This review is published in the New Existentialist Blog: https://www.saybrook.edu/newexistentialists/posts/07-22-14/. A brief summary is posted here.
I first read The Girlfriend Project (2014) by Jason Dias as he is a colleague and a friend. I am thankful that I did. Through fiction, Dias provides an interesting exploration of Asperger’s disorder and emotions. Dias engages this topic with sensitivity to existential perspectives as well. It is a valuable read for therapists, and also can be a valuable read for individuals with Asperger’s disorder (now part of the Autism spectrum) or their family. Beyond that, it is also an interesting piece of fiction that many may enjoy.
Society and the academy often tend to fluctuate between idealizing history and devaluing it. As we witness many tragic errors of the past repeated in contemporary society, it is evident that engagement with history is critically important for our present and our future. History can best aid us when it is not idealized or devalued, but rather engaged with honestly through consideration of both the good and tragic aspects of history.
The idea of finding oneself if deeply embedded in pop views of psychology. However, this understanding of “the self” and therapy is based upon some faulty assumptions about the nature of the self, which are explored in this blog. Read the full blog at the link above.