T. Byram Karasu says that healing, at best, is not what the healer does, but what he is; that what really matters are not the schools of psychotherapy, but the psychotherapists themselves. In this deeply moving and self-revealing book, Karasu portrays the therapist as healer through a series of clinical vignettes from the treatment of a younger therapist whom the author perceives to be more intelligent, talented, and better educated than himself. This patient, a veteran of a classical analysis and two lengthy therapies, challenges the therapist at every turn and engages him in a search for new experiential truths. The reader is privy to the internal monologue of the therapist as he conceives of and rejects interpretations, looks to varied experts for help, and ends with an inner voice not heard before.
Editorial Reviews
Review
What a brave book! Dr. Karasu confronts one of the most difficult and central issues in psychotherapy―how and whether the therapist should wear the guru”s mantle. He does so with wit and grace and astonishing openness. The Psychotherapist as Healer is finally a celebration of a profession dependent, for better and for worse, on the wisdom of its practitioners. — Peter D. Kramer, M.D., Brown University
In this highly original and creative book, Karasu takes a close and critical look at the last century”s ”sacred cows” of psychotherapeutic theory and practice. The central piece of the book is an ongoing dialogue between patient and healer; the reader is invited to witness as ”truths are being co-authored and (thereby) become real.” The witty and unconventional style is deceptive; the book is filled with wisdom and sophistication. There is a refreshing spontaneity here that delights and instructs at the same time. — Anna Ornstein M.D., Harvard Medical School
The Psychotherapist as Healer is a delightful and valuable antidote to the technical rationality and theoretical absolutism that have pervaded our field. The healer”s voice, speaking to us through a series of compelling vignettes, is a psychotherapist who has regained innocence, openness, and curiosity, and who is devoted to personal growth, authenticity, and, above all, the discovery of new experiential truths. This book is a breath of fresh air. — Robert D. Stolorow, Ph.D., Institute of Contmporary Psychoanalysis, Los Angeles
About the Author
T. Byram Karasu, MD., is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Silverman Professor and University Chairman Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Albert Einstein/Montefiore Medical Center; Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of the American Journal of Psychotherapy, and the co-founder of the Annual Tarrytown Leadership Conference. Dr. Karasu is a widely renowned psychiatrist, educator, master coach and psychotherapist, and best-selling author whose work has been translated into many languages. He has published more than twenty books, including novels and poetry, and several volumes on psychological, philosophical, and psychotherapy-related topics. He received the Harvard Bicentennial Lectureship at Massachusetts General Hospital and was the recipient of many awards, including the A.H. Stanton Award at McLean Hospital; the Harry Stack Sullivan and Sigmund Freud Awards; the American Psychiatric Association’s Presidential Commendation Award; and the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Department of Psychiatry of Yale University’s School of Medicine.
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