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The Only Cure

Freud and the Neuroscience of Mental Healing

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The Only Cure

By: Mark Solms
Narrated by: Mark Solms
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'A scholarly masterpiece, written by the world's greatest living authority on Freud . . . There is so much to be learned in these pages'
KARL J. FRISTON, the world's most cited neuroscientist

Once dismissed as unscientific, psychoanalytic therapy is proving to be among our most effective medical treatments of any kind - outperforming psychiatric drugs and rivalling vaccines in its power to prevent and heal. Why does it work so well?

Perhaps because one of the most controversial figures in psychology was right all along. Neuroscience now confirms much of what Sigmund Freud conjectured over a century ago: our deepest struggles stem, not from chemical imbalances, but from buried memories and unconscious conflicts that no pill can touch.

Using enthralling case studies and cutting-edge brain science, pioneering neuroscientist Mark Solms makes the case that psychoanalysis should resume its position as our master theory of the mind. Yet modern research also reveals where Freud got important things wrong. Could correcting these errors make therapy even more effective?

As psychiatric diagnoses soar and standard treatments continue to fail many patients, The Only Cure offers a revolutionary hope: a real science of healing, rooted in the radical idea that our suffering arises from truths we haven't yet faced.©2026 Mark Solms (P)2026 Orion Publishing Group Limited Mental Health Neuroscience & Neuropsychology Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Human Brain Health
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Critic reviews

A wide-ranging and engrossing defence of Freud as a scientist and a healer . . . It would be difficult to improve on Solms's credentials for the task he sets himself . . . He is also a wonderfully witty and lucid writer . . . Deeply moving case histories of patients [. . .] show that at the heart of psychoanalytic practice is an empathy that enables patients to detoxify their experiences . . . Solms has nudged the attitude of this sceptic (Raymond Tallis)
This is an extraordinary book on so many different levels. It's a dramatic history of psychoanalysis, a reassessment of Freud, a fascinating and moving autobiography, and a compelling argument for rethinking the place of feelings and subjectivity within the framework of science. And hence it's also about caring, and nurture - and love. How minds change is the question at the centre of this book. It's changing mine (BRIAN ENO, producer, composer and artist)
Refreshing . . . Solms makes his case interestingly, sincerely and with passion
The book succeeds powerfully in its central aim: to undermine the claim that psychoanalysis is unscientific. By demonstrating how closely contemporary neuroscience aligns with Freud's core insights, Solms reframes psychoanalysis not as an outdated rival to biology, but as its necessary partner . . . Psychoanalysis is lucky to have Mark Solms in its corner
A scholarly masterpiece, written by the world's greatest living authority on Freud - the Editor of the Revised Standard Edition, and founder of the Neuropsychoanalysis movement. The origin story of Freudian ideas is introduced in forensic and fascinating detail and developed carefully in light of - evidence-based - 21st-century insights into mind and brain. It is also a deeply personal narrative, reflecting the author's good citizenship, clinical compassion and capacity to critique the fundamentals of psychoanalysis. There is so much to be learned in these pages (KARL J. FRISTON, the world's most cited neuroscientist)
Solms made a really compelling case that the origin of consciousness is with feelings, not thoughts. Feelings are the language in which the body talks to the brain . . . I'm convinced (MICHAEL POLLAN)
The Only Cure is scholarly, historical and surprising. It is peppered with good translations of Freud and argues well for his relevance to modern-day understanding of the brain. My speciality, cognitive neuroscience, may have neglected him. Here, then, is a book about psychoanalysis for those interested in neuroscience, and a book about neuroscience for those interested in psychoanalysis. Either way, it gives Freud a new lease of life
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Amazing journey through life and science while having Freud genius hovering over it! Brilliantly and passionately read by the author! Thank you Professor Solms!

Great!

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As a psychodynamic psychotherapist this was a great listen. Solms makes a great case for the importance of Freud's ideas.

excellent

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Before finding Solms, I felt like I had learnt so much about the brain but wasn’t that much closer to an integrated, intuitive, or useful understanding of it in practice. I now feel I am at least on the other side of that and would say that nothing else has had even close to the same effect. On top of this, I know I’m not alone in thinking that both this and The Hidden Spring are beautifully written and I personally feel that Solms comes across as a deeply empathetic and grounded author.

I want to say more on that last point, and I don’t really know how to say it other than the dude just gets it, like he doesn’t miss the forest for the trees or lose the magic of any of it or forget about the people who stand to benefit from getting all of this right. I think his personal story and his work actually treating people and so on probably explains what I’m expressing. Honestly my favourite author right now and I hope to see more from him.

A huge sigh of relief for those lost and frustrated in trying to understand the mind.

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