Tales of Transformation

‘I enjoyed hearing about the process of psychotherapy, the delicate balancing act of therapeutic interpretation and the thought processes behind disclosure. […] Overall, this book allows the reader to see one analysts 50 year journey and witnessed the ever changing theoretical landscape of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy’

– Nick Campion, integrative psychotherapist in Derby, ‘Therapy Today’ September 2022

‘Indeed, I can think of no other book I would regard as so warmly written and as so deeply engaging as this one. When I received my copy in the post, I began to immerse myself into the text straightaway […] As most colleagues will appreciate, the well-known and much admired Salman Akhtar writes in rather a unique style. Not only does he convey his tremendous clinical wisdom with clarity and with generosity but, moreover, he communicates in an affable and often witty manner, incorporating both his mental health expertise and, also, his long-standing experience as a poet, who has published in Urdu and in English. In consequence, I find the prose of Salman Akhtar as invigorating as that of Sigmund Freud. […] This gripping memoir, which kept me awake until 4 a.m., remains perhaps the most outstanding of all — a true encapsulation of the mind and heart and soul of a very special person indeed.’

– Professor Brett Kahr, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 72:2

Salman Akhtar is a brilliant scholar, a superb integrator of ideas, and one of the most original minds in modern psychoanalysis.

– Peter Fonagy

Salman Akhtar is one of the most learned but also lyrical and imaginative medical men who ever graced the field of psychoanalysis.

– Rosemary Balsam

If, by a magical process, you were able to generate a unique individual with an encyclopedic mind, an indefatigable search for scientific knowledge, a superb scholar and teacher, and a poet able to movingly convey human ecstasies and tragedy, you would have created a replica of Salman Akhtar.

– Otto Kernberg

In my very first meeting with Salman Akhtar, whom I had already read, I was amazed by his kind simplicity allied with princely refinement. Salman is a poet, a storyteller and has a rare quality that I would call ‘heartfelt civility.’

– Marilia Aisenstein

His amiability and enthusiasm, his curiosity and creativity, his eagerness to share and teach make Salman Akhtar an admirable psychoanalyst and a memorable man.

– Vamik Volkan

Salman Akhtar, MD, is Professor of Psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College and a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. He has served on the editorial boards of The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the Psychoanalytic Quarterly. His nearly 400 publications include 99 books, of which the following 20 are solo-authored: Broken Structures (1992), Quest for Answers (1995), Inner Torment (1999), Immigration and Identity (1999), New Clinical Realms (2003), Objects of Our Desire (2005), Regarding Others (2007), Turning Points in Dynamic Psychotherapy (2009), The Damaged Core (2009), Comprehensive Dictionary of Psychoanalysis (2009), Immigration and Acculturation (2011), Matters of Life and Death (2011), The Book of Emotions (2012), Psychoanalytic Listening (2013), Good Stuff (2013), Sources of Suffering (2014), No Holds Barred (2016), A Web of Sorrow (2017), Mind, Culture, and Global Unrest (2018), and Silent Virtues (2019).

Dr Akhtar has delivered many prestigious invited lectures including a Plenary Address at the 2nd International Congress of the International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders in Oslo, Norway (1991), an Invited Plenary Paper at the 2nd International Margaret S. Mahler Symposium in Cologne, Germany (1993), an Invited Plenary Paper at the Rencontre Franco-Americaine de Psychanalyse meeting in Paris, France (1994), a Keynote Address at the 43rd IPA Congress in Rio de Janiero, Brazil (2005), the Plenary Address at the 150th Freud Birthday Celebration sponsored by the Dutch Psychoanalytic Society and the Embassy of Austria in Leiden, Holland (2006), and the Inaugural Address at the first IPA-Asia Congress in Beijing, China (2010).

Dr Akhtar is the recipient of numerous awards including the American Psychoanalytic Association’s Edith Sabshin Award (2000), Columbia University’s Robert Liebert Award for Distinguished Contributions to Applied Psychoanalysis (2004), the American Psychiatric Association’s Kun Po Soo Award (2004) and Irma Bland Award for being the Outstanding Teacher of Psychiatric Residents in the country (2005). He received the highly prestigious Sigourney Award (2012) for distinguished contributions to psychoanalysis. In 2103, he gave the Commencement Address at graduation ceremonies of the Smith College School of Social Work in Northampton, MA.

Dr Akhtar’s books have been translated into many languages, including German, Italian, Korean, Persian, Romanian, Serbian, Spanish, and Turkish. A true Renaissance man, Dr Akhtar has served as the Film Review Editor for The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, and is currently serving as the Book Review Editor for the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies. He has published 9 collections of poetry and serves as a Scholar-in-Residence at the Inter-Act Theatre Company in Philadelphia.