The Last Asylum

Every twice in a while I read a book that really touches something in me and sometimes even better, such a book touches me both personally and professionally. Recently I had the good fortune of encountering and reading Barbara Taylor’s The Last Asylum: A Memoir of Madness in Our Times. I found it via a reference to it in an article in a Jungian journal. I am always intrigued by patient accounts of psychoanalysis so I immediately got the book. And it certainly did not disappoint. Both her account of her analysis and her discussion of the place of the asylum and the consequences of its loss are very well written and engaging. I recommend this book to anyone interest in analysis or the mental health system.  Barbara Thomas is an excellent writer. She tells of her personal experience in a spare but very evocative way, making it possible to understand a great deal about her analysis without getting bogged down in a lot of personal detail — indeed a rare feat. I literally found it hard to put down. I continue to reflect on things I gleaned from this book and have enthusiastically recommended it to many people.
Source: Jung At Heart - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: blogs