Happiness is Taking Responsibility: Overcoming Guilt / Le Bonheur d'être responsable: Vivre sans culpabiliser

Virginie Megglé is a psychoanalyst, a registered member of the Society of Adlerian Psychoanalysis, and the founder of the association and the Internet site Psychanalyse en mouvement. She has published (Eyrolles) "La Projection en psychanalyse, A chacun son fI'm, Entre mère et fils, un histoire d'amour et de désir, A chacun son poids, Face à l'anorexie" and "Couper le cordon, guérir de nos dépendances affectives". Despite our efforts to do away with them, guilt feelings often play a central role in our lives. Guilt seems to ambush us at the most inopportune and unexpected moments. The author begins by exploring the roots of the inner poison of guilt. How are guilt feelings capable of causing so much harm? Drawing on her in-depth knowledge of the works of Alfred Adler, one of the first dissidents of the psychoanalytic movement, Virginie Megglé shows that present-day guilt generally springs from a feeling of inferiority coupled with insecurity. By examining guilt in this new light we can learn how to go about overcoming it rather than succumbing to it. To free ourselves of guilt we must dare to take responsibility. The author urges us to resist what is unlike us, so that by learning to be in harmony with our inner selves we can discover the joy of being in tune with the universe. By becoming free of guilt and endowed with greater self-knowledge we will fied fulfI'ment and a lightness that is akin to happiness.- A novel approach to guilt, inspired by Adlerian psychology.- An analysis drawing on fI'm, examples from daily life and psychoanalytic practice.