Product Description

* Exploration of how the psychotherapeutic action of allowing feelings to freely unfold helps the patient

Psychotherapy is based on the premise that feelings matter.

Michael Eigen explores feelings as they are experienced in psychoanalytic sessions. One patient fears her feelings, another experiences his world through the lens of “killer words”, for another delusional thinking in the present is maintained by delusional ideas about his past, and yet another feels the profound impact of world events.

As these and other therapeutic cases unfold, complex, painful, deadening, and rejected feelings are revealed and we see what happens when the therapist and patient give these feelings time, space, and attention.

As Eigen writes: “A positive contribution therapy makes is to give people time. Yes, therapist and patient rush past each other or over each other, as is common in daily life. But an overall aim in therapy is to make time for experiencing…not to rush off after ten minutes because things are getting too complicated or uneasy. To stay with feelings building in the room, and stay some more.”

This book will be welcomed by psychoanalysts and psychotherapists and by all with an interest in Eigen’s work.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #524701 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 168 pages

About the Author
Michael Eigen is a psychologist and psychoanalyst as well as a senior member and training analyst with the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis. He is also Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology and supervisor for the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. His other books include Damaged Bonds (Karnac 2001), Rage (2002), The Electrified Tightrope (Karnac 2004) and Feeling Matters (Karnac, 2007).

Customer Reviews

The title says it all
In an age invested in behaviors rather than feelings, Michael Eigen powerfully brings our focus back to the world of affect -- his client's, his own, and even our nation's. It is a beautiful book packed with personal meaning and client analysis. I recommend it to therapists in training and anyone who wants to think about the importance of feelings.