Seeking the Compassionate Life: The Moral Crisis for Psychotherapy and Society

(Hardback)

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The authors take us inside the treatment room, through history, across cultures and into their own personal world to meet clients and acquaintances including a would-be rapist, a virtuous stalker, an adulterous minister, and a young boy with little more than a matchbook and some pride to call his own. Together, the stories of these clients and historical figures including Nazis at Nuremberg reflect a vital theme: virtuous behaviour should not be a mystery. Certainly, morality is a subject most ignored and little understood by modern psychological investigation. Why a person acts honourably, or heinously, is one of the most puzzling and least answered questions of human behaviour. Admittedly, if we are honest, we must recognize that within every human hatred and arrogance battle compassion and decency as a driving force. But here we see how people - even unexpected characters - develop altruism and empathy, and learn concern for others. We are shown seven crucial factors that we must incorporate to achieve a compassionate life. This book is written for two audiences. First, it questions modern psychological scientists who have ignored the importance of compassion, virtue and morality, focusing on contrived experimental situations rather than pursuing investigations in the actual world in which we live. Yet it is also written for all people concerned with the moral crisis in contemporary society, and all people seeking personal and social solutions to deal with this crisis.

Reviews

.,."Rich with insights...The cases presented lead to deep questions about existence and mankind."-John R. Graham, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, School of Medicine University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
"Seeking the Compassionate Life is a significant, substantial, very moving, self-disclosing and thoughtful book. The cases are striking and meaningful...with marvelous and innovative dialogue. A worthy, interesting and compelling read."-Howard E. Book, M.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry University of Toronto Author, The EQ Edge: Emotional Intelligence and Your Success
"The anecdotal chapters are superb: wonderful, vivid, often extremely moving stories, and the ways they are woven together are compelling....This is the most remarkable illustration of the power of appropriate and courageous self-disclosure I have ever read. All of them are gripping and poignant...extremely skilled. This is a style of writing in which Goldberg has great mastery."-Heward Wilkinson, Senior Editor International Journal of Psychotherapy

Author Bio

Carl Goldberg has been a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst for 35 years. He has written 12 books, as well as more than 170 journal articles. Virginia Crespo is a medical and psychiatric social worker who has treated chronically ill and terminal patients in a number of New York hospitals. She has been a field instructor at Columbia-Presbyterian and Roosevelt hospitals, and an Adjunct Faculty Member for Columbia University School of Social Work.