Robert W. Firestone

Joyce Catlett

Richard Seiden

Based on 28 years of research into the problem of resistance, this book offers a consistently developed hypothesis centering around the concept of the "Fantasy Bond, " an illusion of connection originally formed with the mother and later with significant others in the individual's environment.

The Structure of Psychological Defenses

The Fantasy Bond

Robert Firestone

Lisa A. Firestone

Draws on twenty-five years of research and clinical practices to outline a strategy for managing a self-critical inner voice, providing dozens of exercises, questionnaires, self-assessments, and journaling activities. Original.

A Revolutionary Program to Counter Negative Thoughts and Live Free from Imagined Limitations

Conquer Your Critical Inner Voice

In Fear of Intimacy, the authors bring almost 40 years of clinical experience to bear in challenging the usual ways of thinking about couples and families. They argue that relationships fail not because of the commonly cited reasons but because of psychological defenses formed in childhood that act as a barrier to closeness in adulthood. Written in clear, jargon-free language, Fear of Intimacy shows how therapists can help couples identify and overcome the messages of the internal "voice" that foster distortions of the self and loved ones. Related issues such as interpersonal ethics and the role of stereotyping are also discussed. The authors' innovative approach will be of interest to therapists and couples alike.

Fear of Intimacy

Writing this book springs from a deep feeling for people and a grave concern that without a proper understanding of the reasons for their inhumanity in relation to one another and the development of a compassionate world view, it is likely that human beings may eventually destroy themselves and life on the planet. This work is an attempt to explain the source of destructive behaviour and how it manifests itself in personal relationships between men, women, couples, and families, and in the social arena. The author presents a position that offers a hope of altering the destiny of humankind's unethical behavior through better psychological understanding and education. Understanding the source of a person's aggressiveness in defending the fantasy bond and learning to cope with the voice process have strong implications for child-rearing and better mental health practices.

The Ethics of Interpersonal Relationships

The Truth

In Sex and Love in Intimate Relationships, Firestone and his co-authors help therapists help their clients. Drawing on their forty years of combined clinical experience and a unique longitudinal study of couples and families, they propose that sexual problems are largely related to defenses acquired through painful childhood experiences. In accessible language and through the liberal use of case material from therapy sessions, the authors show how clients can be helped to overcome these challenges and become physically and emotionally closer to their partners.

Sex and Love in Intimate Relationships

"This book will provide therapists with the tools necessary to help their clients differentiate themselves from their parents, families of origin, and other influences that have unconsciously dominated and predetermined their lives. The authors argue that most of us are unaware of the extent to which our lives have been predetermined and pre-empted by a parent whose thoughts, beliefs, and feelings can actually be antagonistic to our own goals and desires. An integrative theoretical approach to personality development and human behavior is introduced, providing the foundation for an innovative cognitive-affective-behavioral therapeutic process centered around Firestone's Voice Therapy technique"--

Joyce Catlett

About

Books

Join the club