February / March 2005

REVIEWS

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INVISIBLE HEROES: Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal BY BELLERUTH NAPARSTEK Bantam, 2004, $25, 400 pp., ISBN: 0553803506. Reviewed by Jennifer C. Kaplan

For anyone, psychological professional or not, with a desire to know more about trauma, Invisible Heroes is a refreshing read and offers much more than a how-to of using guided imagery with trauma survivors. Working with PTSD is challenging. It was enlightening to learn how to access entirely rightbrain material using guided imagery and equally enlightening to gain further insight into the depths to which trauma can root itself.

In Chapters 1 through 8, Naparstek describes in great detail trauma’s physical, emotional, spiritual, and interpersonal effects, offering some new perspectives on the effects of trauma on the whole person. However, it was really Chapter 9, “How and Why Imagery Heals Trauma,” that grabbed me. This chapter compelled me to learn how to guide clients through guided imagery such that I didn’t want to wait a whole chapter to find out how to conduct guided imagery. I skipped Chapter 10, “General Guided Imagery Wisdom and Tactics,” to satisfy my curiosity, returning to read it after finishing Chapter 11, “Guided Imagery for the First Stage of Trauma,” full of specific guided imagery exercises. Chapter 14, “Other Imagery-Based Therapies,” describes other methods incorporating guided imagery, such as EMDR and Traumatic Incident Reduction and includes their advantages and disadvantages. This book answered many of the questions I have had about alternative ways of working with trauma.
JENNIFER KAPLAN, Ph.D., is a transpersonal therapist.

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CREATIVITY IN PSYCHOTHERAPY: Reaching New Heights with Individuals, Couples, and Families BY DAVID K. CARSON AND KENT W. BECKER The Haworth Clinical Practice Press, 2003, 237 pp., $59.95, ISBN: 0789015781. Reviewed By J. D. Friedmana

David K. Carson and Kent W. Becker together wrote not just one book, but rather two utterly different tomes. The first book spans the preface, introduction, and the opening chapter, and ostensibly describes the “essential components of creativity” necessary for effective therapies. I use the word “ostensibly” to venture a guess, for it was unclear what the authors meant to communicate in the early sections. To me, these sections came across as a hodge-podge of psychological nuggets and citations, while the subject of Creativity itself remained loosely defined, even looser as applied to psychotherapy.

For example, they early posit that “creativity, like beauty, probably is largely in the eye of the beholder.” If true, why write a book for clinicians about an aesthetic and subjectively perceived abstraction? They add: “On the other hand, we are convinced that certain components of and parameters surrounding the construct of creativity can be useful to therapists in determining which approaches include creative modes of thinking and skill when working with children, adults, couples, and families.”

The foregoing and other similar passages left me perplexed. Did Carson and Becker intend to discuss this valuable subject as a philosophical concept, a behavioral process, or a requisite therapeutic skill? If the latter, did they intend to focus on creativity in therapy by therapists? Or perhaps that those being counseled should experience the salutary effects of being creative and thinking unconventionally? Their purpose eluded me. But do not give up! Beyond the early chapters, out of the clouds of literary mumbling, a new book dawned.

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This “second book,” which spanned the remainder of the 237 total pages, reads more clearly and eloquently. The authors explore the function and value of creative interventions. The measured tone, focused clarity, and insightful substance contrast with the earlier pontificating.

Indeed, Carson and Becker developed a modest handbook about how to best use alternative interventions, perspectives, and uniquely individualized approaches for counseling a variety of populations. They emphasize a need for solution and strengthoriented therapy modalities to counter clinical trends that focus on symptoms, weaknesses, and presumably intractable pathologies. They also survey numerous therapeutic orientations, a valuable overview for any student of the field.

Book Two also provides readers with relevant exercises and opportunities to brainstorm and imagine themselves in various experiential scenarios. Therapy is conceptualized as a dynamic interaction in process, one that is best served by staying flexible in the moment without relying excessively on scripted and/or selffulfilling expectations. The authors imply that productive interventions resist cookbook artificiality and reward judicious stabs into the unknown.

