Lessons in Love: The Transformation of Spirit Through Intimacy - Hardcover

Corneau, Guy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805060243 ISBN 13: 9780805060249

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co, 1999

Synopsis

A Jungian psychoanalyst suggests that the roadblocks we face in romantic relationships come primarily from a lack of a proper model to follow and, with the help of witty anecdotes and wisdom from the ages, encourages readers to create their own, new ways of relating to others. 30,000 first printing. Tour.

About this title

About the Author

Guy Corneau, a Jungian psychoanalyst, lives in Canada. He is a renowned lecturer in Europe, Canada and Japan, and author of Absent Fathers, Lost Sons.

Reviews

Can we ever experience true intimacy in our adult personal lives? Canadian psychoanalyst Corneau (Absent Fathers, Lost Sons), a Jungian analyst, says we cannot. That is, not until we repair the ravages of society's patriarchy, which has affected our familial experiences?those interactions between mother and son, father and daughter. Corneau's straightforward approach aims not to "make the journey easier" but rather to "unlock the meaning of the problems"; doing so offers opportunities for growth and "profound self-knowledge." Using fairy tales and myths to illustrate psychological conflicts and their possible resolutions, Corneau explicates the "paternal complexes" of women and "maternal complexes" of men that live as ghosts between them, resulting in "the woman who loves too much" and "the man who is afraid to love." According to Corneau, underlying the problems are basic human issues of balancing "fusion and separation"?which, loosely translated, means that one has to love oneself before being able to love another. In order to achieve this state, one must face and resolve the problems that prevent intimacy, first in parent-child, then in adult, relationships. Corneau unties knotty psychological concepts; claiming not to have all the answers, he offers "musings" on intimacy. He draws not only from laboratory findings and clients in therapy but also from his personal experiences, providing an unusually thoughtful treatise on a popular yet elusive topic.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Corneau is a therapist and lecturer whose Jungian bias comes across loud and clear. He talks about how an absent father wounds a woman's animus (her subconcious male energy), affecting her relationships with men, and how a mother, absent or present, can shred a man's anima (his subconscious female energy) and thereby ruin his life forever. Corneau claims that the problems stemming from one's original father-daughter or mother-son relationship are what keep one from intimacy throughout life. Unfortunately, he doesn't provide any concrete ideas on how one can conquer what he considers to be an innate Oedipus or Elektra complex. Recommended for libraries where Jung and Freud are still in vogue; everyone else can skip this one.?Pamela A. Matthews, Gettysburg Coll. Lib., PA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805060243
• ISBN 13: 9780805060249
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224