Meaning-Fullness

‘This book is a much-needed antidote for the troubled times that psychotherapy finds itself in. Jan Resnick draws on John Heaton, R. D. Laing, D. W. Winnicott, and a host of others to argue (convincingly and cogently) that the blight that humanity suffers from is not that of mental illness, but meaninglessness. Resnick deftly pulls together theory, discussion, and case study, and shows us that, ultimately, it is the heart that is central to the project of psychotherapy.’

-- Farhad Dalal, psychotherapist and group analyst, author of 'CBT: The Cognitive Behavioural Tsunami: Manage-rialism, Politics, and the Corruptions of Science'

'At a time when so many experience life as hurried and empty (“There is a feeling of running a race but not knowing why or where the finish line is”) – and therapy too is increasingly hurried, rote, and occupied with superficial metrics and “efficiency” – Dr Resnick reminds us what meaningful psychotherapy is about. In lucid, unpretentious prose, he walks us into and through the questions at the heart of real psychotherapy: What makes life meaningful? Why does it so often feel meaningless for so many? How can that change? Dr Resnick has written a book for our time that will speak to beginning clinicians and experts both.’

-- Jonathan Shedler, Clinical Professor, University of California San Francisco, and author of 'The Efficacy of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy'

‘This passionate book – written in an insistent first-person voice – is an inspiring call to arms for those in the mental health professions to discard quick-fix solutions to the challenges of being human. We must delve into time to understand how we are profound reservoirs of meaning. To quickly fix that – to remedy our dilemmas – is to engage in a fix. This work argues for and indicates how all of us can find meaning in our pain and our failures if we have the patience to do so. This book is a brilliant act of liberation on the author’s part – as it liberates the reader from overly worn prose and intellection – and becomes a beacon for all of us in our times.’

-- Christopher Bollas, author of 'The Shadow of the Object'

‘… you will learn a lot from this book and, even better, you can expect to enjoy reading it. Written without jargon, self-inflation, or pretension, it explores – in accessible and even entertaining language – ideas that often come across as dense and complicated. Clinical vignettes, offered candidly and with the author’s description of his own emotional involvement in the patient’s story as it unfolds in each session, illuminate the developmental concepts that have inspired the book.’

-- Nancy McWilliams, from the Foreword

‘Open-minded, independent thinkers will certainly embrace Dr Jan Resnick’s nearly half-century of clinical wisdom. Drawing upon such thinkers as Donald Winnicott, Ronald Laing, and Viktor Frankl, the author provides us with a critique of contemporary mental health as well as a very inspiring plan to improve our profession and our minds in the future.’

-- Professor Brett Kahr, Senior Fellow, Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology, London, and Honorary Director of Research, Freud Museum London

‘Dr Resnik does well to criticise the false economy of short treatments that are increasingly popular. He describes a model of relational therapy that highlights childhood experience, dream work, transference, and the therapist’s reverie. One can imagine that if Donald Winnicott were alive today, he would be practising in this way. The clinical illustrations will be especially useful in teaching.’

-- Deborah A. Luepnitz, PhD, author, 'Schopenhauer's Porcupines: 5 Stories of Psychother