The Crucible of Experience

At last a book on R. D. Laing that concerns itself principally with his contributions to psychotherapeutic theory and practice. Daniel Burston’s elegant analysis of Laing’s interpretations of, and allegiance to, existential phenomenology is both balanced and provocative. As a reminder of why Laing continues to matter to contemporary psychotherapy, this text is indispensable.
-- Ernesto Spinelli, School of Psychotherapy and Counseling, Regent’s College, London

Daniel Burston is a formidably equipped, scrupulous scholar, and one of the best contemporary writers on psychology. This book, like his admirable biography of R. D. Laing [The Wing of Madness], is learned and stimulating as a work of scholarship, and will interest both philosophers and psychiatrists. More broadly, its arguments offer a welcome—and controversial—challenge to the currently dominant biological, antipsychological psychiatry.
-- Anthony Storr, author of Feet of Clay: A Study of Gurus

Daniel Burston is one of the most thoughtful and perceptive scholars writing today about the history of psychoanalysis. He uses his broad, multi-disciplinary knowledge to provide keen insights into the discipline and its major figures, thus making this book a valuable contribution to the contemporary intellectual and cultural history of the behavioral sciences.
-- Deirdre Bair, author of Anais Nin: A Biography

Daniel Burston subjects R. D. Laing’s theories and treatments of madness to an evaluation that is scholarly, dispassionate and scrupulously attentive to the facts while at the same time providing a thought-provoking and subtle account of one of the most complicated and talented of European psychiatrists. Laing’s role as philosopher as well as psychotherapist is more thoroughly explored and assessed in this book than in the many books and essays that have already appeared devoted to the whole Laingian experience. It is an invaluable work for anyone eager to understand one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century.
-- Anthony W. Clare, author of In the Psychiatrist’s Chair