The Disowned Self explores, "...the problem of self-alienation - a condition in which the individual is out of contact with his own needs, feelings, emotions, frustrations and longings, so that he is largely oblivious to his actual self and his life is the reflection of an unreal self, of a role he has adopted.

The book reintroduces, in an abbreviated form, Branden's previously published theory of psychology and the central role played by self-esteem.

One method emphasized by Branden is the use of "sentence stems", a therapeutic technique he adopted years earlier.

[3] In an unusual sequence, the first edition of the book was released by Nash Publications in January 1972, before Branden's degree was awarded in July 1973.

[4] A second edition was issued in paperback by Bantam Books in June 1973, followed by more or less annual reissues through 1984.