Psychiatrist In The Chair: The Official Biography of Anthony Clare by Brendan Kelly & Muiris Houston

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Psychiatrist in the Chair:

The Official Biography of Anthony Clare

By Brendan Kelly & Muiris Houston

Published 28th October 2020

from Merrion Press

From the cover of the book:

The compelling story of the psychiatrist who 

made discussions about mental health mainstream.

Born in Dublin in 1942, Anthony Clare was the best-known psychiatrist of his generation. His BBC Radio 4 show, In the Psychiatrist’s Chair, which ran from 1982 to 2001, brought him international fame and changed the nature of broadcast interviews forever. Famous interviewees included Stephen Fry, Anthony Hopkins, Spike Milligan, Maya Angelou and Jimmy Savile, each of whom yielded to Clare’s inimitable gentle yet probing style.

Clare made unique contributions to the demystification and practice of psychiatry, most notably through his classic book Psychiatry in Dissent (1976). This book, the first, official biography of this much-loved figure, examines the man behind these achievements: the debater and the doctor, the writer and the broadcaster, the public figure and the family man. Using extensive public and family records, and new interviews with family, friends and colleagues, the authors ask: Who was Anthony Clare, really? Was there just one Anthony Clare, or many? What drove him? And what is to be learned from his life, his career, and his unique, sometimes controversial legacy to our understanding of the mind? Published on the anniversary of Anthony Clare’s death on 28th October 2007, this is the remarkable story of a remarkable person.

Psychiatrist in the Chair is available now from your favourite book retailer in hardback and ebook formats.

About the authors:

Brendan Kelly is a Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin, Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry and author of Hearing Voices: The History of Psychiatry in Ireland (IAP, 2019). He has written for press such as the New Yorker, TIME Magazine, the Economist, Newsweek, Observer, Financial Times, Guardian, Irish Times, Irish Independent, Irish Examiner and Sunday Times and has appeared on RTÉ Radio 1, BBC Radio 4, Newstalk and Today FM.

Muiris Houston is a medical writer and health strategist, a specialist in occupational medicine, Adjunct Professor of Narrative Medicine at Trinity College Dublin, and writer-in-residence at Evidence Synthesis Ireland, at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He is a columnist with the Medical Independent and The Irish Times. Muiris is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and the University of Sydney. He is an honorary fellow of the faculty of pathology of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland.