As a young psychology intern, Annie Rogers writes these words about her severely disturbed patient Ben, a five-year-old boy who has already seen a ...
read full description
reviews
Jan 16, 2012
Laura
rated it: 
This book, so heartrendingly honest, so devastatingly brave, helped me understand. Annie Rogers has written her own story, first as therapist to a 5 year old boy so troubled that he is finally institutionalized. He comes under her care as she finishes her Ph.d in psychotherapy. She gently helps him unravel through play, his rage at the dreadful miasma of his past. But then, slowly we also find that she herself is unraveling. It seems her young client catastrophically opens the wounds in her
More...
Oct 30, 2009
Dan
rated it: 
Thought-provoking. Annie Rogers breaks down the barriers between patient and psychotherapist in a unique work of nonfiction. The story begins with a series of chapters where Rogers exams a young, troubled boy.
Rogers' deep work with this patient precipitates a breakdown stemming from her own unresolved childhood trauma. (Perhaps the most haunting scene in the book is when the author hears phantom music while crossing the Charles River in Boston, signaling that her own mental collap More...
Rogers' deep work with this patient precipitates a breakdown stemming from her own unresolved childhood trauma. (Perhaps the most haunting scene in the book is when the author hears phantom music while crossing the Charles River in Boston, signaling that her own mental collap More...
0 comments
like
(4 people liked it)
Aug 01, 2010
Caitlin
rated it:
This book expands on the relationship between pain and silence and the theme of the mysterious, or unknowable, future.
The Way of the Heart explored the benefits of encouraging or deepening one's experience of silence so as to help someone find her way into the heart of God by confronting her true self. On the other hand, some people experience silence as a mechanism of abuse and psychological control. Enforced silence leads, not to the shattering of the false self image that is indica More...
The Way of the Heart explored the benefits of encouraging or deepening one's experience of silence so as to help someone find her way into the heart of God by confronting her true self. On the other hand, some people experience silence as a mechanism of abuse and psychological control. Enforced silence leads, not to the shattering of the false self image that is indica More...
Jan 03, 2012
Antje
rated it:
When I first started the book, I was a little bit afraid it would be like one of these Tory Hayden books, you know, a disturbed, tortured little child without any hope for its furure starts seeing a therapist(the shining hero) and she manages to do the impossible, changes the childs life from hopeless to perfect. Buy no, it was not at all like that!
The relationship between client and therapist is beautifully described and this was one of the most interesting subjects for me. Being a therap More...
The relationship between client and therapist is beautifully described and this was one of the most interesting subjects for me. Being a therap More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 03, 2008
jo
rated it:
i've read this book twice now, something i basically never do, and i can't get over what a rewarding read this is. it's simply a beautiful, beautiful book. annie rogers writes about her year of internship as a young psychology ph.d. candidate in a school for disturbed children. the story centers around her therapeutic work with ben, a five year old boy with a horrendously traumatic past. as annie does therapy with ben (who's utterly charming and adorable), her own traumatic past is dramatically
More...
0 comments
like
(5 people liked it)
Jun 16, 2009
Rachel
rated it: 
Ben recommended this book about a psychotherapy student whose first client is a traumatized and disturbed 5-yr old who was abandoned by his mother as an infant and severely neglected by his foster parents. The student writes about each therapy session and interprets the symbolism of what occurred in detail from a psychoanalytic perspective. As their therapy sessions unfold, a trauma in the student's past re-surfaces, resulting in her own mental breakdown. She must piece herself back together in
More...
Jul 25, 2009
Kj
rated it:
Words from my second time reading Annie Rogers' memoir:
"What you fear most has already happened."
“Are you wondering, Annie, how someone who doesn’t see you, really doesn’t recognize you, could possibly say goodbye to you?”
“When you feel you know the future, you can be sure that you are reliving the past, Annie, because nobody knows the future.”
“I could not afford to respond truthfully to them, to show them anything real about their effect More...
"What you fear most has already happened."
“Are you wondering, Annie, how someone who doesn’t see you, really doesn’t recognize you, could possibly say goodbye to you?”
“When you feel you know the future, you can be sure that you are reliving the past, Annie, because nobody knows the future.”
“I could not afford to respond truthfully to them, to show them anything real about their effect More...
Nov 19, 2009
I don't know why I wasn't ever able to finish this book before- it's great. At times it is difficult to follow Rogers into her reality, but the intertwining of her psychosis and lucidity with her relationships to her client, Ben, her healers, and the lost pieces of herself is so resonant. It's a beautiful and thought provoking piece of non-fiction.
Oct 29, 2010
Marjorie
rated it:
Annie Rogers' work is my favorite amongst books by psychotherapists. Her prose is poetry. She integrates her own struggles including psychotic experiences, and her deepest traumas into her descriptions of her brilliant work as a child therapist. I hear she is studying to be a Lacanian therapist now. Utterly brilliant. Time to reread it.
