Psychotherapy is a vital humanising force within psychiatry and contemporary culture, while the psychoanalytical vision acts as an important bridge between the arts and the sciences. In this collection of essays Jeremy Holmes discusses the wider application of psychotherapy within psychiatry and suggests that psychoanalysis needs to escape from its esotericism by taking into account contemporary advances in cognitive science, family therapy and the realities of psychiatric work in a public health setting.
Often illustrating his arguments with literary as well as clinical examples, he emphasises the importance of creativity in psychotherapy and the connections between the artistic and psychotherapeutic implulse.