.
Books about ASP
BOOKS DIRECTLY RELATED TO AFFECT SCRIPT PSYCHOLOGY:
This annotated book list was compiled by canvassing members of the Institute about books containing direct references to affect script psychology. While there may be some books that have been overlooked, this list encompasses the most significant titles relevant to affect script psychology published before 2010, and it will be updated as new titles appear. Please note that this is a list of books only. Affect script psychology references abound in journals, published and unpublished theses, and other articles. The books marked with an * are no longer in print, but there are still some copies available.
1. Aronoff J., Rabin A.I., Zucker R., ed. (1987). The Emergence of Personality. New York, Springer Publishing Co.
This book is a compilation of lectures given in 1985 at Michigan State University as part of an ongoing series that began in 1978 as the Henry A. Murray Lectures in Personality. It contains a 60 page chapter by Tomkins titled “Script Theory.”
2. Basch M. (1988). Understanding Psychotherapy: The Science Behind the Art. New York: Basic Books.
A pioneer in the integration of affect script psychology into the psychoanalytic schools of psychotherapy, Basch, along with many other useful insights, introduces the conceptualization of affect, feeling, and emotion in this book, the reading of which would enhance the psychotherapeutic skills of any practitioner regardless of theoretical orientation.
3. Basch M. (1992). Practicing Psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books.
Affect script based psychological insights are spread throughout this book, even if not always directly referenced. Basch does, however, reference Tomkins and Nathanson when discussing the primacy of affect and the critical need to deal with shame in psychotherapy.
4. Basch M. (1995). Doing Brief Psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books.
Here Basch makes clear that the requirement that psychotherapy be brief is fruitless unless the therapist pays constant and strict attention to the patient’s expressed (or obviously disavowed) affect. So entrenched in psychoanalytic lore had been the requirement for often endless treatment, that the author’s legitimization of brief therapy startled many of his colleagues. This book is a good read.
5. Bloom, S. (1997). Creating Sanctuary: Toward the Evolution of Sane Societies. New York: Routledge.
A Tomkins Institute member, Sandra Bloom utilizes affect and script psychology in her pioneering work on trauma theory and the necessity of creating very special, safe environments to treat adults who have been sexually abused as children.
6. Bois, J.S. (1996). The Art of Awareness: A Handbook on Epistemics and General Semantics. 4th Ed. Los Angeles, Philosphere Publishers.
First published in 1962, this textbook by Bois was one of the first to give a summary statement of Tomkins’s work, and to include his formulations as part of the discipline he called epistemics: the science-art of innovating. Tomkins Institute member Gary David, PhD, edited this very readable posthumous version; the early chapters define epistemology and give way to remarkably useful ideas about the formation of the personality.
7. Bryant, F. B., and Joseph, V. (2007). Savoring: A New Model of Positive Experience. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bryant postulates four different skills needed to achieve savoring through the control of attention: (a) avoiding negative rumination, (b) confidence in avoiding negative outcomes, (c) confidence in achieving positive outcomes, and (d) confidence in savoring positive outcomes. He credits Silvan Tomkins's general images for paths of savoring. Mihály Csíkszentmihályi praises Bryant's work.
8. Brown, N. & Amatea, E. (2000) Love and Intimate Relationships: Journeys of the Heart. Philadelphia, Bruner-Mazel.
Tomkins Institute member and conference lecturer Norman Brown is well versed in affect script psychology. About this book, the Institute’s Founding Executive Director Emeritus Don Nathanson wrote: “[This is] one of those rare, easily readable texts that combines impeccable scholarship and good sense to inform a wide range of students. The sections on dating are amongst the best I’ve ever read, and the authors follow relatedness as it develops, showing every bump along the road.”
9. Catherall, Don R. (2007). Emotional Safety: viewing couples through the lens of affect. New York, Routledge.
A Tomkins Institute member, Don’s work exemplifies an excellent use of affect psychology in the context of couples. He defines the meaning environment most conducive to dealing with shame in relationships, with a forward by the Institute’s Founding Executive Director Emeritus Donald Nathanson.
10. Cook D.R. (2001). Internalized Shame Scale: Technical Manual. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems, Inc. (available only at their website: mhs.com)
Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and Tomkins Institute member and conference lecturer Dave Cook based this manual on the work of Tomkins and Nathanson. The ISS scale is unique in its focus on evaluating the extent to which the negative affect of shame becomes magnified and internalized. Adult and adolescent normative data are provided. Search with Google the “Internalized Shame Scale” to see how often it is quoted and used in research.
11. Darwin C., Ekman P. (1998). The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals: Introduction, Afterword and Commentaries by Paul Ekman. Oxford University Press.
Darwin’s original is fascinating, made more so by Ekman’s interesting commentary interspersed throughout the book. While Ekman acknowledges affect psychology, he does not always agree with it. However, on page 374 he says: “Tomkins….was keen that I should do the cross-cultural research, which he was certain would prove him right, and willing to take the risk that it might show him to be wrong.”
