The mummy at the dining room table : eminent therapists reveal their most unusual cases and what they teach us about human behavior / [edited by] Jeffrey A. Kottler, Jon Carlson.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Kottler, Jeffrey A.

Carlson, Jon.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Psychotherapy--Popular works.

Psychotherapy.

Psychotherapy--Case studies.

Genre:

Popular works.

Case studies.

Physical Description:

viii, 325 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

San Francisco, Calif. : Jossey-Bass, [2003]

Summary:

A woman pretends to hand herself in the basement to see how long it takes for her husband to "rescue" her; a heart-broken family mummifies their dead mother so they can keep her in the living room, sleep with her in bed, and join her at the dining room table; a rustic farmer wants his nose cut off to escape an embarrassing smell; a teenage boy will only come to therapy with his pet snake ...

These and other fascinating and revealing stories are told by some of the most famous therapists in the world. Collected in this extraordinary book, well known practitioners recount the most memorable case histories of their illustrious careers. Engaging and surprising stories of human behavior are dramatically and often humorously portrayed. Each chapter gives a behind-the-scenes look at how therapists work with clients whose problems and behaviors aren't found in standard psychology textbooks. The book also shows how these eminent therapists often cure these apparently intractable problems and learn something about themselves in the process.

Written with compassion and a healthy dose of wit, this book illustrates how these unusual clients have persevered and coped with their demons, and clearly shows how the relationship between therapist and client can be transformative for both parties. While The Mummy at the Dining Room Table reveals the enigmatic nature of the human condition, it ultimately celebrates the triumph of the spirit and demonstrates the power of understanding, insight, hope, and hard work from both sides of the therapeutic encounter.

Contents:

1 The Man Who Wanted His Nose Cut Off / Jeffrey A. Kottler 7

2 The Mummy at the Dining Room Table / Jon Carlson 21

3 Buzzy Bee's Oral Fixation / Frank Pittman 32

4 An Oedipal Dilemma / Arnold Lazarus 45

5 The Urge to Eat from Garbage Cans / William Glasser 55

6 The Penis That Needed Permission from the Church / Domeena Renshaw 66

7 Therapy with a Gopher Snake and a Horned Lizard / Violet Oaklander 74

8 Getting Rid of Old Junk / Harville Hendrix 84

9 The Terminator Finds Himself on a Mental Ward / Scott Miller 95

10 They Learned to Live with Ghosts / Insoo Kim Berg 105

11 The Woman Who Should Have Been Depressed / Michael Yapko 115

12 The Woman Who Hated Everyone and Everything / Albert Ellis 126

13 The Medicine Man Who Never Had a Vision / Bradford Keeney 136

14 The Woman Who Hanged Herself to Check Her Husband's Response Time / Susan Johnson 147

15 The Hip-Nose Doctor Finds the Michael Jackson Tickets / Ernest Rossi 157

16 The Lawyer from Hell / Arthur Freeman 166

17 Reconstructing the Jigsaw Puzzle of a Meter Man's Memory / Robert A. Neimeyer 178

18 An Emergency Hypnosis to Solve the Crime at the Burger Joint / Pat Love 191

19 Beauty and the Beast / Samuel Gladding 199

20 The Lie That Hid in His Back / Gay Hendricks 208

21 The Client Who Wanted His Therapist to Be Someone Else / Howard Kirschenbaum 217

22 The Bride Wore a Tuxedo, the Groom Wore a Gown / Joel Bergman 228

23 Recovering from Recovered Memories / David Scharff 238

24 Panic Disorder from Sewer Grates, Amusement Parks, and Sex with Ministers / Howard Rosenthal 249

25 The Eighty-Two-Year-Old Prostitute / Jay Haley 257

26 Saved by a Ghost / Stephen Lankton 264

27 He'll Always Be Black / James F. T. Bugental 275

28 "I Wouldn't Mind Being That Guy in the Mirror" / Michael Mahoney 279

29 The Three-Year-Old Who Was an Alcoholic / Laura S. Brown 291

30 Every Parent's Worst Nightmare / Donald Meichenbaum 299

31 The Third Sexual Identity / Peggy Papp 305

32 The Bird Colonel Who Turned into an Elephant / Len Sperry 316.

ISBN:

0787965413

OCLC:

50858905