When the Body Is the Target: Self-Harm, Pain, and Traumatic Attachments (Hardcover)

by Sharon Klayman Farber (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"...a definitive and comprehensive theoretical, developmental, and clinical reference work, eminently readable." -- (David W. Krueger and Dr. Sharon Farber, 2000)

"Dr. Sharon Klayman Farber earns our gratitude for venturing deeply into this difficult domain." -- (Martin S. Bergmann, 2000)

"Using clear and incisive language, Dr. Farber elegantly and empathically cuts to the core of the extreme suffering..." -- (Edward J. Khantzian, 2000)

Farber is eloquent in communicating the internal experiences of people who engage in self-harm -- American Orthopsychiatric Association : Readings, A Journal of Reviews and Commentary in Mental Health, March 2001

Product Description
In this comprehensive and insightful work, Dr. Sharon K. Farber provides an invaluable resource for the mental health professional who is struggling to understand self-harm and its origins. Using attachment theory to explain how addictive connections to pain and suffering develop, she discusses various kinds and functions of self-harm behavior.

From eating disorders to body modifications such as tattooing, Dr. Farber explores the language of self-harm, and the translation of that language and its psychic functions in the therapeutic setting. She tells us, "When the body weeps tears of blood, we need to wonder what terrible sorrows cannot be spoken." Brilliantly illustrated with rich clinical material, this book offers a practical approach to the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of the increasing number of patients whose emotions are expressed through bodily harm. The challenges of working with patients who tend to view the world of relationships in terms of predator and prey are clearly explicated and the stormy counter transference responses that threaten to destroy the treatment are given a full hearing. Finally, she shows how the attachment relationship formed in treatment can repair the traumatic attachment in mind, body, psyche, and soul, and can serve as the cornerstone of therapeutic change.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 580 pages
• Publisher: Jason Aronson; 1 edition (September 28, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765702568
• ISBN-13: 978-0765702562
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,573,324 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A high school teacher., June 3, 2001

By	Dorothy Magette (Princeton, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This is an impressive and fascinating book. As a high school teacher for well over 20 years, I picked it up because one hears so much nowadays about these disorders among adolescents.Since I have no specialized knowledge in this field (nor any personal issues here), I was apprehensive about my ability to read what I assumed would be highly technical material. To my delight, I found the writing style itself extremely clear, and the material deeply engrossing. I feel I've gained enormous understanding of an area that was not at all clear to me before, and, even better, new ways of thinking about people and myself in general. What a treat!

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lucid and insightful, October 24, 2000

By A Customer

This book is an academic exploration of some pretty heady topics, and although I have no experience in psychoanalysis, I found it to be a real page-turner. The writing is perfectly descriptive but Farber uses fascinating examples in order to avoid alienating the layperson. She is interested in what is so ordinary about certain impulses, and the cases in her book are not monsters. If you are interested in the mind and what makes us human, read this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars great timing, January 11, 2009

By	Ariele L. Riboh "in a hurry" (ny ny) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: When the Body Is the Target: Self-Harm, Pain, and Traumatic Attachments (Paperback)

First this is a great book! I was in desperate need of this book and had to rush order it. It was supposed to take 2 business days to be shipped but i got it in one!