Psychotherapy As Love: Philosophical and Psychoanalytic Approaches

This book emphasizes the significance of loving feelings in psychotherapy, how and why they are vital, and what gets in the way of valuing them. The research is grounded in a confluence of psychoanalytic and philosophical inquiry and attends to the way in which humanistic ethics and psychological health interact. There is significant interest in the value of pro-social emotions and how they contribute to healthy functioning, and a growing emphasis on studying and understanding feelings that contribute to flourishing. This book integrates contributions from a variety of influential sources and explores their shared root: the need for tenderness toward ourselves and each other. Its conception of loving is informed by many thinkers, including philosopher Martha Nussbaum; as a result the book is in also a study in ethics, and aims to make it more difficult to avoid, deny or otherwise minimize the need for loving feelings in psychotherapy.