Psychiatrist in the Chair

Overview

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 Saville, 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: Controversial Issues in Thought and Practice (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, we 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? This is the remarkable story of a remarkable person.

Reviews

"What the book does, admirably, is give a truer picture of the man the tabloids dubbed Shrink to the Stars. Prof Jim Lucey, one of his successors at St Patrick's and someone equally devoted to a compassionate treatment of mental illness, called Clare a "social psychiatrist". Or, as the authors of this book put it, he was concerned with people – understanding the realities of their suffering and how it affected their lives. He wasn't afraid to let his own vulnerabilities help him understand theirs. 4 stars out of 5" —Olivia O'Leary, The Irish Times

Author Biography

Muiris Houston is a medical journalist and health analyst with The Irish Times, Adjunct Professor of Narrative Medicine at Trinity College Dublin, and Writer-in-Residence at Evidence Synthesis Ireland, at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Brendan Kelly is Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin, Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Lawand Psychiatry and author of Hearing Voices: The History of Psychiatry in Ireland (IAP, 2019).