From Rage to Courage: Answers to Readers' Letters - Softcover

Miller, Alice

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393337898 ISBN 13: 9780393337891

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009

Synopsis

Collected for the first time, Alice Miller’s most helpful, therapeutic, and invaluable answers to hundreds of readers’ letters.

The renowned childhood researcher, psychotherapist, and best-selling author Alice Miller has received, throughout her long and distinguished career, countless personal letters from readers all over the world. In From Rage to Courage, Dr. Miller has assembled the most recent, producing an insightful work that illuminates the issues and consequences of childhood abuse. Whether exploring the connection between repressed anger and physical illnesses like cancer, the reasons why many survivors of abuse turn to drugs or crime, or the cycle that condemns generations of families to cruelty in childhood, Dr. Miller’s answers are sensitive, honest, and supported by decades of experience. Unafraid of controversy, she discusses much-debated theories such as the impact of religious belief on the cultural traditions of child abuse and the therapeutic community’s denial of the truth and dependency on antidepressants. A practical guide to Dr. Miller’s unique therapeutic concept, this work once again affirms the healing and liberating power of retrieved emotions.

About this title

About the Author

Alice Miller (1923-2010) is the author of such classic works as The Drama of the Gifted Child, Prisoners of Childhood, The Body Never Lies, From Rage to Courage, and Free from Lies.

Reviews

Noted Swiss-based psychotherapist Miller (The Drama of the Gifted Child) again addresses the psychological and physical legacy of child abuse in these several hundred responses to readers' letters. But her book is weighed down by organizational problems, primarily in that the original letters don't appear here for reasons of privacy (some letters do appear on Miller's Web site). This omission leaves many of the responses sounding bland, without context and in some cases largely incomprehensible. For example, a two-sentence response begins, I am really happy that you understand me so well and that you are able to learn so much from your child. leaving the reader in the dark about what Miller is referring to. In addition, the letters run chronologically, rather than topically, so that issues are addressed randomly and repetitively. Finally, the responses are too brief to provide any depth. There are some valuable insights, such as It is very cruel to leave distressed children alone, for what they most need then is the warm presence of a loving person. But this frustratingly limited work adds little to Miller's previous writings. (Oct.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393337898
• ISBN 13: 9780393337891
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208