This book is about psychotherapy. Written as a collection of tales about encounters between a therapist and his clients, it reveals why many people would turn to therapy for help, what they might look for and what they might actually find.
For Bob Chisholm, a therapist who draws on Buddhist psychology in dealing with his clients, helping someone find self-insight has less to do with understanding their life diagnostically than it does with appreciating their experience existentially - that is to say, in all its inherent mystery.
The idea that uncovering mystery could be a way of freeing someone from their psychological misery may seem almost magical: like consulting an ouija board or gazing into tea leaves. But it is in the details and happenstance of a person's life - in the suspense of the everyday world - that the actual mystery of a person's life is sure to be found. Finding that mystery, and helping people come to terms with it, is what this book is all about. Written for anyone training or practicing as a psychotherapist, or considering taking up therapy as a client, Uncovering Mystery in Everyday Life is also for anyone interested in the existential wonder of being human.
Uncovering Mystery in Everyday Life: Confessions of a Buddhist Psychotherapist, Bob Chisholm, Triarchy Press, Paperback, 132 Pages, $24.00