Description
The Half-Alive Ones consists of nine clinical and two theoretical papers. The book celebrates almost fifty years of therapeutic work. It depicts some of the authorâs most poignant professional experiences, both personal and collective.
The author, who sees herself as an eclectic Jungian, gives an account in the book of a flexible approach to analysis and therapy, which reveals itself in her case studies. In part, her adaptations within her practice have evolved out of our changing civilization. These adaptations require a diversified approach from patient to patient, which cannot be accommodated within only one traditional conceptual framework.
The case studies demonstrate that the author rarely works with single persons who are ill by themselves. She finds it more fruitful to perceive and treat them as part of a total situation, which they bring into the consulting room: family of origin, work situation, and part or current significant relationships.
Jung wrote: ‘Each case is individual and not derivable from any preconceived formula. Each is a new experiment of life in her ever-changing moods and an attempt at a new solution or new adaptation.’ Eva Seligman attempts to confirm her deep-felt belief that good listening, sensitive timing, versatility, and evaluation of the otherâs truth, are indispensable ingredients of every therapeutic hour. Analysis is but an arid endeavor without compassion and creativity.
The appendices consist of a selection of book reviews and some anonymous letters from patients in which they express their own plight in their own words.
