Rony Alfandary, whose previous book powerfully traced the legacy of his own familys experiences during Nazi times, has written another open and compelling text, this time developing his ideas on the practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy in Israel. With the aid of semi-fictionalised clinical cases along with literary and social analysis, Alfandary explores how psychoanalytic practice can articulate the fraught context of one of the most trauma-saturated communities in the world. The book raises issues around trauma, inheritance, antisemitism and war and will be of value to all who are interested in the practice and politics of psychoanalysis. - Stephen Frosh, Emeritus Professor, Birkbeck, University of London
Alfandarys book, drawing on decades of experience in the shadow of war, offers an original and illuminating interweaving of two healing threads, ethics and creativity, forming a generous, lucid, and deeply human guide to psychotherapy, trauma, and recovery. Through Alfandarys remarkable gift for storytelling, it stands as a compassionate testimony to the enduring human capacity for repair and to its hard-won restoration along the psychotherapeutic path in times of trauma and exile. - Prof. Roth Merav (PhD): A training psychoanalyst and cultural researcher, University of Haifa, International Sigourney award winner, 2024
Rony Alfandary, a prominent figure in Israel's mental health field, combines in this powerful book his insights regarding attributes of Israeli society the shadow of the Holocaust, experiences of migration, the traumatic impact of wars and terrorism, political struggles between democratic and authoritarian forces with his thinking about the universal aspects of psychoanalytic psychotherapy and of clinical social work. His emphasis on the creative significance of psychotherapy is expressed in unique case studies and in explorations of the potential contribution of literature and music. - Emanuel Berman, Ph.D., Israel Psychoanalytic Society
