Trump On The Couch

A full psychoanalytic portrait of President Donald Trump by the New York Times-bestselling author of Bush on the Couch and Obama on the Couch.No president in the history of the United States has inspired more alarm and confusion than President Donald Trump. How can he behave so callously and irresponsibly? Does he pose a true danger to our country?In answer, noted psychoanalyst Justin A. Frank takes a deep dive into the psyche of our president. Using observations gained from a close study of Trump's patterns of thought, action, and communication, Dr. Frank gives us a full portrait of the personality we saw on display during his remarkable campaign and helps us understand what has driven the decision-making during his first years in office. The result is filled with important revelations about our nation's leader--including disturbing new insights into-- the absence of a strong maternal force during childhood, which has led to Trump's remarkable lack of empathy and disregard for women's boundaries;- the compulsion to polarize America, which has grown out of his mind-set that the world is full of deceitful and destructive persecutors;- his inability to tolerate the pain of frustration, which triggered his belief that omnipotence will finally remove it;- the emotional deprivation of his childhood, which he replaced--and is still replacing--with delusions of complete autonomy, never allowing himself to display any vulnerability.With a thoughtful analysis of how and why he inspires such devotion in his followers, Trump on the Couch offers a candid assessment of the man who is arguably the most psychologically damaged president we have yet had.

“"I've known Trump a long time and I have even tried my own hand at psychoanalyzing him on television. But, Dr. Frank has shown a more complete picture inside our 45th President's mind than I ever dared to consider. Behind all Trump's tough guy theatrics, his petty cruelties and bloated ego is a tangled knot of pathologies that should terrify us all. Trump on the Couch is a great first step to sizing up the President's inner demons." --Donny Deutsch, Co-Host on MSNBC's Morning Joe " Trump On The Couch has spared me the extra grief of hoping against hope that our President will change. Dr. Frank's analysis helps explain the genesis of Trump's bullying, cruelty, dismissiveness, sexism, sadism, narcissism and more to help us understand that very sick man. Now I can brace myself in a more efficient way - not teetering between disbelief and denial but accepting what is, and continuing to resist." --Joan Baez "A breathtaking book! While I have maintained that a full psychological analysis is not possible from a distance, Dr. Frank has convinced me that there can be an exception. A rare convergence of top-tier clinical prowess and rigorous research into high-quality data, Trump on the Couch is thoughtful, accurate, and responsibly informative in ways that make it a great public service--critical for our time." --Bandy X. Lee, M.D., M.Div., Yale psychiatrist, expert on violence, and editor of The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump "Ordinarily, we rely on our presidents to help us contain our anxiety. According to Dr. Frank, this president needs us to contain his. Trump on the Couch lays out a compelling argument that Donald Trump relentlessly and defensively locates his own dishonesty, incompetence and weakness in others. It gives us a language, a theory, and compelling evidence to place Trump's otherwise bewildering and sometimes terrifying behavior in perspective." --Edward R. Shapiro, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Yale Child Study Center, coauthor of Lost in Familiar Places: Creating New Connections between the Individual and Society, Editor of The Inner World in the Outer World: Psychoanalytic Perspectives”

"I've known Trump a long time and I have even tried my own hand at psychoanalyzing him on television. But, Dr. Frank has shown a more complete picture inside our 45th President's mind than I ever dared to consider. Behind all Trump's tough guy theatrics, his petty cruelties and bloated ego is a tangled knot of pathologies that should terrify us all. Trump on the Couch is a great first step to sizing up the President's inner demons.”
—Donny Deutsch, Co-Host on MSNBC’s Morning Joe

"Trump On The Couch has spared me the extra grief of hoping against hope that our President will change. Dr. Frank’s analysis helps explain the genesis of Trump’s bullying, cruelty, dismissiveness, sexism, sadism, narcissism and more to help us understand that very sick man. Now I can brace myself in a more efficient way - not teetering between disbelief and denial but accepting what is, and continuing to resist." 
—Joan Baez

“A breathtaking book! While I have maintained that a full psychological analysis is not possible from a distance, Dr. Frank has convinced me that there can be an exception.  A rare convergence of top-tier clinical prowess and rigorous research into high-quality data, Trump on the Couch is thoughtful, accurate, and responsibly informative in ways that make it a great public service—critical for our time.”
—Bandy X. Lee, M.D., M.Div., Yale psychiatrist, expert on violence, and editor of The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump

“Ordinarily, we rely on our presidents to help us contain our anxiety. According to Dr. Frank, this president needs us to contain his. Trump on the Couch lays out a compelling argument that Donald Trump relentlessly and defensively locates his own dishonesty, incompetence and weakness in others. It gives us a language, a theory, and compelling evidence to place Trump’s otherwise bewildering and sometimes terrifying behavior in perspective.”
—Edward R. Shapiro, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Yale Child Study Center, coauthor of Lost in Familiar Places: Creating New Connections between the Individual and Society, Editor of The Inner World in the Outer World: Psychoanalytic Perspectives

Justin A. Frank, M.D. is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the George Washington University Medical Center and a physician with more than forty years of experience in psychoanalysis. He is a frequent contributor to HuffingtonPost.com and has served as a columnist for Time Inc., DailyBeast.com, and Salon.com. He is also the bestselling author of Bush on the Couch (2004), as well as Obama on the Couch (2011).

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