The Hands of the Living God: An Account of a Psycho-analytic Treatment (The Collected Works of Marion Milner)

At once autobiographical and psychoanalytic, The Hands of the Living God, first published in 1969, provides a detailed case study of Susan who, during a 20-year long treatment, spontaneously discovers the capacity to do doodle drawings.

An important focus of the book is the drawings themselves, 150 of which are reproduced in the text, and their deep unconscious perception of the battle between sanity and madness. It is these drawings, linked with Milner’s sensitive and lucid record of the therapeutic encounter, that give the book its unique and compelling interest.

With a new introduction by Adam Phillips, The Hands of the Living God is essential reading for all those with an interest in the fields of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy and, more widely, to those involved in therapy and the arts.