Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self

The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self
The Drama of the Gifted Child The Search for the True Self
Author: Alice Miller
The "drama" of the gifted-i.e., sensitive, alert--child consists of his recognition at a very early age of his parents' needs and of his adaptation to these needs. — Dr. Miller found that her patients' ability to experience authentic feelings, especially feelings of sadness, had been for the most part destroyed; it was her task ...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780465016914
ISBN-10: 046501691X
Publication Date: 1981
Pages: 113
Rating:
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 29

3.6 stars, based on 29 ratings
Publisher: Basic Books
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 1
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self on
Helpful Score: 1
I thought the book was very challenging and thought provoking. I would recommend it for helping to search how our childhood effects us.
reviewed The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self on + 24 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
There is much discussion of anal/oral fixations and Oedipal compulsions. It was as if the author more or less used the language of her time (the 70's) to justify her thinking. However, there is one point that is very strong: When a mother is not properly and lovingly raised as a unique person when she is a child, she will find it difficult to allow her own children to grow up with their own unique identies. I have seen this in my own childhood.
Read All 8 Book Reviews of "The Drama of the Gifted Child The Search for the True Self"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

sphinx avatar reviewed The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self on + 97 more book reviews
The new title, "Drama of The Gifted Child", is not very accurate. The original title, "Prisoners of Childhood" is the better title to describe the book. This book is not about "gifted and talented" children as Americans in the late 20th century thought about them, it is about ALL children and the fact that we are all born extremely sensitive to emotions and the world around us.

The book describes how our personalities are essentially destroyed by our parents not accepting us for who we really are and punishing us (consciously or unconsciously) for showing emotions they disapprove of. This is about how we are rewarded or punished for things we do, and how we are trained to jump through hoops and suppress our true personalities to gain approval.

I found this book to be profoundly helpful in my own journey towards emotional maturity and evolution towards true adulthood (age does not indicate whether you've grown up or not), and I highly recommend it for anyone who has reached the stage of growth where they are ready to look at their parents with honesty and objectivity instead of idolising them and giving their abusive behaviour a free pass.

5 stars.


Genres: