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Review: Psychoanalyst Puts Obama On the Couch
Waka Tsunoda | October 18, 2011

In this book cover image released by Free Press, In this book cover image released by Free Press, 'Obama on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President,' by Justin A. Frank, is shown. (AP Photo)
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"Obama on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President" (Free Press), by Justin A. Frank, M.D.: Who is Barack Obama? Many people have trouble figuring out the complex personality of the U.S. president, so psychoanalyst Justin A. Frank decided he would try.

Frank, a clinical professor of psychiatry at George Washington University Medical Center, studied Obama's memoirs, interviews and biographies for clues to his psyche. His new book, "Obama on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President," is sure to spur lively discussions.

Frank assessed President George W. Bush's mental health in his 2004 book, "Bush on the Couch," and concluded that he was afflicted with megalomania.

He sees Obama as an admirable man who is in excellent mental health, especially considering the challenges he faced in his formative childhood years. Still, Frank says, Obama has not overcome some of these early challenges, and that is affecting his presidency.

Every infant, he explains, divides his new life experiences into two categories: all good and all bad with nothing in between. As he grows, the infant learns to integrate these divides and achieve internal unity.

Frank says Obama went through this process, but is still struggling to integrate a black-and-white racial divide within himself. And that, the author says, is behind what he sees as the president's relentless drive to "heal and unify" racial, cultural and political divides in the United States, even at the cost of his own agenda.

Frank says sons often are taught by their fathers how to recognize and handle aggression, both in themselves and in others. Obama was not given that chance, and in Frank's opinion, it resulted in his inability to stand up to his opponents.

The author acknowledges there are limitations by not analyzing Obama in person, but he defends the approach, saying Sigmund Freud analyzed Leonardo da Vinci, and the CIA analyzes foreign leaders to get a handle on their personalities.

One thing is clear: President Obama makes a fascinating subject.

Associated Press