12. Demos E. V. (1995). Exploring affect: The selected writings of Silvan S. Tomkins. Cambridge, England, New York, and Paris: Cambridge University Press.
The five parts of this book include extensive quotations from different segments of Tomkins's work: Affect Theory, Affect and Ideology, The Face of Affect, Script Theory, and Human Being Theory. Each part contains an introduction and comments by persons familiar with that aspect of Tomkins. It also includes work not published elsewhere. An excellent introduction to Tomkins’s writings before tackling Affect Imagery Consciousness.
13. Ekman P., ed. (2008). Emotional Awareness: Overcoming the Obstacles to Psychological Balance and Compassion: A Conversation Between the Dalai Lama and Paul Ekman. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
In April of 2006 the Dalai Lama and Paul Ekman spent a weekend together. This book is a record of the salient portions of their conversation. Much of it is a transcription of that dialogue with comments and other brief references from related works. Daniel Goleman's introduction remarks, "This format bring us readers to the tableside, able to share in the authentic flavor of what actually was said ….. preserving a historical record of this singular meeting of two intellectual traditions.”
14. Fonagy, P., Gergely, G. Jurist, E. & Target, M. (2002). Affect Regulation, Mentalization, and the Development of the Self. New York: Other Press.
A long and complex book, Fonagy et al.’s central arguments are: Mentalization is “the capacity to envision mental states in self and others” (p. 23) and operationalizes as reflective functioning, a higher-order transformation of the attachment system in humans and in turn helps to organize human attachments. He refers to Silvan Tomkins several places. The Tomkins Institute Advanced Study Group in Chicago studied this book for a year.
15. Gladwell, M. (2005). Blink. The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. New York: Little, Brown, and Company.
This book has almost nothing to do with affect script psychology; however, chapter 6 provides some interesting anecdotes about Tomkins’s incredible ability at “reading” the faces of people and a bit about his relationship with Ekman.
16. Holinger, P.C., Doner, K. (2003). What Babies Say Before They Can Talk. New York: Fireside. (Simon & Schuster)
An excellent primer on the affective “language” of infants. A must read for new parents, but also a very good introduction to basic affect psychology.
17. Izard C. (1971). The Face of Emotion. New York: Irvington
Carroll Izard and Paul Ekman were the two psychologists mentored by Tomkins who did the seminal cross-cultural research with face pictures of different affect expression. This book cites Tomkins specifically 53 times. Dependent upon Tomkins for its basic ideas, the book concludes with the statement "Personality functioning is optimally effective when the person's goal and the cognitive and motor processes constituting the goal-directed activities are congruent with the underlying emotional processes which initiate, sustain, and guide effort."
18. Izard C. (1972). Patterns of Emotion: New Analysis of Depression and Anxiety. New York: Academic Press.
From the book’s flyleaf: “The author presents a number of studies supporting his differential emotion theory of anxiety and depression, and he compares it with psychoanalytic, biogenetic, and cognitive theories.” The book concludes with the statement, “Both the anxiety and depression studies indicate that life experiences are typically characterized by a pattern of emotions and feelings that direct or influence cognition and action.”
19. Kaufman G. (1985). Shame: The Power of Caring (2d ed.). Cambridge, MA: Schenkman Books.
First published in 1980, Kaufman integrates interpersonal theory, object-relations theory, and affect psychology to create a “language of the self.” It also contains a brief but fascinating introduction by Tomkins, where, amongst other things, he says “The paradox about shame is that there is shame about shame.”
20. Kaufman G., Raphael L. (1996) Coming Out of Shame: Transforming gay and lesbian lives. New York: Doubleday.
A general utilization of the concepts of affect script psychology guides all the insights in this book. It also contains a bibliography listing a number of journal articles and other publications by Tomkins.
21. Kaufman G. (1996). The Psychology of Shame: Theory and treatment of shame-based syndromes. (2d ed.). New York: Springer.
First published in 1989, this book contains a forward by Tomkins upon whose work Kaufman relies heavily.
22. Kosofsky Sedgwick E., Frank A., eds. (1995). Shame and Its Sisters: A Silvan Tomkins Reader. Durham and London: Duke University Press
An absorbing selection of Tomkins’s work, especially the affects of shame and anger. The essay by Kosofsky and the comments by her and Frank place Tomkins in a cultural and philosophical context. Highly recommended.
23. Lynch, B (2005) How to Get Where You Want to Go: knowing your emotions and how to use them. 12 Steps to Emotional Health. Otsego, MI: Pagefree Publishing
Tomkins Institute member Brian Lynch coordinates Tomkins's basic affect material with the Twelve Steps of Twelve Step groups and adds clear, simple graphics. What at first may seem simplistic soon reveals a profound perspective of a person’s affective life. Tomkins’s colleague, Lauren Abramson says “Dr. Lynch has a unique grasp of the pith of Tomkins’s work. He weaves his interactions with clients into Tomkins’s ideas in a way that makes the work very accessible and meaningful.” A visit to Dr. Lynch’s website at brianlynchmd.com is well worth the trip.
