Neurosis and Treatment: A Holistic Theory

This book was compiled by devoted colleagues from manuscripts, after the auth^ death. Dr. Angyal must certainly have been an original and stimulating teacher. " states that neurosis is not a partial disturbance, limited to just one province of P sonality. "Neurosis is a sweeping condition. It is, in fact, a way of life?self-destf^ tive to be sure, but nonetheless a way of life." His key idea is "universal ambiguity the fact that every item of human experience and behaviour has a dual meaning-* , book continues with the author's ideas of what goes on in his patients during tre3 ment and of what goes on between his patients and himself. Something of the originality of the therapeutic concepts may have been lost ^ the writing down, and many of the ideas are not as unfamiliar as we are led. expect. They represent the modern tendency to take into account the inadequacy dividing all people into "normal" and "patients". But Dr. Angyal refers also to 1 j dual task that the therapist has of "demolishing neurosis and fostering health" ^ this implies an opposition of health and neurosis which is not consistent with a hol's approach.. The special value of the book is in the descriptions of neurotic syndromes patterns of life. It certainly provides stimulus for thought.