Sublime

Vienne a joué un rôle considérable pour moi, en tant que ville de naissance de Freud et berceau de la psychothérapie. La lecture de plusieurs biographies de Freud m’avait donné le sentiment d’appartenir à cette ville chargée d’histoire, où avaient vécu tant de mes écrivains favoris, dont Stefan Zweig, Franz Werfel, Arthur Schnitzler, Robert Musil,

... See more

Victor Frankl, Nazi concentration camp survivor, Man’s Search for Meaning: “We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last o

... See more

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. Each moment is a choice. No matter how frustrating or boring or constraining or painful or oppressive our experience, we can always choose how we respond. And I finally begin to unders

... See more

In old age, mindfulness can increase health by saving us from a diminishing sense of authorship of our stories. In a 1976 experiment by Langer and her colleagues, a number of elderly residents in a nursing home were given houseplants to look after and water. They were also encouraged to make decisions for themselves, such as where to receive visito

... See more

If you asked me for the most common diagnosis among the people I treat, I wouldn’t say depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, although these conditions are all too common among those I’ve known, loved, and guided to freedom. No, I would say hunger. We are hungry. We are hungry for approval, attention, affection. We are hungry for the freedom

... See more