Growing Up?: A Journey with Laughter (Fiction / Poetry) - Softcover

Casement, Patrick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 178220315X ISBN 13: 9781782203155

Publisher: The Karnac Library, 2015

Synopsis

This book, by a well established author previously writing in a quite different genre, that of psychoanalysis, psychotherapy and counselling, is written for an entirely different readership. Patrick Casement has put together a fascinating account of his strange journey from a privileged background, through schools and national service, and then through university, avoiding throughout the wishes of his family for him to join the Royal Navy. Instead, he leaves university with a degree but heads straight into becoming a bricklayer's mate. From there, eventually, he gets through the vicissitudes of probation and social work, and the hilarious experiences of trying to furnish his first flat. He thus moves into what he describes as the "real" world - getting what his family would regard as a "real job" (or two). But despite that, he continues on his unpredictable journey - into becoming a psychotherapist and then a psychoanalyst: what his mother thought was "training to become a psychotic." This book is filled with laughter - that of the author laughing at himself as he invites the reader to laugh along with him in his journey through the vicissitudes of life.

About this title

About the Author:

Patrick Casement is a Fellow of the Institute of Psychoanalysis and a Member of the International Association of Psychoanalysis. He was formerly a training analyst of the British Psychoanalytical Society, having been in full-time private practice for many years, now retired. He is the author of numerous publications.

Review:

'The formative years of an analyst are not merely an unusual subject but a delicate undertaking. Patrick Casement handles his remarkably detailed retrospective with lightness, charm and affection through vivid snapshots of family, school, teenage and adult life - vignettes written with humour, sensitivity and an acute sense of irony bordering at times on hilarity. The reader is immersed in what at times can feel like a long lost era in which the themes of war, class, family relationships, friendships, tenderness, loss and love are conveyed with a deceptive simplicity that readers of Casement's works will recognise.'- Paul Williams, Training Analyst with the British Psychoanalytical Society and formerly Joint Editorin-Chief of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis from 2001-2007 'This book contains many entertaining anecdotes, but it is also a painfully honest account of Patrick Casement's childhood and the various forces leading him to become an influential psychoanalyst. The book will be of great interest to all those thinking about how our own and others' childhood experiences shape us as adults. Patrick's writings have always urged us to "learn from our mistakes". They have also always helped us to tolerate irreconcilable conflicts of feelings, and this very moving book does that once again.'- Dilys Daws, Honorary Consultant Child Psychotherapist, Tavistock Clinic'We might expect a notable psychoanalyst to have a good recall of his early years - but with such humour? I chuckled and laughed out loud. We see the beginnings of Patrick's independence of thought and his sympathy with those like himself who do not "fit the frame". He finds his calling not to the ordained priesthood that he once considered, but to the priestly task of reconciling people to themselves and the reality beyond.'- Peter Wheatley, Honorary Assistant Bishop in the Dioceses of London, Southwark, and Chichester'Patrick Casement's seminal contributions to psychoanalysis are known worldwide and deeply appreciated by therapists everywhere. In this fascinating and tremendously entertaining book, Casement recounts the life journey of the man behind the eminent psychoanalyst. His story is a great adventure told with joy and humour. This is a book that will delight readers everywhere who are not only interested in the making of a psychoanalyst, but who love a great story, beautifully told.'- Theodore Jacobs, MD, Training and Supervising Analyst, the New York and IPE Psychoanalytic Institutes and author of The Possible Profession: The Analytic Process of Change

About this edition

• Publisher: The Karnac Library
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 178220315X
• ISBN 13: 9781782203155
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 276