A Safe Place: Laying the Groundwork of Psychotherapy

by Harvard University Press

A lively atlas of the world a millennium ago uses colorful maps and illustrations to reveal a surprisingly dynamic and cosmopolitan planet, with an international Islamic empire stretching across three continents and explorers from Scandinavia planting flags in the Americas.

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This work would have been a more positive rating if Dr. Havens' writing style were smoother. Nevertheless, this is a one of a kind text addressing in each chapter a single therapeutic issue. A chapter titled "Freud's Gift," for example, is about the therapeutic use of silence. Is there that much to say on such a topic? So I have learned from Dr. Havens, who draws out his subject matter with the skill of Georgia OÌKeefe bringing a flower to life on canvas

In his comparing psychotherapists to physicians, we fare poorer on the task of unearthing information of our patient's health. Physicians conduct a variety of tests to determine a patient's well being as a precursor to any medical intervention. No respectable surgeon, for example, would start operating before knowing if the patient is healthy enough to undergo the procedure. Lacking such medical calculations, psychotherapists can fall victim to a more morbid view of those who seek our help.
Healing is often the result of careful effort to find and bring to the surface clients' strengths and naming them thus resurrecting what was buried like "an anointing at a christening".

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was always curious about exactly how Isreal came to be. This book offers an excellent, fairly independent perspective on how it all began and how we got into the middle eastern mess we are now in.

It was very telling when the Arabs and their allies fought this tooth and nail, vowing "If you establish Isreal in the middle of Palestine, we will fight you until we are all dead."

Well, imagine that."