Description
Heart Wisdom addresses an overlooked asymmetry at the heart of psychoanalytic discourse. For over a century, psychoanalysis has relied on metaphors of parenting to illuminate the therapeutic relationship, yet it has rarely reversed the direction, using its own theoretical and clinical insights to understand the lived emotional experience of parents themselves.
Drawing on contemporary psychoanalytic thought (Winnicott, Klein, Ogden) alongside key developmental research (Beebe & Lachmann, Tronick, Stern), the book reframes early parenthood as a site of psychic transformation in the adult. Through clinical vignettes and reflective narrative writing, it illuminates states of ambivalence, collapse, confusion, and repair as central components of growth. Rather than offering behavioural strategies, Heart Wisdom provides a conceptual and emotional language that allows parents — and the clinicians who work with them — to recognise meaning within their struggles.
The book offers parents not only deeper understanding but also practical insight into the emotional challenges of early parenthood. It is equally valuable for psychoanalytic practitioners and clinicians working with parents and infants, enriching both personal reflection and clinical practice.
Dr. Shir Bar-Emet Gradman is a clinical psychologist (Ph.D., Haifa University) and psychoanalytic psychotherapist based in Israel. She teaches and supervises in psychotherapy training programmes at Tel Aviv University and Levinsky College. The Hebrew edition of Heart Wisdom (Am Oved, 2024) sold over 2,000 copies during its first year and received strong responses from both clinicians and parents.
