Beginning to Live: The Art of Existential Freedom
May 2026 · Random House
Ebook
416
Pages
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Eligible
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infoThis book will become available on May 14, 2026. You will not be charged until it is released.
About this ebook
A user's guide to the everyday challenges of living, which looks to philosophy to reframe the way we understand ourselves and our relationships
In this book, pioneering therapist, Emmy van Deurzen, harnesses over fifty years' experience to help us consider the world around and within us with fresh clarity, showing how we can take all that is good from the past, whilst being fully present in the moment and having a strong sense of direction for the future.
Beginning to Live is a practical invitation to step back, look at the big picture and discover what really matters: in relationships with peers, friends and family, in solitude and creativity, and when dealing with dilemmas and difficulties of every kind.
Whether you’re in therapy or prefer to find your own way through life’s struggles, van Deurzen offers a lifeline for rebuilding trust in the world, considering each of the four key aspects of our experience in turn: physical, social, personal and spiritual. This book is filled with wisdom and moving stories that show how, even when survival takes all you have, you can rekindle confidence in your own abilities and revitalize your capacity to relate to others, whilst finding a more engaged way of living that is purposeful, deliberate and buoyant.
In this book, pioneering therapist, Emmy van Deurzen, harnesses over fifty years' experience to help us consider the world around and within us with fresh clarity, showing how we can take all that is good from the past, whilst being fully present in the moment and having a strong sense of direction for the future.
Beginning to Live is a practical invitation to step back, look at the big picture and discover what really matters: in relationships with peers, friends and family, in solitude and creativity, and when dealing with dilemmas and difficulties of every kind.
Whether you’re in therapy or prefer to find your own way through life’s struggles, van Deurzen offers a lifeline for rebuilding trust in the world, considering each of the four key aspects of our experience in turn: physical, social, personal and spiritual. This book is filled with wisdom and moving stories that show how, even when survival takes all you have, you can rekindle confidence in your own abilities and revitalize your capacity to relate to others, whilst finding a more engaged way of living that is purposeful, deliberate and buoyant.
About the author
Emmy van Deurzen is a world-renowned existential psychotherapist and counselling psychologist. She directs her private practice, Dilemma Consultancy, in London and is director and co-founder of the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling at the Existential Academy in London. She is a Visiting Professor with Middlesex University, for whom she directs several doctoral and masters programmes. She has published twenty books on existential therapy and the challenges of the human condition and she has lectured in more than thirty-five countries around the world.
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