The Transparent Self - Sidney M. Jourard

Throughout history, the author maintains, man has chosen the road of concealment rather than "openness", a route that all too often results in sickness, misunderstanding and alienation from self. The author explores the implications of a new premise: man can attain health and fullest personal development only insofar as he gains courage to be himself with others and only when he finds goals that have meaning for him, goals which include the reshaping of society so that it is fit for all to live and grow in.

Sidney Marshall Jourard was a leading force in Humanistic Psychology, and a pioneer in the fields of self-disclosure and body-awareness. Sidney was born in Canada and educated at the University of Toronto, where he took his M.A. degree in 1948. He continued his studies at the University of Buffalo (now State University of New York at Buffalo), and obtained his Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 1953. Dr. Jourard taught at Emory University and at the University of Alabama Medical College prior to joining the University of Florida in 1958, where he held the rank of Professor until his death in 1974. He was involved in private practice of individual psychotherapy for twenty-five years; and for the last ten years of his life conducted encounter groups, experiential seminars, and workshops for Esalen Institute, Kairos, Oasis, The Center of Man, and other growth centers about the United States, Canada and Europe. He was a Past President of the Association for Humanistic Psychology