Description

By (author) Solms Mark

Short /annotation:
A pioneering neuropsychologist reveals how science is proving Freud correct, and explores what this might mean for our mental healthcare systems and our lives

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”A scholarly masterpiece, written by the world”s greatest living authority on Freud . . . There is so much to be learned in these pages”
KARL J. FRISTON, the world”s most cited neuroscientist

Once dismissed as unscientific, psychoanalytic therapy is proving to be among our most effective medical treatments of any kind – outperforming psychiatric drugs and rivalling vaccines in its power to prevent and heal. Why does it work so well?

Perhaps because one of the most controversial figures in psychology was right all along. Neuroscience now confirms much of what Sigmund Freud conjectured over a century ago: our deepest struggles stem, not from chemical imbalances, but from buried memories and unconscious conflicts that no pill can touch.

Using enthralling case studies and cutting-edge brain science, pioneering neuroscientist Mark Solms makes the case that psychoanalysis should resume its position as our master theory of the mind. Yet modern research also reveals where Freud got important things wrong. Could correcting these errors make therapy even more effective?

As psychiatric diagnoses soar and standard treatments continue to fail many patients, The Only Cure offers a revolutionary hope: a real science of healing, rooted in the radical idea that our suffering arises from truths we haven”t yet faced.

Review quote:
A wide-ranging and engrossing defence of Freud as a scientist and a healer . . . It would be difficult to improve on Solms”s credentials for the task he sets himself . . . He is also a wonderfully witty and lucid writer . . . Deeply moving case histories of patients [. . .] show that at the heart of psychoanalytic practice is an empathy that enables patients to detoxify their experiences . . . Solms has nudged the attitude of this sceptic

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This is an extraordinary book on so many different levels. It”s a dramatic history of psychoanalysis, a reassessment of Freud, a fascinating and moving autobiography, and a compelling argument for rethinking the place of feelings and subjectivity within the framework of science. And hence it”s also about caring, and nurture – and love. How minds change is the question at the centre of this book. It”s changing mine

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A scholarly masterpiece, written by the world”s greatest living authority on Freud – the Editor of the Revised Standard Edition, and founder of the Neuropsychoanalysis movement. The origin story of Freudian ideas is introduced in forensic and fascinating detail and developed carefully in light of – evidence-based – 21st-century insights into mind and brain. It is also a deeply personal narrative, reflecting the author”s good citizenship, clinical compassion and capacity to critique the fundamentals of psychoanalysis. There is so much to be learned in these pages

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The Only Cure illuminates the deeper origins of our symptoms – how they arise, why they persist, and the protective purpose behind them. With clarity and compassion, Dr. Solms weaves neuroscience with lived experience to show that real healing begins with insight into our earliest emotional patterns

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Because of the author”s unusual combination of expertise, The Only Cure provides many insights that are unique. The case s are interesting and engaging. The science behind them is vast. It”s an awesome book – a must-read for anyone involved in or interested in mental health

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Solms shows how Freud”s deepest insights are being vindicated by modern brain science. Bridging neuroscience and psychothe