What do most patients seek when they consult a therapist? They complain, pour out their hearts, and say they wish to change. But what can be done? This is the question faced by all therapists — as well as by the rest of us when we are confronted with great suffering and loss, or when we find that a given situation has become unbearable. Do we then seek a sympathetic ear, someone who will console us so that we may continue to wallow in our “problems”? No, says the author, who believes we must stop complaining and forget our precious egos which we nurture with more whining. Only when we have done this will we be able to remould our lives and open ourselves to the world and to others.

A philosopher and theologian by training, François Roustang is a psychoanalyst and has been one of the strongest critics of analysis for over twenty years, untiringly questioning its purpose and results. He is the author of many fascinating works, most notably Un destin si funeste, Qu’est-ce que l’hypnose? and Comment faire rire un paranoïaque.