Self-trust as emotional strength training
Approval can remain a powerful organizing force long after women have outgrown the roles it rewarded. Kishimi and Koga present Adlerian psychology through a dialogue about responsibility, interpersonal tasks, inferiority, contribution, and freedom from other people’s judgments. Self-direction develops like strength training: through repeated choices, tolerating discomfort, and practicing values rather than declaring independence once. Against the pressures of midlife, the book can challenge people-pleasing and inherited expectations, but its claim that trauma does not determine the present may feel overly absolute and should not replace trauma-informed care. Courage includes choosing values while acknowledging history, vulnerability, and the real consequences of social power.
About Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
Ichiro Kishimi cared for both parents and continued studying Adlerian psychology through illness and caregiving; Fumitake Koga repeatedly visited him in Kyoto. Their conversations became the philosopher-and-youth dialogue through which the book presents difficult ideas.
Some links may be affiliate links. This does not affect our editorial selection.
