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Patient Testimonies of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: Reported and Recorded

Author(s) : Mark Kinet

Reviews and Endorsements

These raw accounts of becoming mentally ill and being treated by psychotherapy provide unique insights into the real causes of mental illness (not ‘chemical imbalances’) and into the hard psychological work that is required to achieve real recovery (not quick fixes). The first-person testimonials are bookended by unusually lucid third-person explanations of the psychoanalytic theories and techniques illustrated in the reports themselves.
Mark Solms, PhD, neuropsychologist, psychoanalyst and author, Professor at the University of Cape Town, South Africa

This new book by Mark Kinet is a unique account from the patient's perspective as an expert by experience. What does it feel like for various patients to be in psychoanalytic therapy? In the commentary, Kinet, with his extensive clinical background, clearly and accessibly explains the different psychoanalytic approaches. This is practice-based psychoanalysis at its finest.
Jos Dirkx, MD, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst NvPA and IPA, and current chief editor of Tijdschrift voor Psychoanalyse, the Netherlands

The testimonies of the patients in this book are rich and varied in their articulation of the experience of their therapy trajectories, the common thread being the combination of (semi-)residential and outpatient psychotherapy, Kinet's trademark. Their honesty and courage graces them. Especially now that the – also social – importance of mental health care in general and of psychotherapy in particular is receiving more attention, the voice of the patients themselves is an important contribution to the debate. At the same time, the therapeutic power of psychoanalysis comes along in a nuanced and realistic way, transcending the stereotypical and sterile polarisation between vilification and idealisation. I believe the book will appeal to a broadly interested audience. The framing texts in kinetic style are also accessible to the layman.
Michel Thys, PhD, psychologist, philosopher, psychoanalyst, author, and former editor-in-chief of Tijdschrift voor Psychoanalyse, Belgium

Between a brilliant introduction and conclusion, in which Kinet articulates his vision of psychoanalytic therapy, he gives space to the voices that often remain confined to consulting rooms: those of the patients. Their stories are at once moving, compelling, raw, and unvarnished. When you close this book, one thought will linger: These narratives truly matter. A must-read for anyone curious about the transformative power of psychoanalytic therapy.
Arthur Eaton, PhD, historian, philosopher, psychoanalyst and author, the Netherlands

An original book that shows courage! Rarely does a psychiatrist give his patients the chance to describe their unique experience of psychoanalytic treatment. This is done respectfully and ethically. People who have been scarred by life early on and have carried the suffering of previous generations like a backpack describe how their therapy helped them. Kinet shows how the psychoanalytic approach provides support, inspires hope, instils insight and leads to recovery. It works! The reader now learns this from the patients themselves.
Marc Hebbrecht, MD, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, president of the Belgian Society of Psychoanalysis (IPA) and author, former editor-in-chief of Tijdschrift voor Psychoanalyse, Belgium

This is a very original book about the reality of psychoanalytically inspired psychotherapy. It also gives the reader a very illuminating insight into this world. This book concerns the more classic face-to-face psychotherapy and the institutional form of residential (group-) psychotherapy. The originality: Mark Kinet has dared to ask many of his patients (in both forms of 'clinical' therapies, performed or supervised by him) to write down their reflections on their experiences. Between Kinet’s general but elucidating commentaries, these testimonies form the book's core. As a result, a very true picture has emerged of what this psychotherapy does to people. It shows that suffering is not magically removed, that symptoms do not simply disappear during the psychoanalytic process, but that the patient feels healed by the authentic relationship with the therapist(s), by the recognition and understanding of their suffering and by the grip they get on their life history. Truth heals.
Jozef Corveleyn, PhD, clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, author, and Emeritus Professor at KU Leuven, Belgium

A psychoanalytic practice illustrates the power of words when someone is listening. Psychoanalytic authors illustrate the frustration of professional listeners - they themselves want to have their say. This book combines both. Kinet lets people tell about their psychoanalytic journey and frames the stories in his reading of psychoanalytic grandmasters. It has turned out to be a successful marriage.
Paul Verhaeghe, PhD, clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, author, and Emeritus Professor at the University of Ghent, Belgium

Want to know what psychotherapy, particularly psychoanalytic therapy, entails and can do for someone? Then Mark Kinet's latest book is highly recommended. In it, he lets patients tell how they experienced their psychotherapeutic process, while as a psychiatrist he frames their stories in general terms. Not that the efficacy of psychotherapy is scientifically controversial today, but nothing works more convincingly than patients' voices. And as the book title suggests, their candid testimonies show that patients feel helped by therapy. Convincing!
Ann Swerts, Knack Bodytalk (Belgian magazine, November 2021)

The book is an interesting and complementary perspective to make the work of psychoanalytic processes more insightful, better understood and possibly evaluated. I definitely recommend it to both the novice and the more experienced therapist. The fact that all patients were given free space to reflect on their experience is a great merit of this book. [...] The kaleidoscopic perspective of the book is rich, does justice to the subjective nature of the analytic process and is in line with the scientificity of the precise description of individual phenomena, as Freud has done it before us.
Kristel Bleyen, Tijdschrift voor Psychoanalyse (January 2023)