24. McCullough-Vaillant, L. (1997). Changing Character: Short-term anxiety regulating psychotherapy for restructuring defenses, affects and attachments. New York: Basic Books.
Tomkins Institute member and conference lecturer Leigh McCullough offers a gift to affect and script clinicians in this excellent volume. She explicitly bases her therapeutic approaches on the theories of Tomkins and Nathanson, integrating it with Attachment and Psychodynamic therapeutic methods. This is a useful text for therapists helping alexithymic or "affect phobic" clients gain awareness of their affective states.
25. McCullough, L., Kuhn, N., Andrews, S., Kaplan, A., Wolf, J., Hurley, C.L. (2003). Treating Affect Phobia: A Manual for short-term dynamic psychotherapy. New York: Guilford Press.
For therapists unwilling to plough through McCullough-Vaillant's theoretical volume, this "how to" manual takes the mystery out of helping clients access and regulate their affects rather than fearing and avoiding them. This is a practical application of Affect-Script Psychology woven into clinical practice. A "must-have" for every therapists' book shelf.
26. Nathanson D.L., ed. (1987). The Many Faces of Shame. New York: Guilford.
In this book, Tomkins Institute Founding Executive Director Emeritus Donald Nathanson’s primary objective was to emphasize how the shame family of emotions had been understood by the most sophisticated writers who preceded the movement we represent. Most important for those now developing their own psychotherapeutic approach to shame-based conflicts is his rapt attention to the history of therapist approaches to shame. Gathered here are a group of well-published experts including Melvin Lansky, Helen Block Lewis, Andrew Morrison, Carl Schneider, Robert Stoller, Otto Will, Leon Wurmser, and Silvan Tomkins, who provides a concise review of his affect psychology as well as a brief discussion of ideology and the polarity between humanistic and normative orientations.
27. Nathanson D.L. (1987). The shame/pride axis. In H.B. Lewis (ed.), The Role of Shame in Symptom Formation. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
A good summary of normal shame and normal pride, as well as the interplay between these common terms.
28. Nathanson D.L. (1990). Project for the study of emotion. In R.A. Glick & S. Bone (eds.), Pleasure beyond the pleasure principle: The role of affect in motivation, development, and adaptation. New Haven: Yale University Press. p 81-110.
Here, Nathanson calls attention to the similarity between Freud’s “project” and our current efforts to introduce Tomkins’s work to a larger audience.
29. Nathanson D.L. (1992). Shame and Pride: Affect, Sex, and the Birth of the Self. New York: Norton.
This seminal book about shame was reviewed in great detail by Silvan Tomkins before it was published. The first 150 pages are devoted to a description of affect psychology. The remainder provides new insights into the innate affect shame, the shame-pride axis, sexuality, the family of emotions arising from shame, and introduces the four script libraries or defenses against shame that have become known as the Compass of Shame.
30. Nathanson D.L., ed. (1996). Knowing Feeling: Affect, Script, and Psychotherapy. New York: Norton.
A scholarly volume including contributions by various Tomkins Institute members and others familiar with affect script psychology. Topics include: assessing affect (Stone), diagnostic alliance (Hite), intimacy redefined (Kelly), scripts and sexuality (Mosher), the internalized shame scale (Cook), and affect in cognitive therapy (Milestone), in psychopharmacology (Nathanson & Pfrommer), in image-oriented psychotherapy (Wright), in the life of infants, in defenses (Basch), in trauma (Stone), in drama therapy, in criminal justice (Moore), in iconicity (Shapiro) with closing thoughts by Nathanson.
31. Pattison S., (2000). Shame: Theory, Therapy, Theology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pattison only references Tomkins through his familiarity with Nathanson's work. However anyone who wants to see shame in a religious context has an invaluable resource here. Another reviewer of this book writes, "Pattison considers the nature of shame as it is discussed in the diverse discourses of literature, psychology, psychoanalysis, philosophy, history and sociology."
32. *Pembroke, N. (2002). The Art of Listening: Dialogue, Shame, and Pastoral Care. Grand Rapids/Cambridge: Eerdmans
Pembroke's book is an excellent reference text for supervisors of clinical pastoral education chaplain residents. Its resources and rich bibliographical footnotes at the end of each chapter cite a cornucopia and roll call of famous authors and their contributions, including Silvan S. Tomkins.
33. Schneider, Carl D. (1995) Shame, Exposure, and Privacy. New York, WW Norton
Originally released in 1977, this little treasure was republished by WW Norton in 1992 (at the request of a major book club), to accompany the release of Nathanson’s Shame and Pride. Schneider is a pastoral counselor whose doctoral dissertation for the Harvard Divinity School drew so much respect and attention that it was published in the form of this book. Full of useful observations at many levels, its descriptions of shamelessness are unique and increasingly important today.
