Human Givens: a great read for people wanting the truth about what we are - Rated 
It's very easy to dismiss the new ideas in this brilliant book as 'tosh', as I see one reviewer has done, however, considering the current state of society today and the soaring rates of depression, anxiety and addiction, it is clear to me that the issues of mental health treatment and provision must be thought about afresh since services are largely failing to halt, let alone reverse, these appalling trends. I've read this book and it does just that: the authors think through the problems we face and offer fresh insights about them that could transform society. The approach they call "working with the human givens" (which I think is a sensible name for innate physical and emotional needs that all of us are born with) means working from what we know about living things, of which we are but one example. It fills a gaping void in the understanding of emotions and the treatment of a wide range of mental health disorders. If you're bright, you'll get it. It is beautifully written and rich in common sense and practical solutions as well as offering real insights into the causes of mental illness, and I found its speculations about the nature of consciousness really exciting.
Terrible tosh - Rated 
Joe Griffin and Ivan Tyrrell make some extraordinary assertions that do not seem to be backed by any evidence. Their pet theory is that virtually all psychological problems stem from an individual's inability to satisfy his or her most basic needs for food, sex, shelter, acknowledgment etc. For some reason, they choose to call these needs 'The Human Givens'.
On this rather flimsy ground they build an over-simplistic model of human behaviour for which they make numerous grandiose claims. They fail utterly to demonstrate any empirical basis for their principal assertions, namely the sequence in human agency described by their so-called "APET model" and their arbitrary causal linking of sleep-patterns to disorders such as depression. Unusual sleep-patterns may indeed accompany some types of depression - but this does not show that they are causative.
This book seems to be designed to promote quackery on a scale not seen since the days of Moliere.
Interesting in parts, completely barmy in others. - Rated 
Autism is the result of the split between mammals and fish which occured x million years ago. Autistic people are essentially pining to get back in the water and join their fishy cousins. I mean PLEASE.
And then there's some complete codswallop about "relatons", particles which can't be detected, might as well not be there and account for consciousness...
Utterly fanciful, go look at Penrose, Searle and Dennit, but leave these monkeys out of it.
Then again there's some very interesting analysis of sleep and PTSD, though there repudiation of other schools of psychology is so hostile as to make one wonder what underlying issues they have themselves.
All in all a bit of an oddity. Read it for diversion, but not for scientific value.
Dark arts.
Essential reading for Life and Executive coaches and a wonderful new hypothesis re Consciousness - Rated
I wasn't going to bother writing a review of this book because it was already so highly rated.But having a read very negative review of the authors chapter on consciousness, I thought I best add my praise not just for the book in general but for this chapter in particular. I found that particularily interesting because they created an hypothesis re how we become conscious, in order to support their own research on REM sleep and dreaming. Unlike "aldousb" I thought this added to their credibility rather than detracted from it. Now, that is not to say that my opinion is right and his wrong. We can all only judge things from our own level of consciousness. So for him to be "shocked" at what he read, may be what he needed. We all need to have our current views of reality challenged if we are to become more conscious. If this was not so, there would be no need for our logical brain, trances or REM sleep. Griffin and Tyrell's hypothesis may be wrong, but we only make progress by creating and testing hypotheses.
In my view, their hypothesis re "relatons" ties in beautifully with other authors such as Freke and Gandy who have studied all of the worlds major religions/ belief systems to attempt to determine what the mystics were trying to tell us re consciousness (See: Jesus and the Goddess); with Ken Wilber and Claire Graves opinions on the evolution of consciousness (see: Sex Ecology and Spirituality; Integral Spirituality), with Peter Senge and Joe Jaworski,s work on Creating "relatedness" in Businesses/ organisations (see: Presence).
I believe this book makes a major breakthru in teaching us how to be truly lovingly human. It gives us tools to help each other jump the fences to our next stage of consciousness when we become stuck. It speeds up transformation, helping us create new templates of understanding quicker. It may well also allow us to use the, as yet undefined, "life force" (let us call it's power RELATONS), to develop a better world.
overblown and inconclusive with some good ideas - Rated 
This is a very long and overwritten book. When you actually stop reading(and please do stop reading before the INSANE final chapter) you realise you have not been told how to do any of the things that the book talks about ie treat depression, phobia etc. You may or may not agree about the sleep "research" findings but you will realise that they have led us no closer to knowing what to do about poor sleep in depression. To have a hope of finding all of that out you must buy their other books or attend their expensive courses - which I have not done so cannot comment on the overall effectiveness of the approach. I won't be doing so either as I resent being conned out of my time and money on this book which is nothing more than a rambling brochure for their other products.
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