Conversations with Perfect Strangers

Become a fly on the wall of a psychologist's and her patients' inner sanctum and end up learning about yourself! Did you ever wonder what goes on in a psychologist's office? How does she keep secrets? Is she ever bored, unsure, afraid, angry or impatient? Does she confuse one person's story with another or get too emotionally involved? What does she actually do to facilitate change besides saying, What do you mean by that? Conversations with Perfect Strangers: Memoirs of a Psychologist is a fictionalized* journey through one psychologist's practice and into the hearts and minds of the 'perfect' strangers who, by sharing their secrets, enrich and inform her life. About her forty years in practice, Phyliss Shanken says: ""I shelter the memory of my patients' struggles in a special place deep within my heart. I celebrate their triumphs. I am changed because of them."" Sit in on heartwarming, enlightening, sometimes funny and sometimes scary sessions with strangers you come to know well. Answer questions the psychologist directly asks you so you can learn about your own issues. Become better able to listen and solve problems, use laughter to muddle through life's crises, and develop into a more effective spouse, parent, worker or friend. This book is for those who wonder what their therapists are really thinking, for healthcare professionals, and for anyone interested in the troubled side of human nature or who desire a unique opportunity for personal growth. * Due to confidentiality considerations, Phyliss Shanken intertwined her skills as psychologist and fiction writer: The patients are imaginary characters, but her own reactions are true to her personal and professional experience.