34. Stern D. (1985). The Interpersonal World of the Infant: A View from Psychoanalysis and Developmental Psychology. New York: Basic Books.
Stern’s work on the development of self is a classic move away from strictly psychoanalytic theories. He proposes “vitality affects” that he attributes to Tompkins (sic). And citing both Demos and Tomkins, says “The realization is now occurring that not all affective life is the handmaiden to cognition….and that infants’ feelings, especially in the beginning, can and must be considered irrespective of what they know.”
35. Thorsborne M., Vinegrad D., (2002) Restorative Practices in Schools: Rethinking Behaviour Management. Queenscliff, Australia: Inyahead Press.
Tomkins Institute member and conference lecturer Marg Thorsborne and David Vinegrad have written several practical manuals about the use of restorative practice techniques for dealing with behavior problems in schools and businesses. Their work is founded in affect script psychology and refers often to Nathanson’s Compass of Shame.
36. *Tomkins S. (1957). The Tomkins-Horn Picture Arrangement Test. New York: Springer.
Inspired by the success of the Thematic Apperception Test, Tomkins and Daniel Horn devised the PAT. This projective test intends to reveal aspects of a person's personality by the sequence within which he or she places a series of pictures and the story the person invents about the pictures. The book describes the rationale, history, implementation, scoring and interpretation of test results. It contains dozens of pages of charts revealing comparisons of answers to the test in different circumstances.
37. Tomkins S. (1962). Affect Imagery Consciousness. Vol I: The Positive Affects. New York: Springer.
Here Tomkins launches his magnum opus. The focal character of affect in motivating is set in contrast to the assumptions of behaviorism and psychoanalysis. Affect as an amplifier of its trigger is a biological mechanism giving an animal moving about in space information on the basis of which appropriate actions may be taken. The human face as the primary site of affect is a two way communication system telling the individual about the world, and telling the world about the individual. These innate affects operate in degrees of intensity. The positive ones dealt with in this volume are interest-excitement and enjoyment-joy. The neutral affect surprise-startle functions to reset attention.
38. Tomkins S. (1963). Affect Imagery Consciousness. Vol II: The Negative Affects. New York: Springer.
When published in 1963 Volume II of AIC presented a pioneering and radical view of the nature of human motivation. Here the negative affects of distress and shame are delineated. Much attention is given to the way in which the young individual is inadvertently socialized to manage these innate responses, and the various ways in which later, as adults, they manifest the consequences of this socialization. The impact of humiliation receives generous attention.
39. Tomkins S. (1991). Affect Imagery Consciousness. Vol III: The Negative Affects: Anger and Fear. New York: Springer.
A hiatus of 18 years separated the publication of volume III from volume II of Affect Imagery Consciousness. That gave valuable time for some modification and development of the theory as well as its application in a variety of contexts. The innate affects of anger and fear are center stage in this volume. Each of the nine affects is a major player in authoring the individual’s scripts which are written by the inevitable stimulus-affect-response sequences of everyday life. The years between volume II and volume III gave both the necessity and opportunity for Tomkins to summarize his work. Chapter 1 is especially valuable as he presents there a brief overview of the theory.
40. Tomkins S. (1992). Affect Imagery Consciousness. Vol IV: Cognition: Duplication and Transformation of Information. New York: Springer.
Tomkins ends Affect Imagery Consciousness with the consideration of Cognition. In doing so memory, perception, action, thought and emotion play their inter-dependent parts in the assembly of the human being. Individual freedom is the consequence of the marriage of affect and cognition, but this freedom is limited by biological and social systems. How imagery at the heart of memory is stored and retrieved receives considerable attention. Appeal is made to see the human being not in isolation but in the dramatic interplay of a bio-psycho-social system.
41. Tomkins S., Izard, C. eds. (1965). Affect, Cognition, and Personality: Empirical Studies. New York: Springer.
This compendium views affect from many angles. It includes a chapter by Paul Ekman on nonverbal communication. Tomkins's chapter examines affect and cognition, especially within ideologies and polarities.
42. Tomkins S. (2008). Affect Imagery Consciousness: The Complete Edition. Two Volumes. New York: Springer.
This attractive two volume set includes all four volumes of the original and contains a prologue by the Institute’s Founding Executive Director Emeritus Don Nathanson that provides an overview of Tomkins’s far-reaching theoretical conceptualizations.
43. Whyte L.L. (2003). The Next Development in Mankind. Introduction by Gary David and Brian Rothery.New Brunswick , NJ S. Tomkins . His was a call to unity of all aspects of the functioning human being, and he saw the dissociation as a stage along the way in a development seeking emergence. The work of Silvan Tomkins now gives us specific insight into what Whyte was generally saying. Well worth reading by students of affect script psychology.
44. Wright J. (2005). The Art of Attention: Chronicles of an Image-Oriented Psychotherapist. In collaboration with Virginia Demos. Victoria, BC, Canada: Trafford.