Aug 25, 2008
Kelly
rated it:
This book is really amazing and helped change my way of thinking about how "healthy" one has to be to be a therapist. This is Annie Rogers' story of her experience in therapy with a five year old boy, Ben, with a trauma history which in turn triggers her own forgotten memories of her childhood trauma. She has a psychotic break and is tragically abandoned by her therapist in the midst of it. It is the story of piecing together her trauma and healing with the help of a new brilliant t
More...
Feb 28, 2011
Selby
rated it:
This true story of psychotherapy used to heal two traumatic pasts—that of a 5-year-old boy and of his psychotherapist herself—is a unique and utterly compelling memoir. Annie G. Rogers' powers of description are evocative in their effect and almost lyrical in their attention to detail—especially when describing her own descent into psychosis. Highly recommended.
Nov 18, 2010
Mindy
rated it:
Heartbreaking, inspiring and brilliant. Annie Rogers deftly weaves the story of her work as therapist to 6-year-old Ben with her own surprising story, slowly lets each unfold, then brings them clearly and powerfully together. Evocative, poetic, stunning writing.
Jan 26, 2009
Kristi
rated it:
This is a story of recovering from the profound loss of a therapeutic relationship and the rebuilding of trust and self. This should be required reading for all training counselors and psychotherapists.
Oct 04, 2009
Alyssa
rated it:
Sometimes confusing and hard to follow but really a very moving story. I really appreciated the author's willingness to share what was happening to her while she was working with Ben. Blumenfeld was a brilliant therapist. I wish there were more like him in the world.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
May 17, 2011
Katie
rated it:
Although I deeply appreciate Rogers writing, vulnerability and insight, this book at times felt slightly disturbing.
It was a brave task for Rogers to share with readers her own anguish, breakdown, and trauma. Very few clinicians are willing to admit that they have crossed boundaries, or had their boundaries crossed, it is the "taboo" in the therapy world. However, Rogers skillfully shows how when her own boundaries were crossed in her relationship with her clinician, she More...
It was a brave task for Rogers to share with readers her own anguish, breakdown, and trauma. Very few clinicians are willing to admit that they have crossed boundaries, or had their boundaries crossed, it is the "taboo" in the therapy world. However, Rogers skillfully shows how when her own boundaries were crossed in her relationship with her clinician, she More...
May 03, 2011
Christina
rated it:
This book was one of those that you read some and must put it down for a bit to process what you read. Of course you don't have to, but I recommend it if you want to grasp the intensity of story. What I learned? I didn't learn, so much as it was reaffirmed, that many of us who are in social work of some sort are wounded healers. Good book. I recommend this if you are interested in the complexities of the mind as it relates to a personal story of recovery.
Nov 12, 2009
Karen
rated it:
Kelsey's advisor at college wrote this book. I loved the parts of the book about her work with Ben, a severely emotionally disturbed 5 year old, it was like you were in the room with them and could see and feel the healing taking place. Some parts about her own breakdown were very confusing and vague. This is an amazing book for those interested in psychotherapy or not.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 27, 2007
Joanie
rated it:
This is the memoir of a woman who has a psychotic break while getting her doctorate in clincial psychology. The author tells the story of her own therapy as well as the work she is doing with a young boy named Ben. The parts detailing the therapy sessions are really well written, we actually read parts of it out loud in one of classes when I was getting my MSW. A good story about the healing power of relationships.
Apr 08, 2011
Synesthesia
rated it:
This book is rather beautiful. I'm not done with it yet, but it shows how abuse can shatter a child. Annie G. Rogers is training to be a psychologist. She's interning. As she works with a boy named Ben who was left along as an 18 month old baby in a burning building, abandoned by his foster mother and biological mother, her own abuse comes to the surface.
Jan 24, 2008
Ezra
rated it:
I read this book at the suggestion of my then-therapist who said it was life-changing for her. I loved it, was so absorbed by it that I almost forgot to get off the train in Vermont at the end of an 8 hour trip. this is a great book about the long unwinding of trauma, and re-learning trust, among other things.
Dec 05, 2010
Keegan
rated it:
I read this book in a little over a day. It was very powerful for me and I found myself marking certain passages with intentions to go back to and remember as I continue on my own journey as a mental health clinician.
Jan 08, 2008
Anita
rated it:
It was an amazing and brave book about the ways in which therapists need to attend to their own stuff while trying to help others deal with their stuff. It also is a pretty amazing story about relationships.
Jun 20, 2008
Diana
rated it:
This book is a good reminder of two things: 1) nobody's perfect, not even a therapist, and 2) it is possible to come back from an adverse experience even stronger and wiser than before.
Jan 22, 2008
Kristen
rated it:
So, lots of my fav books revolve around my first career dream...of being a psychologist/social worker...this was a wonderful book, sad, but great!
Apr 16, 2008
Renie
rated it:
Intimate and moving look into the mind and heart of Annie Rogers and her holy work with children in the midst of her own unravelling.
May 18, 2007
Jmlc
rated it:
Another book about psychology. Reminded me that we all have a past with which we must struggle (some more than others).
Apr 17, 2008
Sarah
rated it:
Read this for a Psychology of Philosophy course in school. What an interesting memoir! Better than Sybil.
