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Under the Totem: In Search of a Path

Author(s) : Michael Eigen

Reviews and Endorsements

'What a great pleasure it is spending timeless time with Michael Eigen as he weaves his internal world and external world into a rich and thought-provoking meditation. This book is filled with mystery, wonder, imagination, keen observation, and profound respect for the way each of us goes about making a path of our own.'
- Thomas H. Ogden, M.D., author most recently of Reclaiming Unlived Life: Experiences in Psychoanalysis and The Hands of Gravity and Chance: A Novel

'If, as Michael Eigen claims, writing is indeed a form of singing, this book is a paean to psychoanalysis. Drawing on a lifetime of work in the field, Eigen has little interest in the bromides and platitudes that have come to dominate supposedly evidence-based practices in psychotherapy. Instead, we are offered a wisdom of practice accumulated from deeply human and deeply humble existential encounters with fellow humans, as well as from Eigen’s dazzlingly erudite mind. What Eigen practices is a psychoanalysis of unfathomable depths and an embrace of the beauty and pain of human existence. He situates this beautifully in a practice of faith, spirituality, and radical openness that he suggests is fundamental to true human contact. Perhaps one of the greatest beauties of psychoanalysis is the privilege placed on wisdom of elders, and Eigen’s book is a gift of just such wisdom. It is an inspiration to all of us to stay the course, however insufficient our efforts at human healing may feel.'
- Michael O'Loughlin, Adelphi University and Co-chair of Association for the Psychoanalysis of Culture & Society

'Michael Eigen offers us further invitation into the mystery at the heart of the human experience that is, at its core, also at the heart of the psychoanalytic journey. The aesthetic of Eigen's writing is such that that if one allows oneself, one might be deeply touched and transformed through that process.'
- Marilyn Charles, Austen Riggs Center, author of Psychoanalysis and Literature: The Stories We Live