Jeanette Wright is a member of the Tomkins Institute and regular lecturer at our conferences. Her insights into the visual arts and use of images in therapy are heavily based on affect script psychology and, with a very personal touch, clearly described in this book.
For even more resources visit the Institute Store where you can:
This annotated book list was compiled by canvassing members of the Institute about books containing direct references to affect script psychology. While there may be some books that have been overlooked, this list encompasses the most significant titles relevant to affect script psychology published before 2010, and it will be updated as new titles appear. Please note that this is a list of books only. Affect script psychology references abound in journals, published and unpublished theses, and other articles. The books marked with an * are no longer in print, but there are still some copies available.
1. Aronoff J., Rabin A.I., Zucker R., ed. (1987). The Emergence of Personality. New York, Springer Publishing Co.
This book is a compilation of lectures given in 1985 at Michigan State University as part of an ongoing series that began in 1978 as the Henry A. Murray Lectures in Personality. It contains a 60 page chapter by Tomkins titled “Script Theory.”
2. Basch M. (1988). Understanding Psychotherapy: The Science Behind the Art. New York: Basic Books.
A pioneer in the integration of affect script psychology into the psychoanalytic schools of psychotherapy, Basch, along with many other useful insights, introduces the conceptualization of affect, feeling, and emotion in this book, the reading of which would enhance the psychotherapeutic skills of any practitioner regardless of theoretical orientation.
3. Basch M. (1992). Practicing Psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books.
Affect script based psychological insights are spread throughout this book, even if not always directly referenced. Basch does, however, reference Tomkins and Nathanson when discussing the primacy of affect and the critical need to deal with shame in psychotherapy.
4. Basch M. (1995). Doing Brief Psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books.
Here Basch makes clear that the requirement that psychotherapy be brief is fruitless unless the therapist pays constant and strict attention to the patient’s expressed (or obviously disavowed) affect. So entrenched in psychoanalytic lore had been the requirement for often endless treatment, that the author’s legitimization of brief therapy startled many of his colleagues. This book is a good read.
5. Bloom, S. (1997). Creating Sanctuary: Toward the Evolution of Sane Societies. New York: Routledge.
A Tomkins Institute member, Sandra Bloom utilizes affect and script psychology in her pioneering work on trauma theory and the necessity of creating very special, safe environments to treat adults who have been sexually abused as children.
6. Bois, J.S. (1996). The Art of Awareness: A Handbook on Epistemics and General Semantics. 4th Ed. Los Angeles, Philosphere Publishers.
First published in 1962, this textbook by Bois was one of the first to give a summary statement of Tomkins’s work, and to include his formulations as part of the discipline he called epistemics: the science-art of innovating. Tomkins Institute member Gary David, PhD, edited this very readable posthumous version; the early chapters define epistemology and give way to remarkably useful ideas about the formation of the personality.
7. Bryant, F. B., and Joseph, V. (2007). Savoring: A New Model of Positive Experience. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bryant postulates four different skills needed to achieve savoring through the control of attention: (a) avoiding negative rumination, (b) confidence in avoiding negative outcomes, (c) confidence in achieving positive outcomes, and (d) confidence in savoring positive outcomes. He credits Silvan Tomkins's general images for paths of savoring. Mihály Csíkszentmihályi praises Bryant's work.
8. Brown, N. & Amatea, E. (2000) Love and Intimate Relationships: Journeys of the Heart. Philadelphia, Bruner-Mazel.
Tomkins Institute member and conference lecturer Norman Brown is well versed in affect script psychology. About this book, the Institute’s Founding Executive Director Emeritus Don Nathanson wrote: “[This is] one of those rare, easily readable texts that combines impeccable scholarship and good sense to inform a wide range of students. The sections on dating are amongst the best I’ve ever read, and the authors follow relatedness as it develops, showing every bump along the road.”
9. Catherall, Don R. (2007). Emotional Safety: viewing couples through the lens of affect. New York, Routledge.
A Tomkins Institute member, Don’s work exemplifies an excellent use of affect psychology in the context of couples. He defines the meaning environment most conducive to dealing with shame in relationships, with a forward by the Institute’s Founding Executive Director Emeritus Donald Nathanson.
10. Cook D.R. (2001). Internalized Shame Scale: Technical Manual. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems, Inc. (available only at their website: mhs.com)
Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and Tomkins Institute member and conference lecturer Dave Cook based this manual on the work of Tomkins and Nathanson. The ISS scale is unique in its focus on evaluating the extent to which the negative affect of shame becomes magnified and internalized. Adult and adolescent normative data are provided. Search with Google the “Internalized Shame Scale” to see how often it is quoted and used in research.
11. Darwin C., Ekman P. (1998). The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals: Introduction, Afterword and Commentaries by Paul Ekman. Oxford University Press.
Darwin’s original is fascinating, made more so by Ekman’s interesting commentary interspersed throughout the book. While Ekman acknowledges affect psychology, he does not always agree with it. However, on page 374 he says: “Tomkins….was keen that I should do the cross-cultural research, which he was certain would prove him right, and willing to take the risk that it might show him to be wrong.”
