What if people suffering mental anguish are suffering from a crippling awareness of how delicate life is and how alone we are in living it? What if the main problem behind many therapy patients’ problems was an existential one? Daseinsanalysis is the psychotherapeutic approach that takes this view as its starting point; it is a therapy wedded to an existential philosophy. Dr. Alice Holzhey-Kunz’s new book,Daseinsanalysis, explains the theories involved in this psychiatric practice, and how it can help people suffering mental anguish at simply being in the world.
Ludwig Binswanger and Medard Boss developed daseinsanalysis based on the philosophies of Kierkegaard, Heidegger and Sartre, but also the psychoanalytic approach of Freud, to arrive at a specific mode of addressing this type of mental suffering. Holzhey-Kunz delves into the development of this theory, as well as important differences in thought between Binswanger and Boss. A leading expert in the field, Holzhey-Kunz makes the case for a daseinsanalytic approach to psychotherapy in the modern age.
Daseinsanalysis by Alice Holzhey-Kunz is available to purchase via Amazon
By Lisa Findley