Return from madness

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Marcela Serrano

"Un grupo de mujeres, muy distintas entre sí y que nunca se han visto antes, comparten sus historias. Natasha, su terapeuta, ha decidido reunirlas en la convicción de que las heridas empiezan a sanar cuando se rompen las cadenas del silencio. No importa el origen ni la extracción social, la edad o la profesión: todas acarrean sobre sus hombros el peso del miedo, la soledad, el deseo, las inseguridades. A veces ante un pasado que no pueden dejar atrás; otras, ante un presente que no se parece a lo que habrían deseado, o un futuro que las asusta. Madres, hijas, esposas, viudas, amantes: guiadas por Natasha, las protagonistas aceptan el desafío de comprender y reinventar sus vidas."-- Page [4] of cover. Ten women, who are very different and who have never seen each other, share their life stories. Natasha, a therapist, has decided to bring them together since she is convinced that wounds begin to heal when the chains of silence are broken. Regardless of origin, social class, age or profession, all of them carry the weight of fear, loneliness, desire and insecurity.

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Gaie Houston

The ways in which people struggle to establish a sense of belonging, and their need to preserve their individuality, has long fascinated psychologists, therapists and group-workers. Overvaluing separateness may be at least as damaging as abandoning personal judgment to the dictates of the group. We all belong; yet many people are far less skilled at recognising and managing themselves as group members than at behaving as isolates. This highly original book brings new insights to this fundamental issue and examines the ways in which different theoretical interpretations of group processes may be integrated. The author gives an account of how the reality of belonging is dealt with during a residential group experience. The fictional participants talk for themselves but, at the same time, they also represent a range of theoretical perspectives. By means of this compelling dialogue, and commentary, the reader is guided through a series of crucial issues in the struggle to understand what happens when people attend to their experience in and between groups. This book is both a powerful drama and a handbook for all those working with groups as counsellors, therapists and facilitators.

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Linda Farris Kurtz

The first volume to address both self-help and support groups and provide a clear distinction between the two, Self-Help and Support Groups dispels misunderstandings and inaccurate assumptions about how they function, whom they attract, and how they help participants achieve goals. Author Linda Farris Kurtz informs students and practitioners in the human services about the concepts, theories, and research involving self-help and support groups. She provides practical advice and direction to professionals for working with these groups while analyzing self-help/support organizations on three different levels - in terms of the groups themselves, the groups' members, and the practitioner's interaction with the groups. In addition, this comprehensive volume discusses the most prominent representative associations as examples of different types of groups, including Alcoholics Anonymous, Recovery, Inc., National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and the Alzheimer's Association. It also examines the rise of telephone and on-line self-help, considering the advantages, and disadvantages of this style of group interaction. As an added bonus, each chapter includes exercises and discussion questions.

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V.C. Andrews

**"Tears are more private than smiles.... Why should I share anything with these girls?"** Jade had listened to Misty and Star tell their stories. Now it is her time to speak. But she can't. For while the others in Dr. Marlowe's therapy group had exposed their hidden pains and secret pasts, they are nothing like Jade. They don't know what it is like to be a pawn in a courtroom battle too hateful to ever forgive. Or that escaping the madness had lured Jade into an ordeal too traumatic to forget....