Dr. Thomas Freeman trained as a psychoanalyst and practised in an NHS psychiatric hospital. This book represents a condensation of his vast clinical experience in the joint areas of psychiatryand psychoanalysis over 40 years and was completed shortly before his recent death. The finishing touches were made to be book by John Finlay and Ricahrd Ingram, working closely with Dr Freemana s family. Freeman works from the premise that Self--Psychology, Attachment Theory, interpersonal Psychoanalysis, Object Relations and Neo--Kleinianism have, in contemporary Anglo--Saxon psychoanalysis, neglected to address the centrality and ubiquity of sexuality. The clarity of writing together with the clinical examples explained within a psychoanalytic framweork allow the importance of an alternative view of psychiatric illness to be gleaned. In an age of pharmacological psychiatry and theorising without clinical experience, this book is necessary in order to reach new psychiatrists in training, increase their expertise and imporve patient care. Challenging common theories and ideas, this fascinating volume characterises Freemana s enduring contribution to the discipline.