The Electrified Tightrope

by Michael Eigen

A collection of exceptional papers by Michael Eigen, selected and assembled by Adam Phillips, that represent 20 years of writing and 30 years of work. The papers examine the tension, caused by the conflict between poise and catastrophe, in the therapeutic relationship. This volume contains a thought-provoking introduction from Adam Phillips and includes introductory notes for the chapters and a detailed Afterword by Michael Eigen.

Genres: Psychology

486 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 1995

Reviews

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving this book 5* because parts of it are brilliant and expressed with laser like clarity... warning: other parts are a little verbose, overly academic and abstract. If you can get through it, it's worth it. I appreciate how precise Eigen is with his language and the book is packed full of insights. My only critique of this is the same one that I have of a lot of psychoanalytic writing: it occasionally becomes wordy, and draws enough from symbolic life that it kind of veers into projective academic poetry at times. If we're being honest though, I also enjoy projective academic poetry ;) What I loved about this book was that it offered tons of opportunities to experience empathy and to philosophically explore human intentions and behaviors as they relate to power and trauma in a clinical environment. He also made so many wonderful and unique points. Overall: I found it to be optimistic, riveting and raw. And I've never read anything quite like it.