H. J. S. Guntrip: A Psychoanalytical Biography Book

"This extraordinary book does more than any ordinary biographycould to rescue from the archives of the Menninger Clinic a uniquely intimate study of Harry Guntrip - the man described by John D. Sutherland as "one of the psychoanalytic immortals". The heart of the book is the detailed account, not only of Guntrip's vivid dream sequences over a period of forty years, but also of his two analyses, the first with W.R.D. Fairbairn, and the second with D.W. Winnicott. Never in the history of psychoanalysis has an extremely psychologically-minded practising therapist, who eventually contributed important new developments of his own to psychoanalyses, recorded every session of his analyses, and then embarked, with a remarkable mixture of ego-strength and selflessness, on preparing them for publication. His death, of cancer, came untimely when he was psychically still at the height of his powers. We are fortunate that the task was fulfilled by a therapist, Jeremy Hazell, whom Guntrip trained, and later knew well as a colleague and friend. No analyst or therapist, from the newest student to the eminences grises, can fail to be absorbed by the detailed session-by-session story of two of the great figures of psycho-analysis at work in their consulting rooms. We see the theories, techniques but, more importantly, the personalities of e two Object-Relations pioneers evolving before us as we read. I was aware of a sense of privilege at being admitted to a unique event, the unfolding of the psychological history of a rare and engaging man." Nina Coltart

"We are indeed indebted to Hazell for guiding us through this fascinating story of a life and its analysis, with an honesty which raises many questions for us to grapple with." Reflections

"Guntrip has given us a unique glipse of two recent 'giants' at work, and we have to be deeply grateful both to him and to Hazell for making this a unique record available..... it illuminates something deeply important that goes on in analysis in a way that makes one rethink what analysis is all about." The British Journal of Psychotherapy