Public lecturer's topic is 'How to Manage Your Mother'

Psychotherapist Alyce Faye Cleese will deliver a lecture co-sponsored by the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center and the Family Life Development Center at Cornell, Friday, Oct. 13, noon-1 p.m. at the Faculty Commons of Martha Van Rensselaer Hall.

The lecture, free and open to the public, is based on Cleese's best-selling book with Brian Bates: "How to Manage Your Mother: Understanding the Most Difficult, Complicated, and Fascinating Relationship in Your Life."

Cleese is a well-known psychotherapist with degrees and training from Oklahoma State, Baylor and London universities. She has treated adolescents at the Tavistock Clinic in England and works with a wide range of adult patients at her private practice in London. She is married to actor John Cleese, a Cornell A.D. White professor-at-large (see story). They live in London and Santa Barbara, Calif.

"How to Manage Your Mother" examines relationships with mothers from an adult perspective and offers a practical 10-step plan to improve the relationship. Cleese uses real-life stories from patients and celebrities to look at the myriad emotions mothers evoke -- from guilt to affection to anger and embarrassment -- and offers advice on dealing with issues both past and present, including expectations, family secrets and mother loss. The book weaves high-profile interviews with Lauren Hutton, Mia Farrow, Mike Nichols, Helena Bonham Carter, Hugh Hefner, Arianna Huffington, Bill Goldman, Nicole Farhi, John Cleese and many others, with thoughtful guidance.