Customer Reviews

The Mummy at the Dining Room Table: Eminent Therapists Reveal Their Most Unusual Cases

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Generally human behaviour is odd at the best of times. As inhabitants of the planet, most of us do try to live happy and productive lives against varying degrees of opposition, and sometimes our coping skills, the actions we take to be happy, appear to others, including ourselves, to be quite bizarre. This book is a selection of unusual cases from the files of leading therapists. It should be made clear from the start that this isn?t a freak show, tales of the macabre, but a genuine telling of memorable cases from professionals who have made it their life?s work to help people in dire need.

After finishing the text, it also became clear to me that the business of the mind, psychiatry and psychology, is by no means a strict science. The various therapeutic techniques out their being used around the world run into the thousands. It is a social science that is constantly changing and developing. In other terms, there is no blanket cure all ? a miracle technique to make us into happy productive people.

After reading these cases, what most of the therapists had in common was their intuition. They?re confronted by an unusual case, and through active listening, a bit of trial and error, in some instances a breakthrough was made. Sometimes a little progress is made and the session ends, leaving the therapist to remain wondering for years what happed to that particular client. Some of the cases in this collection are exceedingly bizarre, while others, to a great extent, touched the heart. Some of us are pretty resilient beings and can put up with a lot of suffering and pain, and somehow come out smiling. Moreover, there are some cases represented in this book that showed me that some of us need our illnesses simply to live on a day-to-day basis.

Out of the thirty-one cases in the text, all interesting and unique in their own way, one stood out for me the most. The therapist was Bradford Keeney, and the case is called: ?The Medicine Man Who Never Had a Vision.? What makes this case unique was Keeney?s uncanny intuition about how to handle the Indian Shaman. The treatment would not be found in any textbook. In fact, the treatment came to him in a vision! The Shaman followed Keeney?s instructions to the letter to great results. What was even more fascinating was what transpired later, when another Indian came to Keeney with a problem that sent chills up my spine. He dreamed of being confronted by warriors, and his face painted red. The man awoke with his face actually painted red! He was troubled by this and needed some advice from the ?white? medicine man. This case reinforced the fact that the mind and spirit have far greater potential and depth than we care to admit.

This book is written with genuine compassion and a noticeable humanity. Highly recommended to those interested in the mind and our culture in general.

Who could pass up a title like this? The casual reader, counselors-in-training, professionals, and clients will reach for it, if only to scan, and will end up carrying it to the checkout stand. In spite of the serious nature of the subject matter, this is no mere treatise of the "how to" genre. Instead, the reader is privileged to hear from well-known therapists, stories of the most unusual cases in their practices. To boot, we are privy to the unique ways in which these cases were approached and resolved. It is fascinating, enormously interesting, and entertainingly told by Kottler and Carlson. The writing style manages to weave humor into the fabric of the bizarre and we are reminded that "truth is stranger than fiction." A fun and easy read! I highly recommend it! Five stars!

The Mummy at the Dining Room Table by Jeffrey Kottler and Jon Carlson is a wonderful book that is very entertaining to the reader. Although the stories are humorous, they have a message for the reader that is touching. Each of the stories is provided by noted therapy experts. The stories are presented in a narrative format that is easy to read. I particularly want to comment on the following two stories:
---Jay Haley's story about the 82 year old prostitute
---Brad Keeney's medicine man who had never had a vision.
Truly Kottler and Carlson have created a book that is a "must" for therapists and their clients. When you read these stories, it will make you feel normal! I give the book 5 stars.
Loretta J. Bradley, Ph.D.
Professor, Counselor Education, Texas Tech University
Past President, American Counseling Association
Past President, Association for counselor Education and Supervision

This book was not only entertaining, but educational as well- I couldn't put it down! An impressive group of well-known therapists tells of their most memorable case(s), some of which are quite unusual. It was as interesting to learn about how the therapists handled the cases, as it was to read about the various people and the (sometimes extraordinary) concerns they sought help for. The book is very well-written - the authors did a great job of organizing over 30 individual case studies. This is a great book for not only those in the psychology field, but for anyone interested in people, their unusual life stories and they handle them.

The Mummy at the Dining Room Table is a classic book that can be
enjoyed by anyone. The 32 stories provide insight into what happens
behind the therapy door. Although I have been a therapist for many
years and thought that I had heard everything until I started to read
the Mummy. Each story is told in a very readable fashion that makes
the reader feel like they are actually in the room. I really enjoyed
Frank Pittman's Buzzy Bee and His Oral Fixation as well as Peggy
Papp's The Third Sexual Identity. I think this book will be very
popular and give it a 5 star rating.

A wonderful book full of unforgettable psychological trials and triumphs. This book reels you in with the bizarre, takes a glimpse at the various therapy techniques used today, AND makes you really step back, reconsider, and re-evaluate your own perceptions of what is considered strange. If you want to think even further outside the box, READ THIS BOOK!

It's too bad that most people won't bother reading a book on psychology unless it's self-help. This book took me completely by surprise with the range and genuine voice. The stories in this book aren't all bizarre - some are more mundane - but they are made worthwhile through their retelling. I think every reader will discover an appreciation for anyone, therapists and otherwise, who has ever ventured into unknown territory in the name of helping another. In fact, the insight that comes from these stories is born out of the years since the anecdote. Every contributor in this volume is interesting, sometimes funny, and always aware of the sheer risks that come from dealing with cases that are unprecedented and unique. There's a senior citizen who is happily prostituting herself to the chagrin of her family, a psychologist who ventures into shamanism for his solution, and even a man who has unusual feelings for cows - all are presented with great heart and never condescension or disgust.

Although this book is by no means a forum for psychological advice or guidance, it might go a long way towards convincing you that you are nowhere as weird as you think.

"The Mummy at the Dining Room Table" is the most fun I have had reading a book on therapy since Oliver Sach's "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat." And both of these books share the common ground of unusual cases that very famous therapists have engaged in their practice. The beauty of the book by Kottler and Carlson is that instead of hearing from one therapist, we get to read about the work of many of the best. Great therapists are not just some people who have special insights into life and life's problems. They are people who make special use of themselves in the service of others. They are people who think outside the box. And they are people whose interest and fascination with others take the rest of us into the world of human interaction in awe and wonder.

This is a book for everyone who wants to be a therapist. It is a book for everyone who was once in therapy. It is a book for people who are just fascinated with the breadth and depth of human life.

Get this one: it is FUN!

This book is chock full of weird and interesting cases. It makes you realize just how individual and strange people are! The title story really concerns a family who had meals with a mummy! And that is not the weirdest story in the book!

A collection of first person accounts of the most bizarre therapy encounters ever. This book is interesting because each chapter is written from a different therapists perspective and details how the therapist tackled their bizarre client. The conversations intertwined with the therapists thoughts makes for a very engaging read, if you're studying psychology, or if you just want to read how a psychologist approaches his sessions with a man who is having an affair with a cow, or a family who has dinner with their deceased mother, then this is the book for you! The Mummy at the Dining Room Table is compiled by psychologist/author Jefferey Kottler and is written with great humour without ever making fun. The book loses a star only because some of the stories weren't as comparatively strong or engaging as the others, however, thanks to the book's presentation it is easy to read only the chapters that hold your attention and interest.