Of special importance are the positive roles humor can play in healing, the various uses of drama and play therapies, and music’s heightening effects as an agent of healing and healthy attachment. As they poetically remind us: “Music has long been considered the language of emotion, and songs are often powerful metaphors for client’s experiences . . . melody and lyrics can touch the soul in a way that is often an inexplicable catalyst for change and renewal in intimate relationships.”

While Carson and Becker do not set any trends nor reinvent the wheel, they should be applauded for drawing attention to an aspect of psychotherapy—indeed, a fundamental element of every human relationship—that can be easily overlooked and neglected. They note that “often, simply learning more about these domains (creativity and creative thinking) has an influence on an individual’s movement toward thinking and acting more creatively . . . and are also key components of resiliency in children and adults.” For this reason and others already detailed, this book is suitable for classroom learners and practicing clinicians, for those feeling blocked, or for those looking to expand their perspective and skill-set.

Indeed, Creativity in Psychotherapy effectively emphasizes how important it is to think outside of the box of conventional wisdom and prepackaged formulas, while pointing out the need to remodel for the future while discarding outdated therapeutic fashions and delimiting perspectives. Their book is a sage reminder about the wondrous personal and professional benefits available when one stretches beyond the “normal,” the predefined and expected routines of training, habit, or just plain old knee-buckling fear.
J. D. FRIEDMAN is an Integrative Psychology candidate for the Psy.D. clinical doctorate at California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University, San Diego. During a year’s leave, he is investigating EMDR, Gestalt, acupuncture, and body-oriented alternative healing modalities. JDFried35@aol.com.

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CELLULAR WISDOM: Decoding The Body’s Secret Language BY JOAN C. KING Ten Speed Press, 2004, $24.95, hardcover, 270 pp., ISBN: 1– 58761–188–0. Reviewed by John Rowan

At first this unusual book looks like a book on physiology including neurophysiology, written by an experienced neurophysiologist. Then it looks like a self-help book replete with quizzes and exercises to carry out. Next, it looks like a book of sermons, complete with illustrative stories from the copious casebook of a preacher.

It is all of these things, written by a life coach who wants to help: www.cellular– wisdom.com. It is all well done. Part One is more individual, introducing us to the idea that the way the body works is a good guide to how we too can work in our everyday lives. The author, a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, makes analogies about the way we can live our everyday lives. Part Two extends all this to the community in which we live, and gives many useful ideas as to how we can reach out and extend our influence, once we know how to lead our own lives.

The greatest evolutionary strides were made as the human nervous system developed. While 20 per cent of the neurons in our bodies are still involved in receiving sensory stimulation and responding to it with movement, more than 80 per cent of the nervous system forms a great interconnecting neural web. This complex weave of pathways and connections allows us the greatest flexibility in perceiving and combining various kinds of stimulation. More pathways mean more alternatives and a great ability to choose a response from a vast repertoire of behaviors. Current thinking holds that when neurons are firing in one specific pathway, they cannot be induced to become part of another pathway. The implications of this neurologi-cal supposition are profound: If we choose to engage in remembering old events or rehearsing the circumstances of old pain, the neurons of the hippocampus fire continually to bring those memories and the associated emotions to awareness. Thus, they are not available to respond to stimulation and develop pathways for new learning.

It can be seen from this how the body’s wisdom is translated into ideas for living one’s life in the present. The exercises (about one per chapter) make a lot of sense, and are well worth carrying out to get the most out of this book. All in all, it’s a good book, which will be found useful by anyone who wants some new thinking about how to live their life.
JOHN ROWAN, an AHP member since 1970, works in London as a psycho-therapist. His recent book, with Michael Jacobs, is The Therapist’s Use of The Self. www.johnrowan.org.uk.