Quotations

“The extraordinarily difficult process of growing up on the inside as well as on the outside and the psychoanalytic process may have shared goals: those of self-knowledge and a capacity to have as integrated a sense of self as may be possible.” (Margot Waddell)

“Intimate attachments to other human beings are the hub around which a person’s life revolves, not only when s/he is an infant or a toddler, but throughout his/her adolescence and his/her years of maturity as well, and on into old age.” (John Bowlby)

“It is really a question of discovering the real artistry in a person (everyone has it but often deeply buried) and then liberating this – it is, I suppose, enabling someone (or indeed oneself) to become more fully alive.” (Ben Nicholson)

“The fact that there seems to be an underlying drive towards development in every person, as in every patient, discourages the view that adverse circumstances at one stage or age are necessarily determinant.” (Margot Waddell)

“It seems to me that the overarching theme among psychodynamic approaches to helping people is that the more honest we are with ourselves, the better our chances for living a satisfying and useful life.” (Nancy McWilliams)

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” (Aristotle)

“The most basic of all human needs is to understand and be understood.
The best way to understand people is to listen to them.” (Ralph Nichols)

“In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful.” (Alice Walker)