Challenging the Fantasy Bond A Search for Personal Identity and Freedom

"Why are many of us compelled to repeat the pain of our past, while avoiding positive experiences that could enrich our lives? In this thought-provoking book, clinical psychologist and theorist Robert Firestone explains how the fantasy bond, an illusion of connection, develops to protect us from negative experiences with parents or caregivers. Later in life, the fantasy bond manifests itself in destructive internal voices and imagined connections to family members, intimate partners, and social groups. Compelling case studies illustrate how these negative voices interfere with true intimacy, and demonstrate how Voice Therapy, a cognitive/affective/behavioral methodology, can be used to counteract destructive internal messages and help individuals embrace the present, instead of living in the past. Challenging our illusions of a merged identity, and moving toward separation and individuation are essential if we are to become fully autonomous human beings. This thorough update of a classic work is particularly timely because it also identifies existential fears that contribute to death anxiety, prejudice, and political divisiveness"--