The name R. D. Laing continues to be widely recognized by those in
the psychotherapy community in the United States and Europe.
Laing's books are a testament to his breadth of interests,
including the understanding of madness, alternatives to
conventional psychiatric treatment, existential philosophy and
therapy, family systems, cybernetics, mysticism, and poetry. He is
most remembered for his devastating critique of psychiatric
practices, his controversial rejection of the concept of 'mental
illness,' and his groundbreaking center for people in acute mental
distress at Kingsley Hall, London. Most of the books that have been
published about Laing have been written by people who did not know
him personally and were unfamiliar with Laing the man and teacher.
The Legacy of R. D. Laing: An appraisal of his contemporary
relevance is composed by thinkers and practitioners who knew Laing
intimately, some of whom worked with Laing. This collection of
papers brings a perspective and balance to Laing's controversial
ideas, some of which were never addressed in his books. There has
never been a collection of papers that address so thoroughly the
question of who Laing was and why he became the most famous
psychiatrist in the world. As M. Guy Thompson's collection
illustrates, there are now a number of alternatives to psychiatry
throughout the world, and much of this can be credited to Laing's
influence. The Legacy of R. D. Laing will ensure the reader has a
keen grasp of who Laing was, what it was like to be his patient or
his friend, and why his thinking was far ahead of its time, even in
the radical era of the 1970s. It is timely to appraise the nature
of his contribution and bring Laing back into contemporary
conversations about the nature of sanity and madness, and more
humane approaches to helping those in profound mental distress.
This book offers an in-depth insight into the work of R.D. Laing.
It will be a must read for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, family
therapists, psychiatrists and academics alike. M. Guy Thompson, PhD
is a Personal and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic
Institute of Northern California and Chairman of Free Association,
Inc., a non-profit organization devoted to the dissemination of
Laing's ideas, in San Francisco. Dr. Thompson received his
psychoanalytic training from R. D. Laing and associates at the
Philadelphia Association and is the author of numerous books and
journal articles on psychoanalysis, phenomenology, and
schizophrenia. He currently lives in San Rafael, California.
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