What We Truly Need - by Dieter Adler (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Finding happiness and contentment: What makes us truly content and what lures us down the wrong path.
How to live more authentically: Draw courage from the experiences of a psychoanalyst to fight for yourself!

A psychoanalyst takes stock after thirty years on the "other side of the couch." What has really helped his patients? What does happiness mean and how can we achieve it? Adler concludes that in the end, it was always the seemingly simple changes that really helped: making friends, finding a sense of security and confidence, having goals in life, rediscovering curiosity, and taking everything much more calmly. Above all, to draw on a deeply felt sense of one's own self, rather than on external and internal constraints. To be authentic and to identify and implement the things in life that bring true satisfaction. This book helps readers find out for themselves: what do I truly need? How do I become secure in myself? How can I shape the best possible version of my life?

Review Quotes

[Dieter Adler] describes his best experiences in therapy as those in which he has been able to stimulate thought processes. The same applies to this book: He does not aim to convince his readers of anything, but what he writes is convincing. What matters to him is not to get his patients to adopt his views, but to help them achieve an inner growth that allows for different attitudes and behaviors and leads to greater life satisfaction. Using examples from his own life, those of others, and drawing on the values of other cultures, he explains how to find out what we truly need: The compass is feelings and trust in the needs of the unconscious, allowing detours in the course of life, being open to surprises and discoveries, and tackling the things that are worth striving for with passion. [...]

Through the gateway of seemingly small matters, [Adler] talks of the big things in life, avoids overly clever words of wisdom, but is discerning and attentive to individual and context-related factors, be it with regard to goals like success, the importance of order, or other beliefs and feelings. The title provides the guiding theme of the book, whose style mirrors real life and is peppered with subtle humor and subversive irony, and in an almost casual way provides prompts that help the reader find answers. His principle of remaining true to oneself and to appreciate others can help fill life with vibrancy.

About the Author

Dieter Adler is a German psychoanalyst trained at the German Psychoanalytical Association (DPV) with prior training in social work and psychology. He is a member of the DPV and of the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA). Adler has additional training in family systems therapy, guided affective imagery, child and adolescent psychotherapy, group analysis and group psychotherapy, as well as intensive short-term psychodynamic therapy (IS-TDP). He has worked in his own private practice as a psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, group analyst, and child and youth therapist for thirty years.
Adler is also active as a teaching therapist and supervisor in the training of psychotherapists and advises colleagues in the process of establishing, running, and optimizing their own offices. He leads professional development seminars, workshops, and conferences. Adler is the founder and chair of the German Network of Psychotherapists, headquartered in Bonn.
In his leisure time, Adler is a filmmaker. He has produced a variety of documentaries and a short feature film.