Soteria: Through Madness to Deliverance Review

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(More customer reviews)In "Soteria: Through Madness to Deliverance," Loren Mosher and Voyce Hendrix, with Deborah Fort, paint a vivid picture of the day to day life at Soteria-House, the Northern California alternative to psychiatric hospitalization that proved it is possible to help people through madness with kindness, empathy and validating people's experiences, and most importantly, by "being with" people, rather than "doing to" them. Due to his prolific writings, Dr. Mosher has presented many scientific papers on Soteria, but in this book, the program comes to life. The failures as well as the successes are described.
Only with this book has it been possible to get a sense of what it was like to be at Soteria. Through the truly dedicated and caring staff, such as the incredible Voyce Hendrix (and even the residents), people were allowed their madness and, through being allowed their madness, able to get through it and on with their lives. This book is a must read for anyone interested in alternatives to the prevailing pessimistic paradigm of psychiatric treatment. It is truly a story of hope.A story of a better path -- a path not currently taken.
Dr. Mosher, loved "being with" people who were psychotic. He called them "my most interesting customers." Dr. Mosher, passed away in July of 2004, at the age of 70, five months before the book was published. He must have written this book knowing that his personal efforts on behalf of providing a humane form of care was going to cease. Thus, "Soteria: Through Madness to Deliverance" must be seen as his final act of love to people experiencing disturbing psychosis by leaving a trail to follow for those who have the vision to see it.

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This is the story of a special time, space, and place where young people diagnosed as

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Love Made Of Heart Review

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(More customer reviews)Ryan's book is a heartfelt, compelling story of one woman's quest to find love and forgiveness, both for herself and her relationships. The main character, Ruby, weaves in and out of her Chinese American background as she tries to find pieces of each culture that will help her become the strong woman she aspires to be.
Ruby begins her narration with the night her mother is taken from their apartment by policemen. Ruby's mother is mentally ill, and cannot function without medication. The struggle with shame, fear, and guilt over not being able to protect her mother, or forgive herself, propels Ruby into therapy. Her journey into eventual resolution takes Ruby through memories into the past, where the reader catches glimpses of an unstable childhood fraught with confusion, and experiences with violent domestic abuse. Along the way, the adult Ruby stumbles through intimate relationships, learns to deal with the realities of having a mentally ill parent, and makes a dear friend who becomes a surrogate grandmother. This nurturing character, Mrs. Nussbaum, provides a voice of wisdom to the story that envelops it in reassurance. By the end, as Ruby fits all of the pieces together, her self love extends outward into a mature forgiveness of her parents, and opens into a wider circle of giving. The reader is let into the gentle secret that love is an endless, self-generating energy that rewards the giver as much as the receiver.
This book is a real page-turner, and I recommend it to anyone!

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Ruby's life has become unmanageable ever since the day her mother's emotional breakdown forced Ruby to hospitalise her, shaming the family. Now Ruby is caught between two different cultures - one in which she is the American girl, and one in which she is known only as 'daughter'.

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Swallow the Ocean: A Memoir Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a moving and beautifully written love story by a daughter about her mother and her entire family. It is a must-read for anyone who has ever lived in proximity with someone who is 'walking wounded' as a consequence of mental illness, but is not ill enough to be hospitalized. In a most beautiful and moving way, Ms Flynn tells her story of growing up in San Francisco as her Mom descends into mental illness.
I was truly blessed with Swallow the Ocean only a few weeks after caring for and then burying a mentally ill relative who had simply worn out those who lived in closest contact with him. He couldn't help being ill; the relatives who weren't around for him could be forgiven for giving up on him. He was not easy to love.
Ms Flynn builds a bridge for us to help better understand mental illness and how families struggle to do their best under very trying circumstances.

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