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THE INTIMATE HOUR

Name: THE INTIMATE HOUR
Author: Susan Baur
ISBN: 0-395-82284-X

LOVE AND SEX IN PSYCHOTHERAPY

by Susan Baur ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 8, 1997

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A perceptive and empathetic psychologist tackles a touchy subject—the role of love in therapy. Finding little solid research on the subject, Baur (The Dinosaur Man, 1991; Confiding, 1994; etc.) uses stories from the past and present to illustrate the various kinds of relationships that form between doctor and patient, therapist and client. She rejects as oversimplified the currently popular view that such erotic entanglements are necessarily instances of a powerful person preying on a weaker one for personal gain. From Jung's lengthy affair with Sabina Spielrein and Otto Rank's obsession with Anaãs Nin to a present- day woman suing her psychiatrist for sexual abuse, the stories she tells show that the nature of the bond is indeed complex. To the question of whether a close bond is essential to effective therapy, and further, whether love should be a part of that bond, Baur's answer is a firm ``yes.'' At their best, she asserts, the feelings of love between therapist and client can be compared to the medieval ideal of courtly love—pure and unfulfilled. Rather than denying the role of love in therapy, it is time, she says, to acknowledge it, to study it. To those alarmed by what they have seen as the increased victimization of female patients, Baur notes that the issue of sex in therapy will gradually disappear as the philosophy of relational therapy, which emphasizes the curative power of the relationship between client and therapist, puts the parties on a more equal footing, and as women increasingly outnumber men as providers of therapy. Another force for change, and one that Baur deplores frequently, is the growth of managed health care, with its limits on therapy and its regulations affecting therapists. The intimate hour, she fears, may be transformed into a brief business transaction. Intriguing ideas about the past and present of psychotherapy for both therapists and those they counsel.

Pub Date: Jan. 8, 1997

ISBN: 0-395-82284-X

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
CONFIDING
by Susan Baur

- BOOK REVIEW
THE DINOSAUR MAN
by Susan Baur

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.