Books

A Developmentalist’s Guide to Better Mental Health: Navigating Everyday Life Dilemmas

by Lois Holzman

Lois Holzman’s “The Developmentalist” advice column is the centerpiece of a provocative new Routledge title — A Developmentalist’s Guide to Better Mental Health: Navigating Everyday Life Dilemmas. Letters and responses are grouped thematically by topics such as Family Life, On the Job, What a World!, and “It’s Just Me…” They are followed by reflections by letter writers, therapists, coaches and counselors. In other chapters, Lois outlines features of a Developmentalist’s Practice, and locates the practice within the history of social therapeutics and the broader psychology and mental health arenas.

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The Overweight Brain

by Lois Holzman

We live at a time when knowledge of the world is right there in our pocket devices. Yet we persist in going through life trying to get as much knowledge, as many facts and arguments and opinions and predictions, into our heads—and being tested and evaluated and judged by how much we know. Being in the world as a knower keeps us stuck, Holzman says. It constrains creativity and risk taking, keeps us and our dreams small, stops us from learning new things, and stifles our capacity to create new possibilities for ourselves, our families and communities, and the entire world. For that, she says, we need a new form of life — something she calls “non-knowing growing.” That’s the invitation of The Overweight Brain — offering a simple but radical departure — an approach to using all we are (and all we know) to make a better world.

Lois Holzman’s The Overweight Brain is available in print and Kindle editions at Amazon Books.

Big Ideas and Revolutionary Activity: Selected Essays, Talks and Articles by Lois Holzman

Big Ideas and Revolutionary Activity: Selected Essays, Talks and Articles by Lois Holzman is a curated selection of Holzman’s writings compiled and introduced by Carrie Lobman and Tony Perone. It offers a taste of the range of her work across subject matter, style and audience. Selected writings discuss radical approaches to community building, education, human development, learning, performance activism, play and therapy via academic articles and chapters, invited talks and blog posts. Readers across contexts and backgrounds will ?nd new ideas, practical tools and inspiration from these writings to serve their community organizing, learning, scholarship, and teaching activities.

Vygotsky at Work and Play 2nd Edition

by Lois Holzman

“In many respects, Holzman’s concern in this book is with human development, and in its exposition, it brilliantly demonstrates just such development in action.”

-Kenneth Gergen, author, The Saturated Self; Playing with Purpose: Adventures in Performative Social Science

Vygotsky at Work and Playis a vivid portrayal of the Vygotskian-inspired, politically engaged approach to human development known as social therapeutics and the psychology of becoming. Holzman weaves together Vygotsky’s discoveries—about play, speaking and thinking, the zone of proximal development, creativity and imagination, and secondary disability—with qualitative case studies from organizations practicing the approach. She shows Vygotsky at work and play in psychotherapy offices, classrooms, outside-of-school programs, corporate workplaces, and virtual learning environments. This expanded edition includes new chapters dealing with social issues and policies that threaten the full flowering of human development—the medical-model approach to social/emotional life, worsening police/community relations, and increasing authoritarianism in schools, thus continuing to bring Lev Vygotsky’s work to bear on the critical question—“How can we develop in a world in crisis?”

Lev Vygotsky: Revolutionary Scientist (Classic Edition)

by Fred Newman & Lois Holzman

“We need the ideas of practical revolutionaries more than ever … In a world that increasingly feel over-determined in dispiriting ways, [Newman and Holzman] inspire readers to find new ways to socially extend Vygotsky’s practical-critical approach to learning and change.”

-Tom Strong, Professor and Associate Dean of Research, Faculty of Education, University of Calgary, Canada

Psychological Investigations: A Clinician’s Guide to Social Therapy Edited

by Lois Holzman and Rafael Mendez

“This collection is truly a gift… Newman performs what makes social therapy a distinct group therapy and what makes it radical. [He] provokes, stimulates, and compels us to rethink our theories and practices and keep them abreast of the global changes…”

– Harlene Anderson, Houston Galveston Institute

The first comprehensive treatment of social therapeutic practice,Psychological Investigations moves social therapy to the foreground as a qualitative new way of doing therapy. Featuring over 70 dialogues between Fred Newman—the creator of social therapeutic group process—and therapists-in-training, this book explores the nature of the social therapeutic group process, the social therapeutic relationship, and applications to health care, alternative medicine, education and youth development. These dialogues, together with introductory overviews by Lois Holzman and Rafael Mendez, illuminate the core philosophical and political issues underlying the revolutionary and controversial practice of social therapy. Psychological Investigations is a provocative invitation to both new and seasoned professionals seeking alternative modes of practice and understanding. (Brunner-Routledge, 2003)

Postmodern Psychologies, Societal Practice and Political Life

Edited by Lois Holzman and John Morss

“The book opens new avenues for thinking and doing psychology and for contributing to personal, relational, and collective wellness.”

