Psychotherapy for a Democratic Mind: Treating Intimacy, Tragedy, Violence, and Evil

(Hardback)

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Psychotherapy for a Democratic Mind proposes that the optimal goal of psychotherapy lies in cultivating a free mind with integrity that will not seek to do major harm to ones life or to the lives of others. This book looks at a wide range of psychiatric disorders, including classic conditions of neurosis, personality disorders and psychoses, through a different lens. Rather than simply enumerating symptoms, namely, how a person is addressing the opportunity of his/her life and the lives of others and whether a person is doing harm to themselves and/or others. This book proceeds to grapple with several critical life experiences and styles: tragedy, violence and evil, all of which often have posed insurmountable problems in therapy.

Reviews

Psychotherapy for a Democratic Mind presents a creative focusing of Israel W. Charnys general concept of democratic and fascistic minds to a crucial field of application. An unusual blend of material from clinical psychology, personality theory, and political psychology, its core terms symbolize broad personality types. The result is a set of novel and thought-provoking ideas for clinical theory, diagnosis, and treatment. -- Peter Suedfeld, University of British Columbia
Psychotherapy for a Democratic Mind concludes with a brilliant summation of an extraordinary life spent grappling with the human condition. Truth is in essence dialectical, and this book is a twenty-first century embodiment of the rabbinic concept of yetzer hara/yetzer tov, the good impulse and the bad impulse. Israel W. Charny offers a profound understanding of the human story. There is so much substance, depth, and truth in Charnys life perspective. -- Samuel Karff, University of Texas Medical School
Israel W. Charny provides a captivating journey exploring a framework for therapy that charts a course for today's and tomorrow's mental health professionals. Charny's therapeutic wisdom and existential insight into the human condition, combined with his pioneering work on the Holocaust and genocide studies, informs his courageous approach to perplexing issues. He provides essential truths, including a prescription for therapists and patients alike, to achieve a free mind that does no harm to one's own life or that of others. This book provides approaches to diagnosis and therapy that must be studied, savored, and implemented. -- Robert Krell, MD, University of British Columbia
This is one of the most original psychotherapy books I have ever read. Israel W. Charny does not flinch when describing evil in the human experience. He calls on therapists to see psychological health as inclusive of how personal behavior affects the well-being of others, and to make the connection between political democracy and democracy in the mind and heart. There is an ethical consciousness at work on every page, which is much needed in today's world. -- William J. Doherty, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Author Bio

I.W. Charny is retired professor of psychology and family therapy at Hebrew University of Jerusalem.