Recently I have turned and returned to books that have played a major role in my development as a therapist. Importantly, only one of these is (strictly speaking) a “therapeutic” text. All have offered the space to imagine and dream, be it for a history that seems now long remote, a history that we all have long deserved, or a fictionalized “history” of our future(s) in chaotic times. I encourage you to look them up.
1- The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997). This is a beautiful ethnography of a Hmong family in the Central Valley of California and the impact of cultural identity, divergent understandings of care, and compassionate understanding on the health and well being of a young Hmong girl. My favorite quote: “I don’t like coercion. I also believe that the long way around is often the shortest way from point A to point B. And I’m not very interested in what is generally called truth. In my opinion, consensual reality is better than facts.” (Sukey Waller)
2- The Language of Emotions by Karla McLaren (Sounds True, 2010). This incredible deep dive into what can be learned through sitting with hard emotions offers up the reminder that with all emotional states we are offered the gift of self discovery.
3- In a Queer Time and Place by Judith Halberstam (New York University Press, 2005). This incredible study of the intersections between fiction, cultural narrative, and (trans/queer) identity offers us the opportunity to reflect meaningfully on how gender and sexuality are framed in our society, and what it means to be seen as “authentic” in our skins.
4- Florida by Lauren Groff (Riverhead Books, 2018). A collection of short stories that offer the reader the ability to travel into Floridas past, both real and imagined. It is at once a reflection on how our spaces impact our identities, and how lonely life can be.