12. Demos E. V. (1995). Exploring affect: The selected writings of Silvan S. Tomkins. Cambridge, England, New York, and Paris: Cambridge University Press.
The five parts of this book include extensive quotations from different segments of Tomkins's work: Affect Theory, Affect and Ideology, The Face of Affect, Script Theory, and Human Being Theory. Each part contains an introduction and comments by persons familiar with that aspect of Tomkins. It also includes work not published elsewhere. An excellent introduction to Tomkins’s writings before tackling Affect Imagery Consciousness.
13. Ekman P., ed. (2008). Emotional Awareness: Overcoming the Obstacles to Psychological Balance and Compassion: A Conversation Between the Dalai Lama and Paul Ekman. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
In April of 2006 the Dalai Lama and Paul Ekman spent a weekend together. This book is a record of the salient portions of their conversation. Much of it is a transcription of that dialogue with comments and other brief references from related works. Daniel Goleman's introduction remarks, "This format bring us readers to the tableside, able to share in the authentic flavor of what actually was said ….. preserving a historical record of this singular meeting of two intellectual traditions.”
14. Fonagy, P., Gergely, G. Jurist, E. & Target, M. (2002). Affect Regulation, Mentalization, and the Development of the Self. New York: Other Press.
A long and complex book, Fonagy et al.’s central arguments are: Mentalization is “the capacity to envision mental states in self and others” (p. 23) and operationalizes as reflective functioning, a higher-order transformation of the attachment system in humans and in turn helps to organize human attachments. He refers to Silvan Tomkins several places. The Tomkins Institute Advanced Study Group in Chicago studied this book for a year.
15. Gladwell, M. (2005). Blink. The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. New York: Little, Brown, and Company.
This book has almost nothing to do with affect script psychology; however, chapter 6 provides some interesting anecdotes about Tomkins’s incredible ability at “reading” the faces of people and a bit about his relationship with Ekman.
16. Holinger, P.C., Doner, K. (2003). What Babies Say Before They Can Talk. New York: Fireside. (Simon & Schuster)
An excellent primer on the affective “language” of infants. A must read for new parents, but also a very good introduction to basic affect psychology.
17. Izard C. (1971). The Face of Emotion. New York: Irvington
Carroll Izard and Paul Ekman were the two psychologists mentored by Tomkins who did the seminal cross-cultural research with face pictures of different affect expression. This book cites Tomkins specifically 53 times. Dependent upon Tomkins for its basic ideas, the book concludes with the statement "Personality functioning is optimally effective when the person's goal and the cognitive and motor processes constituting the goal-directed activities are congruent with the underlying emotional processes which initiate, sustain, and guide effort."
18. Izard C. (1972). Patterns of Emotion: New Analysis of Depression and Anxiety. New York: Academic Press.
From the book’s flyleaf: “The author presents a number of studies supporting his differential emotion theory of anxiety and depression, and he compares it with psychoanalytic, biogenetic, and cognitive theories.” The book concludes with the statement, “Both the anxiety and depression studies indicate that life experiences are typically characterized by a pattern of emotions and feelings that direct or influence cognition and action.”
19. Kaufman G. (1985). Shame: The Power of Caring (2d ed.). Cambridge, MA: Schenkman Books.
First published in 1980, Kaufman integrates interpersonal theory, object-relations theory, and affect psychology to create a “language of the self.” It also contains a brief but fascinating introduction by Tomkins, where, amongst other things, he says “The paradox about shame is that there is shame about shame.”
20. Kaufman G., Raphael L. (1996) Coming Out of Shame: Transforming gay and lesbian lives. New York: Doubleday.
A general utilization of the concepts of affect script psychology guides all the insights in this book. It also contains a bibliography listing a number of journal articles and other publications by Tomkins.
21. Kaufman G. (1996). The Psychology of Shame: Theory and treatment of shame-based syndromes. (2d ed.). New York: Springer.
First published in 1989, this book contains a forward by Tomkins upon whose work Kaufman relies heavily.
22. Kosofsky Sedgwick E., Frank A., eds. (1995). Shame and Its Sisters: A Silvan Tomkins Reader. Durham and London: Duke University Press
An absorbing selection of Tomkins’s work, especially the affects of shame and anger. The essay by Kosofsky and the comments by her and Frank place Tomkins in a cultural and philosophical context. Highly recommended.
23. Lynch, B (2005) How to Get Where You Want to Go: knowing your emotions and how to use them. 12 Steps to Emotional Health. Otsego, MI: Pagefree Publishing
Tomkins Institute member Brian Lynch coordinates Tomkins's basic affect material with the Twelve Steps of Twelve Step groups and adds clear, simple graphics. What at first may seem simplistic soon reveals a profound perspective of a person’s affective life. Tomkins’s colleague, Lauren Abramson says “Dr. Lynch has a unique grasp of the pith of Tomkins’s work. He weaves his interactions with clients into Tomkins’s ideas in a way that makes the work very accessible and meaningful.” A visit to Dr. Lynch’s website at brianlynchmd.com is well worth the trip.
