Life’s Golden Thread

This is an account of the life of a Jewish psychiatrist growing up in Melbourne, Australia in the 1940s and 1950s as a child of a traumatised immigrant mother who had a limited capacity for love. The consequence of this was poor self-esteem as well as an inability to become emotionally separate and realise his potential for love and relationships. Another result was a difficult first marriage, the psychological manifestations of which are discussed in the context of growing psychological self-awareness and eventual emotional re-birth that also contributed to a deeper understanding of psychotherapy. Dr Rose discusses his medical student days culminating in his decision to study and enter into a career in psychiatry that was varied and rich in nature. He subsequently had successful careers in the fields of psychotherapy, treatment of sexual difficulties and forensic psychiatry. Dr Rose gives considerable detail with rich anecdotes of his life in each of these fields including de-identified case descriptions. He describes his experiences of working in the mental hospitals of Victoria. He also describes his experiences in the 1970s and early 1980s in the field of sexology at a time in which many of the experts led colourful lives, as well as his rich experience in civil and criminal forensic psychiatry. Finally, Dr Rose writes about his surprising encounter with Christian religion and how this together with his second marriage led to the sense of fulfilment he has today. A golden thread has indeed been woven through his life.