My Father Before Me: How Fathers and Sons Influence Each Other Throughout Their Lives

michael j. diamond

A powerful depiction of the unexplored reciprocal relationship between fathers and sons. For decades, mothers were thought to be the only real influence on a child. Now we recognize that the father's involvement also has a profound impact, but how sons affect their fathers is too-often overlooked. In My Father Before Me psychoanalyst Michael J. Diamond firmly establishes fatherhood as an essential event for both the son's and the father's development. With chapters analyzing the father/son relationship throughout the life cycle, and demonstrating the powerful influence between them, Diamond calls for a more inclusive notion of masculinity, thus allowing men to access parts of themselves they previously ignored. He argues that sons are largely responsible for helping their fathers embrace this more flexible notion of manhood, making them better partners and better parents. Diamond has written an important book that enables us to make sense of the question: what does it truly mean to be a man.

Genres parenting

239 pages, Hardcover

First published February 19,2007

This edition

Format: 239 pages, Hardcover
Published: February 17, 2007 by W. W. Norton \u0026 Company
ISBN: 9780393060607
ASIN: 0393060608
Language: English

About the author

michael j. diamond

Michael J. Diamond, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst and the author/co-author of three books including: The Second Century of Psychoanalysis: Evolving Perspectives on Therapeutic Action (Karnac, 2011 - with C. Christian); My Father Before Me: How Fathers & Sons Influence Each Other Throughout Their Lives (Norton, 2007); and, Becoming A Father: Contemporary Social, Developmental, and Clinical Perspectives (Springer, 1995 - with J.L. Shapiro & M. Greenberg). Dr. Diamond received his doctorate in psychology from Stanford University and completed his psychoanalytic training at the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies, where he is currently a training and supervising analyst. He is also an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA and is on the teaching and supervising faculty at the Wright Institute Los Angeles. He has published numerous journal articles and book chapters in the areas of psychoanalytic theory and technique, gender and masculinity, parenting and fathering, and trauma, dissociation, and hypnosis. His work is recognized internationally and he is an award recipient for his writing, teaching, and analytic clinical work. He currently lives and practices in Los Angeles.