24. McCullough-Vaillant, L. (1997). Changing Character: Short-term anxiety regulating psychotherapy for restructuring defenses, affects and attachments. New York: Basic Books.
Tomkins Institute member and conference lecturer Leigh McCullough offers a gift to affect and script clinicians in this excellent volume. She explicitly bases her therapeutic approaches on the theories of Tomkins and Nathanson, integrating it with Attachment and Psychodynamic therapeutic methods. This is a useful text for therapists helping alexithymic or "affect phobic" clients gain awareness of their affective states.
25. McCullough, L., Kuhn, N., Andrews, S., Kaplan, A., Wolf, J., Hurley, C.L. (2003). Treating Affect Phobia: A Manual for short-term dynamic psychotherapy. New York: Guilford Press.
For therapists unwilling to plough through McCullough-Vaillant's theoretical volume, this "how to" manual takes the mystery out of helping clients access and regulate their affects rather than fearing and avoiding them. This is a practical application of Affect-Script Psychology woven into clinical practice. A "must-have" for every therapists' book shelf.
26. Nathanson D.L., ed. (1987). The Many Faces of Shame. New York: Guilford.
In this book, Tomkins Institute Founding Executive Director Emeritus Donald Nathanson’s primary objective was to emphasize how the shame family of emotions had been understood by the most sophisticated writers who preceded the movement we represent. Most important for those now developing their own psychotherapeutic approach to shame-based conflicts is his rapt attention to the history of therapist approaches to shame. Gathered here are a group of well-published experts including Melvin Lansky, Helen Block Lewis, Andrew Morrison, Carl Schneider, Robert Stoller, Otto Will, Leon Wurmser, and Silvan Tomkins, who provides a concise review of his affect psychology as well as a brief discussion of ideology and the polarity between humanistic and normative orientations.
27. Nathanson D.L. (1987). The shame/pride axis. In H.B. Lewis (ed.), The Role of Shame in Symptom Formation. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
A good summary of normal shame and normal pride, as well as the interplay between these common terms.
28. Nathanson D.L. (1990). Project for the study of emotion. In R.A. Glick & S. Bone (eds.), Pleasure beyond the pleasure principle: The role of affect in motivation, development, and adaptation. New Haven: Yale University Press. p 81-110.
Here, Nathanson calls attention to the similarity between Freud’s “project” and our current efforts to introduce Tomkins’s work to a larger audience.
29. Nathanson D.L. (1992). Shame and Pride: Affect, Sex, and the Birth of the Self. New York: Norton.
This seminal book about shame was reviewed in great detail by Silvan Tomkins before it was published. The first 150 pages are devoted to a description of affect psychology. The remainder provides new insights into the innate affect shame, the shame-pride axis, sexuality, the family of emotions arising from shame, and introduces the four script libraries or defenses against shame that have become known as the Compass of Shame.
30. Nathanson D.L., ed. (1996). Knowing Feeling: Affect, Script, and Psychotherapy. New York: Norton.
A scholarly volume including contributions by various Tomkins Institute members and others familiar with affect script psychology. Topics include: assessing affect (Stone), diagnostic alliance (Hite), intimacy redefined (Kelly), scripts and sexuality (Mosher), the internalized shame scale (Cook), and affect in cognitive therapy (Milestone), in psychopharmacology (Nathanson & Pfrommer), in image-oriented psychotherapy (Wright), in the life of infants, in defenses (Basch), in trauma (Stone), in drama therapy, in criminal justice (Moore), in iconicity (Shapiro) with closing thoughts by Nathanson.
31. Pattison S., (2000). Shame: Theory, Therapy, Theology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pattison only references Tomkins through his familiarity with Nathanson's work. However anyone who wants to see shame in a religious context has an invaluable resource here. Another reviewer of this book writes, "Pattison considers the nature of shame as it is discussed in the diverse discourses of literature, psychology, psychoanalysis, philosophy, history and sociology."
32. *Pembroke, N. (2002). The Art of Listening: Dialogue, Shame, and Pastoral Care. Grand Rapids/Cambridge: Eerdmans
Pembroke's book is an excellent reference text for supervisors of clinical pastoral education chaplain residents. Its resources and rich bibliographical footnotes at the end of each chapter cite a cornucopia and roll call of famous authors and their contributions, including Silvan S. Tomkins.
33. Schneider, Carl D. (1995) Shame, Exposure, and Privacy. New York, WW Norton
Originally released in 1977, this little treasure was republished by WW Norton in 1992 (at the request of a major book club), to accompany the release of Nathanson’s Shame and Pride. Schneider is a pastoral counselor whose doctoral dissertation for the Harvard Divinity School drew so much respect and attention that it was published in the form of this book. Full of useful observations at many levels, its descriptions of shamelessness are unique and increasingly important today.
