In The Mystery of Things, Christopher Bollas takes the reader right to the heart of psychotherapy, examining the mysterious aspects of the self that are revealed by analysis.
The method of enquiry at the heart of psychoanalysis, that is, free association, runs contrary to everything that we are taught is the logical, rational, scientific way to acquire data. Yet it is only through using such an apparently illogical and subversive method that the pathological structures in thinking can be penetrated and the self underneath revealed and worked with by the analyst.
Christopher Bollas focuses on the nature and effects of the free associative process. Using clinical studies, he highlights how aspects such as mental illness, and creative or artistic acts can reveal much about the self.

About the Author

Christopher Bollas is a psychoanalyst in private practice in London. He is author of Shadow of the Object (1987), Forces of Destiny (1988), Being a Character: Psychoanalysis and Self Experience (1992), Cracking Up: The Work of Unconscious Experience (1995) and The New Informants: Betrayal of Confidentiality in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy with David Sundelson (1995).

Book Information
ISBN 9780415212311
Author Christopher Bollas
Format Hardback
Page Count 224
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 570g