Marcella Bakur Weiner – författare

Psychologists, as well as the general public, have recognized the importance of female friendships. Scientists call this bond the tending instinct- a kind of female relaxation response that has salutary effects. Such special attachment shields women from isolation and provides an enhanced sense of wellbeing. Intimate friends can therefore act as sisters of the heart to promote connection, solace, wholeness, and longevity. Moreover, women friends frequently provide emotional, social, physical, and spiritual benefits. Indeed, sisters of the heart constitute an unparalleled bond that encourages women to connect with themselves, with others, and with the world at large. In this book, twelve women therapists, who are diverse in age-- young, middle, and older women; as well as in ethnicity--White, African American, Latina, Asian American, Native American, and multiracial women---examine the psychological and physical aspects of this unique female bonding. Through their narratives we hear their distinctive voices as women and as healers. In this fashion, they reflect on both the functional and dysfunctional dynamics occurring between intimate female friends. Finally, these women therapists examine how their experience with a sister of the heart informed their development as healers, and discuss how they use this special bond in psychotherapy with women. This book was originally published as a special issue of Women & Therapy.'This enlightening, iconic book is for anyone who wants to understand more about the powerful roles of friendships—including challenges--among women that facilitate their ability to survive and thrive. It is special in that the chapter authors are psychotherapists who describe the impact of female bonding, from scientific as well as personal bases. The descriptions are rooted in theory, research, extensive clinical experience and personal lives. Refreshing and much needed, this book will prove useful to professionals as well as any women or men who want to understand the value and salience of female relationships.' Melba Vasquez, PhD, ABPPPast President, American Psychological AssociationIndependent Practice, Austin, Texas

The integration of religion into psychotherapy finds expression in the therapist's stance and response to those who seek help. The editors have gathered papers that demonstrate through extensive autobiographical material the relationship between personal religious experience and clinical work. The contributing authors, without exception, confront psychoanalytic theory and religious teachings in highly personal ways.

Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung said that a life without meaning is unlived. Today our secular worship of the material, the superficial, and the instantly gratifying is as powerful as any ancient idol worship. While our problems appear to be the enemy, they are really our secret allies, and by wrestling with them we become whole. Weiner and Simmons show us how to rely on the natural, spontaneous images that emerge from our dreams, daily life, relationship problems, and symptoms as the seeds of our own healing. We must recognize that our problems have not been randomly inflicted on us; they have a purpose, to act as guideposts pointing the way toward healing and wholeness.

This book describes the real-life journeys of women psychotherapists: why each woman chose this profession and what she learned about others—and most importantly, about herself—in this choice. Most critically, these women now share how they have integrated this wisdom into their everyday lives. While psychotherapists may also be authors, few write books about their journeys in the profession. Women Psychotherapists: Journeys in Healing is one of those rare books. Each contributor invites her readers onto the road traveled by the woman who listens to others needing her help and guides them into living a more joyous, successful life, even as she moves towards greater fulfillment in her own life.