Tales of Un-knowing: Therapeutic encounters from an existential perspective

Ernesto Spinelli is one of the leading exponents of existential therapy today and one of its most brilliant practitioners. Rather than expounding a set of theories, Spinelli here gives an account of some of the most unforgettable therapeutic encounters that he has experienced during his professional life. His method comes to life in a way that is compelling and often profoundly moving. These stories of conflict and anxiety derived from human relationships illustrate the existential concern with ‘being in the world’ and act as catalysts to challenge the reader’s personal experience even if he or she has had no direct experience of therapy. Told with an Oliver Sacks-like skill, these encounters introduce us to Mr Jones who refused to grow old gracefully, to moody and introverted Amanda who believed she had been given the wrong body, to Jim the octogenarian who lived in two time zones and to Giles whose obsessive identification with Einstein meant that his sexual activity was like a ‘living mathematics’ full of enthralling permutations. In the course of this book Spinelli also tackles head on the last great taboo of therapeutic practice — sexual attraction between therapist and client. In Spinelli’s previous and highly acclaimed book, Demystifying Therapy, he began the process of peeling away the layers of mystery that surround therapeutic practice. Now, with astonishing effectiveness, he explains the core of his work and why the existential approach is the way forward in the treatment of the psychological condition. This is not the way of psychotherapeutic certainty and reductionism. It is a way of ‘Un-knowing’.