Married to the Job

Do you take your work home with you? Do you check your work e-mail and voice mail when you’re not on the job?

Are your closest friends at the office? Do you feel guilty when you’re sick and can’t go to work? Does time stand still during nonbusiness hours? If you answered “yes” to any or all of these questions then you — like millions of other twenty-first-century Americans — may be too emotionally invested in your job. In Married to the Job, clinical psychologist Ilene Philipson explores the idea of the overworked American from a startlingly new perspective. Rejecting the common view that people work solely to keep up with the Joneses and amass material goods, Philipson argues that the modern workplace has become our only outlet for generating feelings of self-worth. Without the praise, the paycheck, and the bonus, life outside the office can often seem flat, unrewarding, and thankless. With this groundbreaking book, Philipson offers brilliant strategies to help ward off the perils of workaholism. By providing keen insight into the ways we seek emotional fulfillment through our jobs, she shows us how we can earn back our lives.

Author Biography

Ilene Philipson holds doctorates in both sociology and clinical psychology. She has taught at UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, and New York University. The author of three previous books, including a biography of Ethel Rosenberg, she currently practices psychotherapy in Berkeley, California, and is a Research Affiliate at the Center for Working Families at UC Berkeley.