EtherReads reviewed The examined life by Stephen Grosz
Review of 'The examined life' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Full review can be found here: theopinionarium.com/2021/06/09/wednesday-book-corner-1/
225 pages
English language
Published Jan. 6, 2013
4 stars
(5 reviews)
In his work as a practicing psychoanalyst, the author has spent the last twenty-five years uncovering the hidden feelings behind the most baffling human behavior. This book distils more than 50,000 hours of conversation into pure psychological insight without the jargon. At its core, this book is about one ordinary process: talking, listening, and understanding. Its stories unveil a delicate self-portrait of the analyst at work and show how lessons learned in the consulting room can reveal as much to the analyst as to the patient.
gimley reviewed The examined life by Stephen Grosz
Review of 'The examined life' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
First the good--Interestingly told, generally jargon free, often insightful, gives a pretty good idea of how a psychoanalyst thinks about cases. Willing to be revealing about himself and his family.
Now the bad, a little stuffy/authoritative, sometimes overly abbreviated or formulaic, sometimes too obvious.
Now the ugly. He gets spit on several times. And he comes back for more. If I felt he loved this patient, I'd stay with him but he's too distant. He talks more about the case dynamics. If it's just work to him, I'd move on to a non-spitting patient. (My guess is he does love this patient but for a reason he'd have to tell us, wasn't willing to share it with us--too unprofessional, too vulnerable?)
Full disclosure: I'm a psychoanalyst myself so I didn't read this like someone who was unaware of much he said.
Subjects
- Case studies
- Psychoanalysis
- Psychology