Monster Within

Barbara Almond, M.D., is a psychotherapist and psychoanalyst in private practice, a member of the faculty at the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, and Emeritus Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor at Stanford University. She is coauthor of The Therapeutic Narrative: Fictional Relationships and the Process of Psychological Change.

"Just the thing for a gray and drizzly autumn afternoon. Drawing on her thirty-seven years of practice as a psychoanalyst as well as her own experiences as a mother, Almond leads an adventurous tour through the shadowy, secret parts of the mother's psyche... An oddly compelling read." New Yorker "Myth-shredding look at maternal ambivalence." Ms Magazine "First, let me recommend this engrossing study to every new mother, old mother, good mother and bad mother. Sons, husbands, dads and lovers might profit from reading this, too. 'The Monster Within' addresses what everybody knows, but almost nobody talks about: Even the best mothers among us will be or have been tormented from time to time by strong feelings of dread, fear, hatred and even revulsion at the whole process of motherhood, as well as experiencing downright murderous feelings toward our children." -- Carolyn See Washington Post Book World "A smart, cohesive read, and a welcome respite from perfect-mother guidebooks. Recommended If: The last book you'd ever pick up is one about motherhood." Bitch "Takes on the taboo of maternal ambivalence... Almond, a psychoanalyst, offers an optimistic message about the roots of these mixed emotions." The Washington Post

• Preface Acknowledgments Chapter 1. The Ubiquity of Maternal Ambivalence Chapter 2. Motherlove: The Power of Maternal Desire Chapter 3. The Subtle Ambivalence of the Too-Good Mother Chapter 4. "Before the Beginning": Women's Fears of Monstrous Births Chapter 5. Women's Reproductive Fears: More Clinical Examples Chapter 6. Rachel's Story: Internalized Ambivalence and the Dangers of Hidden Guilt Chapter 7. Whose Fault Is It? The Externalization of Ambivalence Chapter 8. When Fears Are Realized Chapter 9. From the Child's Point of View Chapter 10. Vampyric Mothering: From Stage Moms to Invasive Moms Chapter 11. The Darkest Side of Motherhood: Child Murder Chapter 12. What Happens Later: The Fate of Maternal Ambivalence Chapter 13. What's a Mother to Do? Notes Bibliography Index