The Analyst: A Daughter’s Memoir – Alice Wexler – 2022
Milton Wexler (1908-2007), was a highly accomplished Freudian psychoanalyst that began his formal study of schizophrenia at the renowned Menninger Clinic (1924-2002) in Topeka, Kansas – under the supervision of his famous mentor Austrian-American psychoanalyst Theodor Reik (1888-1969). After moving to California, he formed a private practice that focused on creative (group) therapy for celebrity clientele in the Los Angeles literary, film, and artistic community. Dr. Wexler was the founding member of the Hereditary Disease
Foundation (est.1968-) and worked tirelessly to promote the research, treatment, and a potential cure of Huntington’s Disease. It was also interesting to note that before he studied psychology, he was a successful attorney and left a lucrative private law practice (1938), and served in the U.S. military during WWII.

The main focus of the book is Dr. Wexler’s academic professional studies, career advancement, and later work in Huntington’s Disease research and advocacy. The extensive technical writing for his work with the schizophrenic patient called “Nedda” was textbook worthy, as were several other lengthy topics covered in the book. Ms. Wexler name dropped several of her father’s affiliations with physicians, scientists, geneticists, psychiatrists, and other famous clientele-- also many later “flirty” romances: Lillian Hellman, (who had hoped Milton would propose marriage), and the celebrity advice columnist Esther “Eppie” Lederer (aka. Ann Landers). Dr. Wexler frequently corresponded with his brother Henry, a WWII veteran, and practicing psychiatrist who resided in Pennsylvania. The men were close, Henry was a confidant, and provided emotional support for her father, and helped him establish the Heritage Disease Foundation.
It was surprising that Alice shared only briefly in the book about her mother Leonore, her sister Nancy (an American geneticist), and herself. As her parents 25th wedding anniversary approached (1961), Dr. Wexler announced he was unhappy and “bored” with his marriage (his affair with a colleague didn’t help the situation). To his credit, Dr. Wexler provided a generous divorce settlement, he supervised and paid for Leonore’s end of life care from Huntington’s Disease. Leonore, 63, passed away on Mother’s Day May 14, 1978. It was unsettling that Dr. Wexler would admit to Alice that he had not loved her mother (or any other woman for that matter). As a psychoanalyst, apparently, he didn’t seem to recognize the many kinds, types, styles, and forms of “love”. Dr. Wexler never remarried, preferring his estate to go to his daughter’s and their care in case they were ever afflicted with Huntington’s Disease.

Ms. Wexler completed her education at Indiana State University, where she earned a PhD. in Latin American History, she is a retired professor from Sonoma State University, California. Ms. Wexler has written a biography of Emma Goldman (1869-1940), a Russian born anarchist, political activist, feminist writer. In addition, she has written accounts of the impact of Huntington’s Disease on her family life in previous books. Many excellent family photographs are included in this memoir. (3.5* GOOD) **With thanks to Colombia University Press via NetGalley for the DDC for the purpose of review.
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I imagine that writing a memoir, which includes sharing the history of a parent, let alone one who is an accomplished psychoanalyst, seems like trying to make sense of this almighty figure whose work dominated your life and the hope in unearthing information about the author's father, is for her to learn more about herself. This is what Alice Wexler wrestled with when she took on the trajectory of her brilliant father Milton Wexler’s professional and personal life in “The Analyst: A Daughter’s Memoir”.

What intrigued me about the book was the title. A daughter writing about a complicated bond with her father. And her father’s profession. While I expected more of an intimate look at their relationship, Alice gives us a more clinical view of her father’s work. I enjoyed reading the book, and I found Dr. Wexler to be a fascinating person who left a remarkable legacy, but I would have also liked to learn as much about his rapport with Alice as an adult.

If you like a memoir that reveals a behind-the-scenes perspective from a therapist like Lori Gottleib’s “Why Don’t You Try Talking to Someone” or Christie Tate’s insider scoop angle in “Group,” then “The Analyst” is probably not your speed. If you’re looking for a detailed history of psychoanalysis, Freud’s influence on Western psychotherapy, a chronicle of Dr. Wexler’s research with schizophrenic patients, then lie down, and settle in. Wexler traces her father’s s path from the renowned Menninger Clinic to his eventual practice on the west coast where he not only treated numerous well-known artists and some of Hollywood’s finest but due to his ex-wife’s (the author’s mother) hereditary illness, Huntington’s disease, went beyond his intended scientific scope and created a research foundation to combat the deadly disease that haunted him.


Thank you to NetGalley and Columbia University Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Originally posted on Library Journal on August 1, 2022. Thanks LJ and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Historian Wexler (The Woman Who Walked into the Sea: Huntington’s and the Making of a Genetic Disease) is the eldest daughter of Milton Wexler, who started his professional career as a lawyer before pivoting and becoming a psychoanalyst. Milton spent much of his time working with patients living with schizophrenia in the 1960s. He worked with big names in the field and later moved from Minnesota to L.A., where he led group therapy sessions amongst several artists, even some movie stars, in the area. When his ex-wife and the mother of his children developed Huntington’s disease, a complex and terminal genetic condition, he took his eclectic knowledge and his connections with various scientists and doctors to create the Hereditary Disease Foundation, which led to groundbreaking research in the field. Multiple letters, reports, and interviews with Wexler’s friends and family are cited throughout this memoir, leading to a more intimate understanding of his thoughts and feelings.

VERDICT This memoir looks into the past of medical research and provides some context as to how far the field has come today. Anyone interested in the history of mental health care and genetic diseases would find this memoir fascinating.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC.

Not being a psychologist myself, my biggest (I don’t want to use the word criticism) so I’ll say issue, is that it is heavy going. For those in the profession, it may be an easier read. Alice has written her fathers memoir but it is so much more. It’s almost as if she is in his head listening to him putting forward new ideas.
Not a bad book, but heavy going.

Being a psychologist myself it’s always interesting to read about prominent professionals who shaped our way of treating patients today. Wexler has done an excellent work with writing a coherent memoir of her father, but it’s also so much more. It is also a historical document and I loved to get a glimpse into a different time where new ideas were developed. Milton Wexler came across as an interesting human being, very strong-minded, always searching for answers. The parts about his theories about schizophrenia were very interesting, even if some of it was controversial and not like we look at treatment today. I also loved getting glimpses of how other therapists worked, and how her fathers views affected Alice herself.

The book is especially useful for those loving to understand what shaped our profession. I guess for some people it might be a bit heavy, you surely have to be familiar with certain concepts.