" We all long for a fulfilled life where we eat better, sleep better, play better, work better, and love more. The well-lived life is a fulfilled one, with options and choices, personal autonomy, independence and hope. Wellness involves much more than is acknowledged ordinarily, and recovery from mental illness means being part of something that we value and that values us. In The Life Well Lived such recovery is about the rediscovery of independence and social connection, about re-engagement with life. Inspiring and empowering, this book will provide readers with many moments of reflection as they follow Jim's patients on their path to recovery through the therapeutic process; it will also aim to offer hope them and restore their faith in the human experience. The men and women in this book will address the issue of recovery personally through their case histories, and for those who reach their goals, they will discover more than simple freedom from any particular traumatic experience or symptoms of illness. For them, health becomes the freedom to participate more fully in living. ".