, leaving their deepest yearnings just beyond reach. It has even become difficult to enjoy the simplest pleasures of our lives. We are stuck in “go mode", damaging our romantic relationships, pleasure, and creativity. But what if there were a way to experience the simplest pleasures of our lives on a deeper level, freeing the body and psyche from these damaging patterns?

Embarking on a non-monogamous relationship can be a daunting experience, opening old wounds that cause anxiety, fear, and confusion, something Lola Phoenix knows about all too well. In this all-you-need-to-know guide to exploring non-monogamy, polyamory, and open relationships, Lola draws upon their years of experience in giving advice and being non-monogamous to provide guidance for every stage of your journey, helping you to prioritize your mental health and wellbeing along the way.

Back in January 1995 in Los Angeles, California, a Singaporean pornstar named Annabel Chong took cultural rebellion to an extreme, on terms that had never been negotiated before. She was filmed having sex with a long receiving line of men, servicing them 251 times over a ten-hour period to set a new world record: The World’s Biggest Gangbang.

For all men and women who thirst to love and be loved by a woman, these words and stories of guidance from Clarissa Pinkola Estes are aqua vitea, the water for life and soul. Dr. Estes teaches that in love relationships, each partner challenges, nourishes and transforms the other. To achieve this lifelong love requires an understanding of the mysterious internal cycles that fuel relationships.

In this magical collection of quotes, aphorisms, and blogs, author Jeff Brown shares more of his well-loved "spiritual graffiti". Building on the success of his first collection, Ascending with Both Feet on the Ground, Brown has put together another wondrous book, this time including many of his most profound love and relationship quotes. With a writing style that is unforgettably unique, Brown reminds us of the magnificent life that awaits us.

How do experiences shape what we bring into the world? In The Human Spark, pioneering psychologist Jerome Kagan offers an unflinching examination of personal, moral, and cultural development that solidifies his place as one of the most influential psychologists of the past century. In this definitive analysis of the factors that shape the human mind, Kagan explores the tension between biology and the environment.

In the ever more competitive race to secure the best possible future, today’s students face unprecedented pressure to succeed. They jam-pack their schedules with AP classes, fill every waking hour with resume-padding activities, and even sabotage relationships with friends to “get ahead.” Family incomes and schedules are stretched to the breaking point by tutoring fees and athletic schedules. Yet this drive to optimize performance has only resulted in skyrocketing rates of anxiety, depression, and even self-harm in America’s highest achieving schools.

Tired of arguing with your spouse over the same old issues? Longing for a marriage with less conflict and more intimacy? Struggling under a load of resentment? In How We Love, relationship experts Milan and Kay Yerkovich draw on the powerful tool of attachment theory to show how your early life experiences created an "intimacy imprint" - an underlying blueprint that shapes your behavior, beliefs, and expectations of all relationships, especially your marriage.

What does a three-pound brain have to do with one’s sex life? A lot, actually. Hooked is about what’s happening to your brain when you’re having sex. Learn about your brain, the positive effects of sex within permanently committed relationships, and how you can protect yourself (especially your brain) from the dangers of casual sex.

In Loving What Is, best-selling author Byron Katie introduced thousands of people to her simple and profound method of finding happiness through questioning the mind. Now, I Need Your Love, Is That True? examines a universal, age-old source of anxiety: our relationships with others. In this groundbreaking book, Katie helps you question everything you have been taught to do to gain love and approval. In doing this, you discover how to find genuine love and connection.

Long before the term cuckold was a common word thrown around in the media, Dr. Ley explored the history and science of cuckolding. This groundbreaking work explores why and how some men not only allow, but encourage, their wives to pursue sexual relationships with other men.

More than 100 years ago, the American philosopher William James wrote that the knowledge that we must die is "the worm at the core" of the human condition - a universally shared fear that informs all our thoughts and actions, from the great art we create to the devastating wars we wage.

In

Sexual Intelligence, Dr. Marty Klein shows how our ideas about sex - and ourselves - are more important than a perfect body or exotic techniques. With many engaging examples from his 30-year private practice, Marty provides a robust, practical perspective that makes it impossible for people to fail at sex - because they don't aim for success.