Description
Book SynopsisSexually abused and traumatized patients need therapists to understand their pain. Therapists must be able to handle their own baggage (rescue fantasies, for instance) and to process their own feelings on a daily basis in order to contain and use them.
Trade ReviewThe Therapist's Emotional Survival: Dealing with the Pain of Exploring Trauma is a unique study of the challenging and complex interplay between the personalities of the therapist and patient in working through trauma and sexual abuse. It accurately and authentically depicts the lived experience of both participants in this difficult, often harrowing journey, backed up by dramatic clinical illustrations. The self-analytic sections include powerful self-revelations of a kind one almost never sees in clinical writing. Perlman's book will be of value and interest to a wide audience, from new therapists to seasoned analysts. No other book of which I am aware gives as detailed a picture of what the treatment of these patients is like. -- George Atwood
In The Therapist's Emotional Survival: Dealing with the Pain of Exploring Trauma, Stuart D. Perlman, a therapist and psychoanalyst with wide experience in treating the victims of sexual abuse and other forms of trauma, takes the reader on a journey into the emotional heart of this most difficult work. Drawing on extensive case material, Dr. Perlman reveals the special hardships, personal and emotional, that confront the therapist; he is honest and courageous in using his own reactions to illustrate these difficulties in ways that will be most helpful to all - mental health professionals and others - who deal with this population. While there are many recent books dealing with this topic, I know of none that do so with the depth and honesty of this one. -- Louis Breger
