Life’s Golden Thread (The Autobiography of Dr Norman Rose)

This informative and interesting book is made so by the juxtaposition of the author’s life as a professional psychiatrist in the 1950s—1980s and the social and historical context in which it is set.

The author evokes the atmosphere of Melbourne in the 1940s, where he grew up as the son of Jewish refugees in the inner city suburb of Carlton, his medical student days at the University of Melbourne and his complex family relationships which strongly influenced his decision to take up psychiatry.

Dr Rose’s career took him successively from standard medical practice at St Vincent’s Hospital, to psychiatric training and practice at Subury Mental Hospital, thence into the fields of psychotherapy, to the treatment of sexual difficulties, and to forensic psychiatry.

The author also writes of the growth of sexology during the 1970s –1980s and of the colourful and varied experts who pioneered that area of psychiatric practice.

Finally, Dr Rose writes about his unusual and gradual involvement with Christian religion, and how this together with his second marriage has left him with the great sense of fulfilment he has today.

I would recommend it to all those interested in how the psychiatric profession and services evolved in Victoria, to those interested in a unusual example of the migrant experience, and the social and cultural milieu of Melbourne in the 1950s---1980s.

C. R. Coster September 5 2022

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