Room
When my book club selected Emma Donoghue’s bestselling novel, Room, for our monthly read, I was not too psyched about revisiting this memorable, haunting tale. I saw the 2015 film in theaters and sat...
View ArticleThe Midnight Library
Engaging in therapy, it is quite common to look back on past choices and scan for patterns. Reflecting on past decisions often illuminates insights about the present and the future. Honest examination...
View ArticleDiary of a Mad Housewife
The book jacket for Diary of a Mad Housewife describes the novel as “a classic of urban women’s fiction that gave a wry voice to the nascent feminist stirrings of the 1960s.” I’m not sure how I missed...
View ArticleBeing Mortal
“Be where the client is at.” This phrase – despite and because of its grammatical flaw – was written and spoken and repeated by several social work professors in my early graduate training. A...
View ArticleLessons in Chemistry
Chemistry, cooking, and a compelling cast of characters animate Bonnie Garmus’ engaging novel Lessons in Chemistry. Heroine Elizabeth Zott offers explosive lessons surpassing chemistry as she...
View ArticleTomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow
Tomorrow and, Tomorrow and, Tomorrow’s book jacket describes a “love story you haven’t heard before”. This provocative welcome offers a fitting invitation to enter the page turning journey of Sadie,...
View ArticleDear Edward
A few months ago, my college age daughter, (an English major) suggested that I read Dear Edward. Then, while we were traveling together for spring break, she noticed me reading the book as recommended...
View ArticleTell Me Everything
If only we therapists could concoct a reliable strategy to help our clients prevent affairs. If only we could convincingly illuminate the heartbreak and damage and devastation in advance to help...
View ArticleTom Lake
Therapists, especially relationally-oriented therapists, often attempt to help clients in therapy to improve their relationship choices. The pattern of fear of commitment is a widely acknowledged...
View ArticleOur Town
“Do any human beings every realize life while they live it?” I saw Thornton Wilder’s 1928 Pulitzer Prize winning play Our Town at some point during my childhood and remembered it vaguely. Mostly I...
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