The Act of Living

Compared to previous generations, we have unprecedented access to information, increased personal freedom, more material comforts, more possessions, and longer life expectancy. And yet a very significant number of people are dissatisfied. Although pundits warn of impending catastrophes, few appear to be giving sufficient attention to the disaster that has already arrived. Levels of anxiety, stress and depression are rising at an alarming rate and in recent years prescriptions for drug treatments have doubled. As our circumstances become easier, life seems to get harder. Why should this be? Shelves sag under the weight of self-help manuals and the internet is awash with the advice of role-models and celebrity gurus; however, to what extent can these sources be expected to supply meaningful, practical answers - the kind of answers relevant to sceptical individuals living in a modern, technologically advanced culture?

For over a hundred years, psychotherapists have been developing and refining models of the human mind. They have endeavoured to alleviate distress and they have offered help to people who want to make better life choices. Although the clinical provenance of psychotherapy is important, the legacy of psychotherapy has much wider relevance. It can offer original perspectives on the big questions usually entrusted to philosophers and representative of faith: Who am I? Why am I here? How should I live?

In this entertaining and engaging book, the key concepts and leading practitioners of psychotherapy are illuminated and explained: from Freud to Ellis, Jung to Laing, Adler to Hayes. Viewed as a single, cohesive intellectual tradition, Frank Tallis argues that psychotherapeutic thinking is an immensely valuable and under-exploited resource that can change all our lives for the better.