How Money Talks

by Lesley Murdin

Overview

Money speaks in everyday life and in literature of our greed and our generosity, our pride and our humiliation and as it passes among us it shows our creativity and our ability to co-operate even while it can also lead us to fight to the death. This book is for psychological therapists and for the general reader interested in human nature. Money has mattered since the first human attempts to symbolise value and enable people to wait for the return on their own labours. Since the financial crisis of 2008 its impact at a macro as well as a micro level is inescapable. It has become a means of exchange, much like language and has opened up social mobility to factors other than birth. This book looks at the origin of money and its history but most of all, what attitudes to money tell us about the way we connect to each other.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780490670
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/30/2012
Series:	The United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy Series
Pages:	198
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

Lesley Murdin practises as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist. She teaches and supervises in many contexts and has considerable experience in running psychotherapy organisations.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ix

About the Author xi

Introduction xiii

Part I Money Talks

Chapter 1 I'm a mess 3

Chapter 2 Adrift without a compass 25

Chapter 3 Running up debts 35

Chapter 4 When do I pay? 51

Chapter 5 Circumvented 69

Chapter 6 Be with me 81

Part II What Money Means

Chapter 7 Money had to be invented 87

Chapter 8 Growing in relation to money 103

Chapter 9 Spendthrift or miser? 113

Chapter 10 Who pays for psychotherapy? 125

Part III What Money Says to Therapists

Chapter 11 How money talks to therapists 139

Chapter 12 Money matters in the consulting room 151

Conclusion 171

References 173

Index 179

Editorial Reviews

"What a magnificent book! Drawing upon her vast experience as both a practitioner and a teacher of psychotherapy, and upon her deep and highly-regarded study of professional ethics, Lesley Murdin has written an elegant, literate, and thought-provoking analysis of the role of money, not only in the clinical encounter but, also, in our culture more broadly. Those who buy this volume will get two books for the price of one: first, colleagues will benefit from a rich investigation of the many thorny practical problems which confront the mental health practitioner (e.g., charging for missed sessions, unpaid debts, and so forth), as well as how the client treats money either healthily or neurotically, and how this might change over time; and, second, readers will enjoy Murdin's deeply sophisticated analysis of money in contemporary life. Integrating data from literature, economics, anthropology, politics, and the law, the author helps us to understand the role of greed, of envy, and of infantile wishes in relation to money, as well as the essential, rational need for money in adult life. Although many mental health professionals have written books on this subject, I cannot think of one that I would rate more highly than this wise tome from Lesley Murdin. No psychotherapeutic library will be complete without a copy."

Professor Brett Kahr

"Come back Karl Marx, all is forgiven! Lesley Murdin's remarkable book uses a vivid narrative thread to open out a fascinating host of issues about how money, and money issues, permeates every last hidden scrap of our psyches and selves. Until you read this book, you will never have realised how all-pervasive money is in our lives. It is gripping—and scary—and yet its final message is a joyful and transformational one."

Dr Heward Wilkinson

"Money has always been a medium through which individuals express their quest for identity. This book makes you realise that money really does talk both within and outside the therapeutic encounter. An excellent discussion of a problem seldom discussed."

Frank Furedi

"Money has always been a medium through which individuals express their quest for identity. This book makes you realise that money really does talk both within and outside the therapeutic encounter. An excellent discussion of a problem seldom discussed."

"Come back Karl Marx, all is forgiven! Lesley Murdin's remarkable book uses a vivid narrative thread to open out a fascinating host of issues about how money, and money issues, permeates every last hidden scrap of our psyches and selves. Until you read this book, you will never have realised how all-pervasive money is in our lives. It is gripping--and scary--and yet its final message is a joyful and transformational one."

"What a magnificent book! Drawing upon her vast experience as both a practitioner and a teacher of psychotherapy, and upon her deep and highly-regarded study of professional ethics, Lesley Murdin has written an elegant, literate, and thought-provoking analysis of the role of money, not only in the clinical encounter but, also, in our culture more broadly. Those who buy this volume will get two books for the price of one: first, colleagues will benefit from a rich investigation of the many thorny practical problems which confront the mental health practitioner (e.g., charging for missed sessions, unpaid debts, and so forth), as well as how the client treats money either healthily or neurotically, and how this might change over time; and, second, readers will enjoy Murdin's deeply sophisticated analysis of money in contemporary life. Integrating data from literature, economics, anthropology, politics, and the law, the author helps us to understand the role of greed, of envy, and of infantile wishes in relation to money, as well as the essential, rational need for money in adult life. Although many mental health professionals have written books on this subject, I cannot think of one that I would rate more highly than this wise tome from Lesley Murdin. No psychotherapeutic library will be complete without a copy."

From the Publisher