– Isaac Prilleltensky, Victoria University

In this volume, developmental psychologists Lois Holzman and John Morss bring together a distinguished grouping of international scholars and practitioners to reflect upon the achievements and limitations of recent attempts to bring a postmodern orientation to psychology. They provide a rigorous assessment of postmodernism in psychology and offer provocative new possibilities for social-psychological practice. Postmodern Psychologiesintroduces the general reader to the flavor as well as to the substance of psychology’s key debates in the first postmodern century. (Routledge, 2000)

Performing Psychology: A Postmodern Culture of the Mind

Edited by Lois Holzman

“Extraordinary essays and plays?in an argument against the limits of the old psychology and a vocabulary for something better.”

– Ian Parker, Manchester Metropolitan University

This collection of essays by and about the controversial American philosopher, therapist, and playwright Fred Newman is an important contribution to current dialogue on such issues as the nature of human subjectivity; the relationship of theatre to human development; the status of science in the postmodern world; the process of therapy and diagnosis; and the possibility of re-initiating creativity and growth. Arguing that both psychological activity and its study are essentially performance, Holzman’sPerforming Psychology offers a new methodology for understanding human life. (Routledge, 1999)

The End of Knowing: A New Developmental Way of Learning

by Fred Newman and Lois Holzman

“Newman and Holzman take the postmodern discussion beyond its usual focus on words, discourses and narratives to more closely examine what it means to communicate in transformative ways.”

– Tom Strong, University of Calgary

Throughout the modern era, a period of explosive growth and technological achievement, knowledge was king and understood to be the engine of human progress. But what if knowing has become an impediment to further human development? The End of Knowing addresses the practical question of how to reconstruct our world in the wake of modernism’s colossal failure to solve social problems. Newman and Holzman propose “the end of knowing,” in favor of “performed activity” and present the positive implications of this approach for social and educational policy. (Routledge, 1997)

Lev Vygotsky: Revolutionary Scientist

By Fred Newman and Lois Holzman

“Routledge’s Critical Psychology Series has produced another landmark… a provocative and accessible introduction to the early Soviet psychologist’s life and work, as well as to current Vygotskian research.”

– Australian Journal of Psychology

The current debate in psychology and politics over the possibility for human development has sparked a renewed interest in the work of the brilliant Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky. Newman and Holzman are among the few contemporary followers of Vygotsky to explore the potential of his Marxist methodology to transform psychology and education. (Routledge, 1993)

Unscientific Psychology: A Cultural-Performatory Approach to Understanding Human Life

By Fred Newman and Lois Holzman

“A philosophical tour de force…from ancient Greece to modern science and scientific psychology.”

–Theory & Psychology

Western Philosophy is dead. Yet its assumptions and presuppositions disguised as science  live on in modernist psychology. Arguing that psychology is a pseudoscientific hoax, the authors deconstruct three of psychology’s most powerful myths: the myth of the individual, of mental illness, and of development. More than a critique of mainstream psychology, Newman and Holzman present a methodology for reconstructing psychology as a developmental and community-building activity.

(Praeger, 1996, hardcover; iUniverse, 2006, paperback)

Japanese Edition
Translated by Yuji Moro with Makiko Kishi, Ry?ta Kitamoto, Sh?ko Shiroma, Takayuki Daimon, Shin Nakamine, Takumi Hirosé. Hitsuji Shob?, Tokyo, 2022

Schools for Growth: Radical Alternatives to Current Educational Models

By Lois Holzman

“A passionate manifesto calling for a new type of schooling based on revolutionary activity, relational and dialectical philosophy, and the development of performance.”

– Anthropology and Education Quarterly

Developmental psychologist Lois Holzman challenges us to look at our assumptions about schooling, learning and development. She contends that our very conceptions of what it means to teach, learn and grow are obstacles to children’s learning and development. Offering a radical reading of Vygotsky, she introduces the general reader to a methodological reformulation of learning and development as relational activities and, guided by this perspective, takes the reader on an intriguing visit to three independent schools. (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1997)

Vygotsky at Work and Play (Japanese translation)

by Lois Holzman

『ヴィゴツキー――仕事と遊びの中で』は、ヴィゴツキーの思想に触発され、政治的関与を伴う人間発達のアプローチである「社会療法（ソーシャル・セラピューティクス）」と「生成の心理学（psychology of becoming）」を鮮やかに描き出した一冊です。著者のホルツマンは、遊び、発話と思考、「発達の最近接領域」、創造性と想像力、そして「二次的障害」に関するヴィゴツキーの発見を、このアプローチを実践する組織での質的な事例研究と結び合わせて論じています。彼女は、心理療法の現場、教室、学校外のプログラム、企業の職場、そしてバーチャルな学習環境といった様々な場面で、ヴィゴツキーの理論がどのように実践されているかを示しています。この増補版では、社会・情緒的な生活に対する「医学モデル」的アプローチ、悪化する警察と地域社会の関係、学校における権威主義の台頭など、人間発達の十全な開花を脅かす社会問題や政策を扱った新たな章が追加されました。これにより、レフ・ヴィゴツキーの業績を、「危機にある世界で、私たちはどのように発達しうるのか」という極めて重要な問いへと結びつけ続けています。

