* Introduction *1. Why Praise the Human Ego? *2. A Matter of Definition *3. Self-Deceptions of Everyday Life *4. Necessary Questions *5. How Can We Prove That Defenses Exist? *6. The Ego and Adult Development *7. Life Histories *8. The Ego and Creativity *9. Sylvia Plath: Creativity and Psychotic Defenses *10. Anna Freud: Mature Defenses *11. Eugene O'Neill: The Maturation of Defenses *12. Disadvantage, Resilience, and Mature Defenses *13. How Does the Ego Mature? * Notes * Acknowledgments * Credits * Index
This is a remarkable synthesis of the best current thinking on ego psychology as well as a many-faceted picture of what Robert White would call 'lives in progress.' It makes on its own not only a highly innovative contribution to ego psychology but an equally original and impressive contribution to longitudinal research. A remarkable and many-faceted work. -- George W. Goethals, Harvard University A richly textured, elegantly written, and humane book by the person who is becoming the Anna Freud of his day. Vaillant's sympathetic treatment of the defenses is itself wise and creative. -- Robert Kegan, Harvard University and the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology This is a brilliant, not to say unique, book. It brings to the study of the ego the same clarifying empiricism, animating passion, and illuminating insight that so strikingly characterized the pioneering investigations of the dynamic unconcious a hundred years ago. Behind The Wisdom of the Ego lies the wonderful wisdom of George Vaillant. -- John C. Nemiah, Darmouth Medical School
George E. Vaillant is Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
The rumor of the death of Ego Psychology is greatly exaggerated. As
long as George Vaillant writes his engaging books extolling the
wisdom of ego psychology it is destined to remain part of our
theoretical landscape...The Wisdom of the Ego is written with the
author's vivid, sometimes witty and consistently clear style,
happily interspersed with numerous examples both from his
longitudinal studies, as well as from biographies of well-known
people...One need not agree with all of Vaillant's premises to
appreciate and enjoy this colorful and many-faceted book. I cannot
think of a better, more absorbing book to introduce clinical
graduate students and clinicians in general to an up-dated version
of the best ideas of ego psychology.
*American Journal of Psychotherapy*
This is a remarkable synthesis of the best current thinking on ego
psychology as well as a many-faceted picture of what Robert White
would call 'lives in progress.' It makes on its own not only a
highly innovative contribution to ego psychology but an equally
original and impressive contribution to longitudinal research. A
remarkable and many-faceted work.
*George W. Goethals, Harvard University*
Vaillant tells us that ego defenses are not pathological formations
or symptoms of mental illness. They are ingenious self-deceptions
that serve adaptation...He is to be commended for bringing certain
unconscious processes into focus and for illuminating the various
ways in which ego defenses contribute to a person's adaptation to
life.
*Boston Sunday Globe*
The thesis of The Wisdom of the Ego is most persuasively developed
by the use of life histories, some of which derive from subjects in
Vaillant's study groups but many of which are derived from life
histories of famous individuals. The reader gets delicious insights
into the way that life experiences shaped the ego's defensive
repertoire and how these defenses then shaped the careers of
characters as diverse as Beethoven and Emily Dickinson, Tolstoy and
Henry Ford, and Gandhi and Josef Mengele...The illustrations
offered by these famous lives result in a book that is entertaining
and memorable.
*American Journal of Psychiatry*
Mental health, social fitness, creativity, self-deception, success
and failure are documented with uplifting humor and nobility.
Medical and psychiatric understanding is eruditely conveyed with
the good taste of a fine after-dinner story.
*Canadian Medical Association Journal*
A stimulating presentation of theory and research on ego
development.
*Choice*
A richly textured, elegantly written, and humane book by the person
who is becoming the Anna Freud of his day. Vaillant's sympathetic
treatment of the defenses is itself wise and creative.
*Robert Kegan, Harvard University and the Massachusetts School of
Professional Psychology*
This is a brilliant, not to say unique, book. It brings to the
study of the ego the same clarifying empiricism, animating passion,
and illuminating insight that so strikingly characterized the
pioneering investigations of the dynamic unconcious a hundred years
ago. Behind The Wisdom of the Ego lies the wonderful wisdom of
George Vaillant.
*John C. Nemiah, Darmouth Medical School*
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