Saturday, October 17, 2009

A view of psychoanalysis

Adam Phillips says in his introduction to his collection of occasional pieces, Promises, Promises: Essays on Psychoanalysis and Literature, that his version (or the version practiced in the essays) of psychoanalysis comes out of the understanding that "there is nothing wrong with anyone, that no one is 'ill', but that everyone is doing the best they can with what they've got. It starts from the belief that children have to learn to be kind, and be free enough to have fun (to lose themselves in whatever makes them curious and makes them feel alive)..."

We all clearly need this most, to learn to be kind and have fun.