Management of Measurement Constructs

Therapy-Reading Study Recommendations

Astrology is an analytical art form; sharing understanding of the human condition and improving things comprise the area of communication skills. Accomplishing analytical synthesis with astrological measurements is one thing; knowing what to communicate about the constantly developing facts of life is yet another. How full and informed we must be.

Astrologers need to flesh out their measurements in humanistic terms, with specific client relevance.

The question I receive so frequently from serious astrology students is , “Well, then what do I say to help with the client’s life situation?”

Of course, not all astrologers have degrees in psychology –although more and more, psychologists are adapting astrology to their diagnostic paradigms. But not all psychologists are able to be effective counselors either! –The requirement for success depends on the richness of knowledge and the empathic communication skills of the human, astrologer or psychologist.

I must present yet again, the unimpeachable findings of George Mora’s study in “Recent American Psychiatric Developments,” American Handbook of Psychiatry Basic Books, New York, 1960, page 32. These findings have been retested often with consistent re-confirmations. These tests have spanned many years and are confirmed by many researcher-author-experts. The findings are: ”Psychoterapeutic results are strikingly similar regardless of the theoretical framework followed by each therapist; that the personality of the therapist is more important than his adherence to a particular school of thought.”

These measured deductions season the entire book, The Creative Astrologer, and I recommend it strongly. –See “BOOKS.”

Additional study support about the human condition and communication substance are cited in the bibliographies of my books, especially in The Creative Astrologer, and the most accessible books are presented in bold-faced type.

Note the publishers of the key books. Go to their websites and see the psychological therapy sections of their publications. For example: Jossey-Bass.com.

Go to amazon.com and search similarly. They have a marvelous selection.

Here are some specific titles that you will find extremely helpful:

~~Read anything by David Viscott, M.D., especially Emotional Resilience –Simple Truths for Dealing with the Unfinished Business of your Past.

~~Favorite Counseling and Therapy Techniques, edited by Howard G. Rosenthal. Accelerated Development, Philadelphia PA; the Taylor & Francis Group.

~~Psychodynamic Psychotherapy –Learning to Listen from Multiple Perspectives by Jon Frederickson. Brunner/Mazel, Philadelphia PA

~~Resilient Adults –Overcoming a Cruel Past by Gina O’Connell Higgins. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco CA

~~Messages –The Communication Skills Book by Matthew McKay and Martha Davis and Patrick Fanning. New Harbinger Publications, Inc. Oakland CA.

~~Zen Therapy –Transcending the Sorrows of the Human Mind by David Brazier. John Wiley & Sons, NY

~~Good Mood: The New Psychology of Overcoming Depression by Julian L. Simon. Open Court Publishing Company, Peru IL

~~Becoming Solution-Focused in Brief Therapy by John L. Walter and Jane E. Peller. Brunner/Mazel, the Taylor Francis Group, Levittown PA

The list could go on forever, but these titles listed at random above are key, important contributions to our practical knowledge. NOTE: these are books that are not necessarily to be read cover to cover. It is easy and quickly helpful to gain the orientation of the book and then zero in on specific considerations and techniques that fit your style, your pressing concerns to serve the client issues your work attracts.

Ask for book lists from these publishers. Learn the jargon. Learn who the authors are who keep popping up.

And for those interested in social psychological tests of intriguing hypotheses about human interaction, there is no better study book than The Social Animal by Elliot Aronson.

Get excited about building your non-astrology library! It will enrich your analysis, insights, and communication skills as an astrologer.