Fifth Principle

Paul Williams is a training and supervising analyst with The British Psychoanalytical Society and a member of the Royal Anthropological Institute. He was a consultant psychotherapist in the British National Health Service, retiring in 2010. From 2001-2007 he was Joint Editor-in-Chief, with Glen O. Gabbard, of the 'International Journal of Psychoanalysis'. He has published widely on the subject of severe disturbance. He lives and practises in Hampshire, UK.

• Preface -- Memories -- Wrong -- School -- Badness -- Lies -- Hunger -- Drugs -- Murder -- The Fifth Principle -- Appendix

One might say that the author has undertaken, on behalf of the subject, to provide a faithful, intelligible account of unintelligible events. The mind in question, in so far as it resembles other minds, will speak to the reader in ways that are recognisable, though some of the things that are written about may be unfamiliar. The extent to which the narrative finds a home in the mind and the imagination of the reader will be the measure of its worth. 'The Fifth Principle is an unassuming literary gem. The writing is spare, highly charged, quietly explosive. Williams looks unflinchingly into his experience as a child, finding there a soul struggling to survive, or perhaps more accurately, trying not to allow the little bit of life that remains to be extinguished.'- Thomas Ogden 'Paul Williams writes of a childhood devastated by lovelessness, disconnected from the real world, under the sway of fear and rage. His searching and deeply affecting confession deserves a place on the bookshelf beside Marie Cardinal.'- J. M. Coetzee 'The mystery is that he survived, and what is more survived as a talented, intelligent, resourceful person. A masterpiece.'- Eric Rhode