As One Lives, So One Dies On the Life and Death of Great Psychotherapists

This non-fiction book addresses the major theme of life and death in a unique way: it focuses on the founders of psychotherapy schools and discusses their lifestyle, their style of dying, and their work. How did they live? What trials and tribulations did they go through in the course of their lives? What crises did they experience, and how did they overcome them? What conclusions did they draw from these experiences? And finally: how did they die? Engaging and easy to read, it reveals that their attitude towards life and death influences the development of their respective psychotherapy methods.

Written for interested laypeople, practicing and training psychotherapists, psychiatrists, and counselors.

Content Overview:

Freud, Jung, Adler, Moreno, Perls, Reich, von Dürckheim, Peseschkian – their perspectives on life and death and its significance for their psychotherapy schools.

About the Author:

Werner Gross, Dipl.-Psych., psychotherapist, supervisor and coach, organizational and business consultant.

Sigmund Freud: The Morphing Damped Pain of Dying.- Interlude I: On Aging.- Alfred Adler: Sudden Death While Walking.- Interlude II: On Dying.- Wilhelm Reich: Destruction of a Heretic.- Interlude III: The Stages of Dying.- Jacob L. Moreno: "Playing God" or: Directing Until the Last Scene.- Interlude IV: Types of Death and Styles of Dying.- Fritz Perls: "You Will Not Tell Me What to Do.".- Interlude V: Grief and Humor.- C.G. Jung: Anticipation of the Coming Adventure.- Interlude VI: Finitude – Lifetime – Dying Time (Small Exercises).- Karlfried Graf Dürckheim: Endured Pain During Conscious Transition.- Interlude VII: Images of Humanity and Therapy Goals in Psychotherapy.- Nossrat Peseschkian: Gliding Over in Sleep.- Epilogue: Live Your Dying.

Werner Gross, Dipl.-Psych., psychotherapist, supervisor and coach, organizational and business consultant. He runs a psychological practice in Gelnhausen, Germany. He is also a lecturer in psychology at various universities and training institutes for psychotherapists.