Customer Reviews

Waking Up: Climbing Through the Darkness

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4 star:		(1)
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My dear Terry,
I had the privilege of meeting you during your CMI presentation in Phoenix AZ this past April 4, 2005. I bought a copy of your book that day, and how I wish I would have read it before I met you -- because then I could have told you in person what I thought of it. "Waking Up" is without a doubt one of the most powerful personal accounts of therapy I've ever read. I am astounded at the honesty in your writing, and at the courage it must have taken for you to decide to get it published. What is more astounding is that I don't think you realize what a gift you've given to the world. I wish every student learning to be a therapist would read your book, and every person who's ever been depressed or contemplated suicide, and everyone who's ever been thrust into the role of care giver, and every hospice worker and bereavement counselor who is companioning the bereaved -- and everyone who just wants to read a terrific book. I want you to know that I've told all my hospice colleagues about you, I've added your book to my list of recommended readings on the Articles and Books page of my Grief Healing Web site, and I will do everything in my power to help you spread your important, uplifting, life-saving message. I am honored to have met you, and I wish for you what you are giving to all the rest of us: nothing but the best.
With love and admiration,
Marty Tousley, APRN, BC, CT
Bereavement Counselor
Grief Healing Web site: www.griefhealing.com
Grief Healing Discussion Groups: www.hovforum.ipbhost.com

This touching journey kept me hooked from the first page. It was gripping. The writing really took you inside of this woman's mind and heart. I can see how this book will give hope to those who are at the end of the line. I highly recommend Waking Up. Make sure you clear out some time before you start, because you are never going to be able to put it down!

Waking Up is a powerful description of the intense psychotherapeutic experience of a client struggling to recover from serious losses. This account from the patient's perspective illustrates how a determined and caring therapist helps a struggling, but also determined client to work through childhood abuse, death of a spouse, substance abuse, and suicide crises. In the process, it provides a primer on effective collabortive therapy.

Sad, shocking, gut-wrenching and immensely readable. It's high time we consider suicide and depression as the serious public health issues they are -- and not as taboo topics or "out of bounds" matters of privacy. Ms. Wise's story shows us the importance of breaking down the cultural/societal barriers to open and frank discourse. Her message is equally valuable to professionals laypeople alike: Look for the warning signs (which she outlines) among patients, friends and/or family and be assertive in stepping in to help.

This was a *profound* book written with brutal honesty. Ms. Wise doesn't just captivate you from the first page... she holds you by the gut and pulls you into her life (and death) experience. There is nothing flowery about this book. It takes you right into the heart of her grief and pain... and more, it shows vividly how this downward spiral is such a slippery slope.

I was greatly inspired by Ms. Wise's struggle to hold on and her Therapist's indominatable quest to help her find the root of her devastation. "Cali" is a therapist who defies tradition and dares greatly. She *cares* about her patients.

But above and beyond all of this, I found myself in awe (and I don't use that word lightly) of Ms. Wise's bravery in writing this book. She opened up her very soul for her readers to see... knowing that others may judge or comment or misunderstand... she decided to do this with the hopes that it would make a difference for others.

Well, in this reader's case, she succeeded. Thank you, Ms. Wise.

Well-told story of a woman's journey back to sanity from the terribly place of depression. We can forget that we only think one thought at a time, and we can choose which thought we wish to think. When we remember it, just small changes of thought and consequent behavior can turn our lives entirely around. Bravo Ms. Wise.
A. B. Curtiss author of Depression is a Choice.

For those of us who have never experienced psychiatric therapy, Waking Up is a rare insight into the pain and numbing effects of childhood sexual abuse and losing a spouse to a rapidly debilitating disease in leading to depression and drug dependency . . . and how therapy can be a valuable road to recovery. Although I have read a number of moving books written by the formerly depressed, Waking Up is the most vivid, moving and insightful. Ms. Wise is exceptionally good at capturing her thoughts and emotions at various stages in her therapy, and how she responded to the probing of her therapist, Dr. Cali Joseph. The two often corresponded by e-mail between office visits, and those communications added a lot to my understanding of how therapy works.

Although I have not experienced depression, I found the book also insightful for understanding aversions I have . . . and seeing ways to change my behavior for the better. If you ask yourself the questions that Dr. Joseph asked Ms. Wise, you will learn a lot.

I am sure that this book deserves to be on the required reading list of those who are studying to become therapists or who already practice. I do not believe that there are very many books where a patient has been willing to reveal so much of herself in print . . . and with such grace.

I came away from the book with new insights about how I can describe therapy to those who have never experienced it. I hope I can use this new insight into assisting those who need therapy to get it in the right way.

The book opens with a chilling description of the author's barely failed attempt to kill herself on Christmas 2000. I learned from this to be sure to check in with my loved ones and friends on important holidays, anniversaries and other meaningful occasions to be sure that they really are all right.

I think we all owe Ms. Wise a debt of gratitude for sharing her experiences, thoughts and emotions with us. May God bless you, Ms. Wise!

Ms. Wise courageously reveals her painful life experiences as well as her intense therapy with an unusually caring and effective psychologist. Both teacher and student/therapist and patient think "out of the box" to give Ms. Wise the tools to manage and rise above her tragedies. A book of insight and hope.

Terry Wise tells the story of her husband's illness and her grief and downward spiral into depression following his death through the lens of therapy. She shares not only her innermost fears but her exploration of them in an honest and insightful manner. Working through grief is exactly that-work- and Terry shows us just how hard this work can be. Terry's courageous story includes her therapist, whose tenacity permitted Terry to face and work toward conquering her demons. Waking Up is a glorious account of the therapeutic process and the determination of the human spirit to survive.

This book is the true story of a woman who becomes suicidal when her young husband suffers from Lou Gehrig's disease and dies. The auther is exceedingly honest and open about her thoughts and feelings and reactions during this time in her life. And she details the therapy that finally turned her life around. It's a compelling, gripping story and a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the loss of a spouse due to a terminal condition, suicidal depression, childhood abuse, and the healing from it all.