Intimacy and solitude : finding new closeness and self-trust in a distanced world

Social distancing under COVID has thrown us more deeply into our intimate relationships, and kept us achingly apart from family, friends and others. Stephanie Dowrick's classic Intimacy and Solitude is the wise guide we need to help us find our personal ground, whatever challenges we face. ' I love this book. It's full of exactly the kind of soulful wisdom the world is crying out for right now. ' - Magda Szubanski 'Compassionate, honest, fearless . . . Stephanie Dowrick's writing amazes me.' - The Hon Kristina Keneally The quality of your personal relationships has never mattered more. It isn't enough to have lots of friends on social media. Or to give 'everything' to work hoping that will validate your existence. When familiar certainties are dissolving, we need to give and receive closeness and understanding to feel fully alive. But how do we open to others in a world that can seem harsh, indifferent - and unpredictable in the extreme? Intimacy and Solitude starts with the most fundamental relationship of all: how you understand and care for your own self - knowing this will inevitably be reflected in your most essential relationships. Using her exceptional gifts as a storyteller, as well as decades of work with people of all ages, orientations and cultures, Dr Stephanie Dowrick brings to life profound and persuasive insights to transform self-trust - and your life with others. This edition includes a new introduction to bring the book up to date. 'This is a book that can save your emotional life .' - Subhana Barzaghi, psychotherapist and Zen Roshi 'So needed at any time, and especially today.' - David Leser, Women, Men & the Whole Damn Thing 'Since I was a teenager, Stephanie Dowrick's work has been absolutely central to my understanding of the possibility of happiness. ' - Clare Bowditch, musician and author 'I love this book. It's full of exactly the kind of soulful wisdom the world is crying out for right now.' - Magda Szubanski

'Compassionate, honest, fearless . . . Stephanie Dowrick's writing amazes me.' - The Hon Kristina Keneally

The quality of your personal relationships has never mattered more. It isn't enough to have lots of friends on social media. Or to give 'everything' to work hoping that will validate your existence.

When familiar certainties are dissolving, we need to give and receive closeness and understanding to feel fully alive. But how do we open to others in a world that can seem harsh, indifferent - and unpredictable in the extreme?

Intimacy and Solitude starts with the most fundamental relationship of all: how you understand and care for your own self - knowing this will inevitably be reflected in your most essential relationships.

Using her exceptional gifts as a storyteller, as well as decades of work with people of all ages, orientations and cultures, Dr Stephanie Dowrick brings to life profound and persuasive insights to transform self-trust - and your life with others. This edition includes a new introduction to bring the book up to date.


'This is a book that can save your emotional life.' - Subhana Barzaghi, psychotherapist and Zen Roshi

'So needed at any time, and especially today.' - David Leser, Women, Men & the Whole Damn Thing

'Since I was a teenager, Stephanie Dowrick's work has been absolutely central to my understanding of the possibility of happiness.' - Clare Bowditch, musician and author Why do we behave as we do - if it doesn't get us what we want? Can we balance our needs for closeness and for independence? Can we understand our emotional history - and go beyond it? How do we negotiate our needs with those of other people? Can we become the lover, partner or friend we long to be?

Gay, straight, old, young; we want our relationships 'to work'. Through a variety of moving, personal stories, a rare breadth of well-founded ideas and her own inspiring belief in the rewards of love, Stephanie Dowrick shows how possible it is to experience the pleasures of self-acceptance - and the last joy of satisfying connections with others. Why do we behave as we do - if it doesn't get us what we want? Can we balance our needs for closeness and for independence? Can we understand our emotional history - and go beyond it? How do we negotiate our needs with those of other people? Can we become the lover, partner or friend we long to be? Gay, straight, old, young; we want our relationships 'to work'. Through a variety of moving, personal stories, a rare breadth of well-founded ideas and her own inspiring belief in the rewards of love, Stephanie Dowrick shows how possible it is to experience the pleasures of self-acceptance - and the last joy of satisfying connections with others Love is the most 'natural' thing in the world. Yet we make and break relationships routinely, often without really understanding why. Bestselling author Stephanie Dowrick reveals how in order to meet that desire for rewarding relationships, we must first start with ourselves