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niinjah's review
4.0
Thanks to netgally and Columbia university press for this ARC.
Being a psychologist myself it’s always interesting to read about prominent professionals who shaped our way of treating patients today. Wexler has done an excellent work with writing a coherent memoir of her father, but it’s also so much more. It is also a historical document and I loved to get a glimpse into a different time where new ideas were developed. Milton Wexler came across as an interesting human being, very strong-minded, always searching for answers. The parts about his theories about schizophrenia were very interesting, even if some of it was controversial and not like we look at treatment today. I also loved getting glimpses of how other therapists worked, and how her fathers views affected Alice herself.
The book is especially useful for those loving to understand what shaped our profession. I guess for some people it might be a bit heavy, you surely have to be familiar with certain concepts.
Being a psychologist myself it’s always interesting to read about prominent professionals who shaped our way of treating patients today. Wexler has done an excellent work with writing a coherent memoir of her father, but it’s also so much more. It is also a historical document and I loved to get a glimpse into a different time where new ideas were developed. Milton Wexler came across as an interesting human being, very strong-minded, always searching for answers. The parts about his theories about schizophrenia were very interesting, even if some of it was controversial and not like we look at treatment today. I also loved getting glimpses of how other therapists worked, and how her fathers views affected Alice herself.
The book is especially useful for those loving to understand what shaped our profession. I guess for some people it might be a bit heavy, you surely have to be familiar with certain concepts.
pagelikebooks's review
challenging
informative
slow-paced
3.75
This review was originally published in Library Journal. Thanks to LJ for the advanced copy!
Historian Wexler (The Woman Who Walked into the Sea: Huntington’s and the Making of a Genetic Disease) is the eldest daughter of Milton Wexler, who started his professional career as a lawyer before pivoting and becoming a psychoanalyst. Milton spent much of his time working with patients living with schizophrenia in the 1960s. He worked with big names in the field and later moved from Minnesota to L.A., where he led group therapy sessions amongst several artists, even some movie stars, in the area. When his ex-wife and the mother of his children developed Huntington’s disease, a complex and terminal genetic condition, he took his eclectic knowledge and his connections with various scientists and doctors to create the Hereditary Disease Foundation, which led to groundbreaking research in the field. Multiple letters, reports, and interviews with Wexler’s friends and family are cited throughout this memoir, leading to a more intimate understanding of his thoughts and feelings.
VERDICT This memoir looks into the past of medical research and provides some context as to how far the field has come today. Anyone interested in the history of mental health care and genetic diseases would find this memoir fascinating.
Historian Wexler (The Woman Who Walked into the Sea: Huntington’s and the Making of a Genetic Disease) is the eldest daughter of Milton Wexler, who started his professional career as a lawyer before pivoting and becoming a psychoanalyst. Milton spent much of his time working with patients living with schizophrenia in the 1960s. He worked with big names in the field and later moved from Minnesota to L.A., where he led group therapy sessions amongst several artists, even some movie stars, in the area. When his ex-wife and the mother of his children developed Huntington’s disease, a complex and terminal genetic condition, he took his eclectic knowledge and his connections with various scientists and doctors to create the Hereditary Disease Foundation, which led to groundbreaking research in the field. Multiple letters, reports, and interviews with Wexler’s friends and family are cited throughout this memoir, leading to a more intimate understanding of his thoughts and feelings.
VERDICT This memoir looks into the past of medical research and provides some context as to how far the field has come today. Anyone interested in the history of mental health care and genetic diseases would find this memoir fascinating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Chronic illness
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Homophobia
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