34. Stern D. (1985). The Interpersonal World of the Infant: A View from Psychoanalysis and Developmental Psychology. New York: Basic Books.
Stern’s work on the development of self is a classic move away from strictly psychoanalytic theories. He proposes “vitality affects” that he attributes to Tompkins (sic). And citing both Demos and Tomkins, says “The realization is now occurring that not all affective life is the handmaiden to cognition….and that infants’ feelings, especially in the beginning, can and must be considered irrespective of what they know.”
35. Thorsborne M., Vinegrad D., (2002) Restorative Practices in Schools: Rethinking Behaviour Management. Queenscliff, Australia: Inyahead Press.
Tomkins Institute member and conference lecturer Marg Thorsborne and David Vinegrad have written several practical manuals about the use of restorative practice techniques for dealing with behavior problems in schools and businesses. Their work is founded in affect script psychology and refers often to Nathanson’s Compass of Shame.
36. *Tomkins S. (1957). The Tomkins-Horn Picture Arrangement Test. New York: Springer.
Inspired by the success of the Thematic Apperception Test, Tomkins and Daniel Horn devised the PAT. This projective test intends to reveal aspects of a person's personality by the sequence within which he or she places a series of pictures and the story the person invents about the pictures. The book describes the rationale, history, implementation, scoring and interpretation of test results. It contains dozens of pages of charts revealing comparisons of answers to the test in different circumstances.
37. Tomkins S. (1962). Affect Imagery Consciousness. Vol I: The Positive Affects. New York: Springer.
Here Tomkins launches his magnum opus. The focal character of affect in motivating is set in contrast to the assumptions of behaviorism and psychoanalysis. Affect as an amplifier of its trigger is a biological mechanism giving an animal moving about in space information on the basis of which appropriate actions may be taken. The human face as the primary site of affect is a two way communication system telling the individual about the world, and telling the world about the individual. These innate affects operate in degrees of intensity. The positive ones dealt with in this volume are interest-excitement and enjoyment-joy. The neutral affect surprise-startle functions to reset attention.
38. Tomkins S. (1963). Affect Imagery Consciousness. Vol II: The Negative Affects. New York: Springer.
When published in 1963 Volume II of AIC presented a pioneering and radical view of the nature of human motivation. Here the negative affects of distress and shame are delineated. Much attention is given to the way in which the young individual is inadvertently socialized to manage these innate responses, and the various ways in which later, as adults, they manifest the consequences of this socialization. The impact of humiliation receives generous attention.
39. Tomkins S. (1991). Affect Imagery Consciousness. Vol III: The Negative Affects: Anger and Fear. New York: Springer.
A hiatus of 18 years separated the publication of volume III from volume II of Affect Imagery Consciousness. That gave valuable time for some modification and development of the theory as well as its application in a variety of contexts. The innate affects of anger and fear are center stage in this volume. Each of the nine affects is a major player in authoring the individual’s scripts which are written by the inevitable stimulus-affect-response sequences of everyday life. The years between volume II and volume III gave both the necessity and opportunity for Tomkins to summarize his work. Chapter 1 is especially valuable as he presents there a brief overview of the theory.
40. Tomkins S. (1992). Affect Imagery Consciousness. Vol IV: Cognition: Duplication and Transformation of Information. New York: Springer.
Tomkins ends Affect Imagery Consciousness with the consideration of Cognition. In doing so memory, perception, action, thought and emotion play their inter-dependent parts in the assembly of the human being. Individual freedom is the consequence of the marriage of affect and cognition, but this freedom is limited by biological and social systems. How imagery at the heart of memory is stored and retrieved receives considerable attention. Appeal is made to see the human being not in isolation but in the dramatic interplay of a bio-psycho-social system.
41. Tomkins S., Izard, C. eds. (1965). Affect, Cognition, and Personality: Empirical Studies. New York: Springer.
This compendium views affect from many angles. It includes a chapter by Paul Ekman on nonverbal communication. Tomkins's chapter examines affect and cognition, especially within ideologies and polarities.
42. Tomkins S. (2008). Affect Imagery Consciousness: The Complete Edition. Two Volumes. New York: Springer.
This attractive two volume set includes all four volumes of the original and contains a prologue by the Institute’s Founding Executive Director Emeritus Don Nathanson that provides an overview of Tomkins’s far-reaching theoretical conceptualizations.
43. Whyte L.L. (2003). The Next Development in Mankind. Introduction by Gary David and Brian Rothery.
44. Wright J. (2005). The Art of Attention: Chronicles of an Image-Oriented Psychotherapist. In collaboration with Virginia Demos. Victoria, BC, Canada: Trafford.
Jeanette Wright is a member of the Tomkins Institute and regular lecturer at our conferences. Her insights into the visual arts and use of images in therapy are heavily based on affect script psychology and, with a very personal touch, clearly described in this book.
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