Feeling Matters by Michael Eigen

by Michael Eigen

* Exploration of how the psychotherapeutic action of allowing feelings to freely unfold helps the patientPsychotherapy 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 wordsâ€, 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 “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.â€This book will be welcomed by psychoanalysts and psychotherapists and by all with an interest in Eigenâ€s work.

Genres: Psychoanalysis

Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Jacob · Rating 2 out of 5]

it's good for what it is, but what it is is the worked-over journal of a singular psychoanalytic voice on the American scene. It's decidedly not "smart-and-clear" and disappointed in its lack of rigor. Can't we be both subjective and rigorous?

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, and there were moments when I really liked it.

From what I understand, this is one of his more approachable books -- less rigorous on purpose. He explores how people communicate with feelings, and he brings a rare sensitivity to this realm.

I was moved by how he brought his patients to life on the page, and I wondered if he was a frustrated novelist. I also liked how he explored his relationships with his patients -- about how their lives touched his.

He mentioned that two or three of the patients profiled in this book found him because of his writings, and I wondered if some of his patients hope to find themselves in one of his books one day. This seemed as though it was handled awkwardly in this book.

Anyone who hates therapy would hate this book. I'm a lay-person who has had a lot of therapy and has studied a lot of theory, and I found it very interesting and refreshing.