Synopsis
First and foremost this book is written to serve as a guide for prospective and beginning patients of psychotherapeutic intervention of the particular kind known as psychoanalytic or psychodynamic psychotherapy. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy (hereafter also referred to simply as psychotherapy) is the kind of therapy that most closely follows Freud's own dynamic model of mind, both in theory and in practice. This is so despite its important differences from Freud, which we will also be detailing (the title of the book echoes a famous work by Freud).

Description
Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is in every way a perplexing business. Through a frank dialogue between a former patient and her former therapist "Psychotherapy and the Everyday Life" introduces psychodynamic therapy to prospective and beginning patients. It addresses individuals who are seeking psychological help and wish to determine whether this particular form of psychotherapy is appropriate for them. It is also intended for those whose therapy is already underway, to assist them in furthering understanding and clarifying their experience so that they can better avail themselves of what it has to offer. The book can also serve as a reminder to novice professionals (and perhaps some more experienced professionals as well) concerning what psychotherapy feels like from the patient's point of view and what complexities of response and intention lie behind the therapist's interventions. [It] is not meant to substitute for the psychodynamic conversation that is therapy itself. Rather, it is an attempt, in straightforward, non-professional language, to help facilitate the clinical experience.
‘An original and welcome contribution to help one navigate through the choice of and commitment to psychodynamic therapy. In a flowing, well-written and easy to understand style, this "Guide for the Puzzled" is a rewarding tool and guidebook for the psychotherapy consumer in thinking through whether, why, how to and in which direction to proceed in embarking on the journey towards "Self" help, understanding and discovery.'
- Aryeh Maidenbaum, PhD, Director, New York Center for Jungian Studies
‘"Psychotherapy and the Everyday Life" is truly a marvelous achievement. It is a book on psychotherapy that makes it possible to understand this impossible vocation and the often indescribable efforts of the therapeutic couple to understand, appreciate and influence the life and character of at least one of them. It makes the major technical terms and theoretical underpinnings of the process accessible to prospective patients, the curious public, advanced students and professionals alike. And it accomplishes this all in a manner and language that are elegant, precise, eminently down to earth, experience-near, and above all, highly readable and fascinating.'
- Shmuel Erlich, Sigmund Freud Professor of Psychoanalysis (Emeritus), The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Training Analyst and former President, Israel Psychoanalytic Society
‘[This] is an original, entertaining, candid and highly readable tour of the experiential fabric as well as the
theoretical basics of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. It is written from the unique perspective of a patient- analyst dyad who have joined their literary forces to reflect on the journey they have travelled together. From this vantage point, it offers an intimate view of "what the process looks and feels like, in particular from the patient's perspective." [It] is therefore, first and foremost, a tale of a psychotherapeutic encounter in which two coffee mugs, given as a gift and left unanalysed and untouched on the analyst's desk, set the plot in motion. Resistance, transference, the dynamic unconscious, therapeutic action and even the emerging neurobiological underpinnings of the talking cure are all examined and woven into the very personal narrative of what transpired and unfolded during that psychotherapy.'
- Yoram Yovell, MD, PhD, Co-Director, Institute for the Study of Affective Neuroscience, Israel

The Author
EMILY BUDICK, Ph.D., holds the Ann and Joseph Adelman Chair in American Studies at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she is also chair of the Department and coordinator for English literature studies. She has published and edited eight books and numerous essays in the field of literature and cultural studies. Her recent work includes psychoanalytic readings of Israeli as well as American Holocaust fiction. She is also the co-author (with Dr Judith Besserman) of The Jerusalem Diet: Guided Imagery and the Personal Path to Weight Control.
RAMI ARONZON, M.D. is a practicing psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and psychotherapist in Jerusalem, where he is a member of the Israel Psychoanalytic Institute. He teaches and consults at various institutions in Israel, including The Hebrew University and the Hadassah Medical School. For more than two decades he headed outpatient services at Jerusalem's Talbieh Mental Health Center, while serving as well as consultant and supervisory psychiatrist for the Shaar Hanegev Mental Health Clinic of the kibbutz movement. He continues to work summers as a general medical officer in northern Norway.