The Sensitive Self (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Without sensitivity what would life be like?..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is a highly significant and important contribution for the mental health field... By employing the idea of 'sensitivity' the author has hit on perhaps the most important unifying thread in the field." (James Grotstein, M.D., author of Who Is the Dreamer Who Dreams the Dream? )

Product Description

We are all sensitive beings, both physically and emotionally. What do we do with our sensitivity? How much of our sensitivity can we take? How do we become partners with our sensitivity in ways that make life worthwhile? In The Sensitive Self, renowned psychologist Michael Eigen explores the varied nuances of sensitivity as it threads its way through all facets of our lives.

Individual case studies, often achingly honest, are woven together by Eigen's deeply felt meditations, bringing us into the heart of psychotherapy. We see how our sensitivity to self and others plays a crucial role in sustaining our sense of aliveness. Ultimately, Eigen argues, sensitivity is the basis for a humane ethics. Powerful and illuminating, The Sensitive Self follows up on the themes of Eigen's previous books, Rage and Ecstasy, with which Eigen has established himself as one of today's most creative thinkers in psychology.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Wesleyan (April 20, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0819566853
• ISBN-13: 978-0819566850
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #834,571 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Soul Guide, April 16, 2006

By	Angela White (Connecticut) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A problem I find in reading some analytical books is- primarily they have so much of a language barrier to me-a lay person.
Yet as I have grappled with some of those books and the juxtaposition of love of content with parallel reading of a 'Dictionary of Difficult Analytical Words' (if one existed!) In the process losing much of the joy of flow.(None of which is required here)

More than a handful have tried to reach the wider community in such works. However, the writer/analyst who has truly entered the patient's hopes, fears, dreams with the patient is the one whose writing bears the truth in reading.

Michael Eigen is one such writer.


He seeks to clarify and illuminate for me and as I read his words I become as much part of the emotional fabric of his stories as he the analyst and in turn-his patients.

His feelings toward his patients make me wish if I were in need of analysis(and many might say I am) that I would not hesitate to work with him. To entrust him as the guide beneath the layers to the most sacred spot- the soul.

How apposite is the title in light of his role.... His words set the readers mind along a feeling pathway. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in this journey we call life.

He has such a simple way with such complex subjects and words that unfold a story not soon forgotten. His writings remind me of my homeland in Ireland where these brilliant narrators would show up and draw chairs about the fireside in a circle of hope.....there was an anticipation and a longing to hear those stories...not so much that they were unique but the way they were told and long before they opened their mouths to allow the words to reach one's ears.
In his books its a similiar feeling, to open and read and know one will come away far, far more enriched by his words.
I have just ordered two more books.