The Fifth Principle is the first of three books that take as their subject aspects of the author's life, reflecting upon a period between birth and eight years of age. It is a piece of literature that furnishes an account of the methods of a mind in its efforts to prevail in oppressive circumstances. Scum explores the author's adolescent years, capturing disjunctive experiences by means of the fragmentation of language. The Authority of Tenderness is an insightful and beautifully written work that explores nonlinear processes of recovery of the loss of Self. The inherent healing power of hard-earned, wholehearted self-acceptance is conceived through the authority of tenderness. The books offer a vivid psychotherapeutic perspective for clinicians, trainees, students and general readers alike.