Pam has drawn attention to a new book, Wasteland: The Thief Within, by a former client (no breach of confidentiality as she has named her therapists in it). It not only tells the story of life-long depression, levels of despair and self-destruction that few can fully understand unless they have experienced it, it also tracks the journey of recovery of a meaningful self through the psychotherapy client’s inner and relational world. Mary Corran is a published novelist so this book is as important for its eloquence of a journey few have previous articulated so well. Pam remarks, “What one also realises is how different the client’s experience and knowledge of what really helped them can be from the professional’s”.

By Philip J Flores, 2004, published in USA by Jason Aronson.

In this work, Dr Flores shows how to give substance abusers an attachment experience and a sense of community where they feel they are accepted and belong. The theme of attachment, trust and safety is prominent throughout. Therapy, directed along the lines described, allows the chemically dependent person to get close and be intimate with others who are accepting of him without a cost to his identity and autonomy. Ultimately, it allows the alcoholic and addict to deal with the emotions and conflicts triggered by all intimate encounters without relying on alcohol and drugs to sedate, buffer or alter his or her feelings.