A preeminent American psychiatrist draws on his famous Study of Adult Development to give an exhilarating look at how the mind's defenses work. What we see as the mind's trickery, Vaillant tells us, is actually healthy. What's more, it can reveal the mind at its most creative and mature, soothing and protecting us from unbearable reality.
One of America's preeminent psychiatrists gives us an exhilarating look at how the mind's defenses work, how they evolve and change, and so, change us. In compelling portraits of obscure and famous lives, Vaillant charts the evolution of the ego's defenses, from the psychopathic to the sublime and from the mundane to the most ingenious.