Customer Reviews

The Pornographer's Grief: And Other Tales of Human Sexuality

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I approached this book from the point of view of a clinician-turned-academic, looking for material to highlight presentations on clinical work with sex addicts.

I was delighted to find Dr. Glenmullen's book both readable and insightful. Writing a case in a manner that is instructive as well as sensitive to the humanity involved, is an art and Dr. Glenmullen has mastered this art.

I am especially impressed with the depth these cases reach, allowing the reader (clinican or not) to appreciate that under every issue lies another, and eventually, there will be a core aspect that is "driving" the patient's pain and their attempts to deal with that pain.

The first chapter (where Dr. Glenmullen describes the treatment of the 'pornographer' of the title) provided the reader with an example of how a therapist can move beyond the trap of morality and move to the (not always obviously related) root of the problem at hand.

I strongly recommend any therapist who deals with sexual issues to make use of Amazon's excellent "out of print" finding service (2 month turn-around in my case) and get a copy of this for your bookshelf.

In this informative and bold work a Harvard psychiatrist reveals much about his work as a therapist and himself personally. A daring work that is a page turner whether you are a therapist or have thought that you have unresolved issues in which sex has become fused with other parts of life: love, hate, dependence, intimacy, career, etc. You start reading these case histories seeing clients as characters in a short story and before long they are as close to you as your sibling, parent, self.