Forward

The Overweight Brain (Japanese Edition)

by Lois Holzman

肥満化した脳 私たちは今、世界のあらゆる知識をポケットの中のデバイスですぐに手にできる時代に生きています。それにもかかわらず、私たちは依然として、できるだけ多くの知識――事実、議論、意見、予測など――を頭に詰め込もうとし、その知識量によってテストされ、評価され、判断されるような生き方を続けています。ホルツマンによれば、「知る者（knower）」として世界と関わることは、私たちを停滞させてしまいます。それは創造性やリスクを取る姿勢を制限し、私たち自身や私たちの夢を小さく留め、新しいことを学ぶのを妨げ、さらには自分自身や家族、地域社会、そして世界全体のために新たな可能性を切り開く力を抑え込んでしまうのです。だからこそ、私たちは新しい生き方を必要としていると彼女は説きます。それが、彼女が「『知らなさ』の中での成長（non-knowing growing）」と呼ぶものです。これこそが、著書『The Overweight Brain』が投げかける問いかけであり、シンプルでありながらも根本的な転換――つまり、自分たちのありのままの姿（そして持てる知識のすべて）を活かして、より良い世界を築いていくためのアプローチ――の提案なのです。

Introduction

Lev Vygotsky Revolutionary Scientist (Japanese Edition)

by Lois Holzman

レフ・ヴィゴツキー――革命的な科学者人間の発達の可能性をめぐる心理学や政治の分野での現在の議論は、ソビエトの優れた心理学者レフ・ヴィゴツキーの業績に対する関心を再燃させています。ニューマンとホルツマンは、ヴィゴツキーのマルクス主義的方法論が心理学や教育を変革する可能性を探求する、数少ない現代の追随者たちです。（Routledge、1993年）

Unscientific Psychology (Japanese Edition)

by Lois Holzman

非科学的な心理学 西洋哲学は死に絶えた。しかし、科学を装ったその前提や仮定は、近代主義的な心理学の中に生き続けている。心理学を疑似科学的な虚構であると論じる著者たちは、心理学における最も強力な3つの神話――「個人」の神話、「精神疾患」の神話、そして「発達」の神話――を解体する。単なる主流派心理学への批判にとどまらず、ニューマンとホルツマンは、心理学を発達的かつ共同体形成的な営みとして再構築するための方法論を提示している。

Introduction

Schools for Growth: Radical Alternatives to Current Educational Models (Chinese translation)

by Lois Holzman

促进成长的学校：对现有教育模式的彻底替代方案  发展心理学家洛伊丝·霍尔兹曼（Lois Holzman）促使我们重新审视关于学校教育、学习与发展的既有观念。她认为，我们对“教”、“学”及“成长”的固有理解，恰恰构成了儿童学习与发展的障碍。她以一种颠覆性的视角解读维果茨基（Vygotsky）的理论，向普通读者阐述了将学习与发展重新界定为“关系性活动”的方法论构想；并以此为指引，带领读者探访了三所各具特色的独立学校。（Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1997）

Unscientific Psychology (Chinese translation)

by Lois Holzman and Fred Newman

非科学心理学 西方哲学已然式微，但其披着科学外衣的各种假设与预设，却在现代心理学中得以延续。作者指出心理学不过是一场伪科学骗局，并由此解构了心理学界三大极具影响力的神话：关于“个体”的神话、关于“精神疾病”的神话，以及关于“发展”的神话。纽曼（Newman）与霍尔兹曼（Holzman）不仅是对主流心理学进行了批判，更提出了一种方法论，旨在将心理学重构为一项促进发展与社区建设的实践活动。

Psychological Investigations, A Clinician’s Guide to Social Therapy (Chinese translation)

by Lois Holzman and Rafael Mendez

《心理探索》（*Psychological Investigations*）是首部全面探讨社会治疗实践的著作，它将社会治疗作为一种全新的治疗模式推向了前沿。本书收录了社会治疗团体流程的创立者弗雷德·纽曼（Fred Newman）与受训治疗师之间的70多段对话，深入探讨了社会治疗团体流程的本质、社会治疗关系，以及该疗法在医疗保健、替代医学、教育和青少年发展领域的应用。这些对话，辅以洛伊丝·霍尔兹曼（Lois Holzman）和拉斐尔·门德斯（Rafael Mendez）撰写的导论性概述，阐明了社会治疗这一既具革命性又充满争议的实践背后所蕴含的核心哲学与政治议题。《心理探索》向那些寻求替代性实践与理解模式的专业人士（无论新手还是资深从业者）发出了极具启发性的邀请。（Brunner-Routledge出版社，2003年）