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Zusatztext "In this wise, intellectually rich and deeply thoughtful book, M. Guy Thompson explores the central, complex and paradoxical role that human desire plays in life, love and madness. Building upon foundational Freudian premises, and synthesizing profound insights derived from Nietzsche, Heidegger, Laing, and with his own clinical experience, Thompson provides a compelling and deeply compassionate perspective on the human condition and the process of healing.In this new edition of his classic book, Thompson incorporates a detailed account of his own apprenticeship with R. D. Laing and grounds his thinking in a deeply personal memoir of a monumentally important and often misunderstood experiment in the treatment of psychotic and schizophrenic patients. The Death of Desire breathes new life into R.D. Laing’s legacy, at a time when our culture is in desperate need of it."--Jeremy Safran, Ph.D., Chair and Professor of Psychology, The New School for Social Research, New York"In our medicalized age of diagnosis and disease, we have forgotten what it means to be a person. In this superb book, M. Guy Thompson returns psychoanalysis to its existential origins. Offering a sophisticated and shrewd exegesis of the phenomenology of desire and pathos, he humanizes suffering and situates therapy within a moral framework of embracing experience. Thompson succeeds brilliantly in advancing an authentic discourse on the human condition."-Jon Mills, PsyD, PhD, ABPP, author of Inventing God."Written with great clarity, insight and precision, this new, substantially revised edition of The Death of Desire by M. Guy Thompson invites its readers to reconsider their views on sanity and madness and the inter-connected role that each plays in our becoming who we are. Thompson's intent throughout is both radical and explicit: to excise from our understanding of madness all medically-attuned notions of pathology and, instead, to "return it to where it belongs: the everyday agony and ecstasy of living, in all its attendant mystery and complexity." This is a challenge whose boldness is matched by its urgent necessity. Whatever the stance taken towards the debate, I can't think of any mental health professional who will not benefit from reading this book."-Professor Ernesto Spinelli, ES Associates, London, UK."A compelling exploration of the madness in sanity and sanity in madness in existential depth psychological keys. Thompson, heavily influenced by R. D. Laing, amplifies links between existential and psychoanalytic insights in this fervent probe of the human condition. Whether or not you agree with particular points, your appreciation for who we are and what we are up against will grow. A much needed affirmation of the human spirit in all its vicissitudes."-Michael Eigen, Ph.D., author of Image, Sense, Infinities, and Everyday Life."M. Guy Thompson's revised edition of The Death of Desire is a clarion call for love – or "being with" – as the crux of psychological and psychiatric care. Interwoven with keen scholarly insights and compelling personal anecdotes, this volume provides a rare window into Thompson's many years as student and later colleague of psychiatric maverick R.D. Laing. Through both case vignette and personal observation, Thompson builds a powerful case for sanity (or the nurturance of desire, authenticity, and responsibility) in a maddening, sanity-depleted world. This book is probably more relevant now, given today's machine-mediated, medicalized ethos, than it was 30 years ago when the first edition was published. I couldn’t recommend it more highly." – Kirk Schneider, Ph.D., author of Existential-Humanistic Therapy, Awakening to Awe, and The Polarized Mind."The Death of Desire is alive with the spirit of Laing with whom Dr. Thompson trained and worked. Laing would have loved this revised edition even more than the original. This wonderful book provides a unique, absorbing and insightful exploration into the va...
