Description
Book SynopsisIn this exciting and original work, Gerald Alper, illuminates the crucial elements that together constitute intimacy. Knowing If It''s the Real Thing offers a radical departure from today''s popular, yet mythological belief that if two people stay together, in an adaptive, productive, and moderately mutually enhancing way, they will achieve the most a relationship can offer. Some issues discussed in the book are the basic ingredients and rudimentary ground rules of postmodern intimacy; how to discover the arena in which one feels most comfortable in expressing intimate feelings; the many ways that sincere efforts to connect can completely misfire; and how to build up defenses, dodge self-reproach, and retain one''s dignity and sense of trust following a serious break-up.
Trade ReviewGerald Alper never writes a dull book. A novelist and short story writer turned psychotherapist, he has one of the more creative analytic minds of his generation. -- Jerome David Levin, Ph.D., Faculty Supervisor, Post Graduate Center for Health
Alper's books represent a crowning contribution to the psychology of creativity in psychotherapy. -- Erwin Randolph Parson, Ph.D., former Editor, Journal of Contemporary Psychology
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 In the Beginning: Apprenticeship; First Patient; Joel; Everyday Examples; "Is This the One?"; The Paranoid Moment; Drowning Out the Other; "I Did It My Way"; Respect; The Reviewer; Postmodern Intimacy; I Can't Commit Chapter 3 Obstacles: Working It Trough; "My Feelings For You Have Changed"; "I Don't Want To Talk About It"; "No Problem"; "The War of the Roses"; Self-Help; Counterexample; The Dynamics; Obstacles; Barry; Roy ; Sarah; Morris; Negative Closure; Deferred Intim Chapter 4 Therapy and Intimacy: When a Therapist Loves a Patient; When a Therapist Hates a Patient; The Intimate Bond Chapter 5 Conclusion Chapter 6 References
