Sharing the extraordinary stories of ten everyday people engaging in psychotherapy, this book takes the reader into the room, showing the realities of being in therapy and providing insight into the perspectives of both the patient and the clinician.

Through these cases from her own practice, author and psychotherapist Bianca Denny dissects, unravels and reconstructs experiences of grief, denial, jealousy, shame, desire, and letting go. A terminally ill woman desperate to reconcile with her estranged family. A new mother on the precipice of admission to a psychiatric unit. A delusional man, intent on harming his wife. A bachelor who self-sabotages his last chance of happiness. An adult daughter struggling to understand the relationship with her mother, in the wake of her parent’s divorce. A person for whom a diagnosis of ADHD raises more questions than it answers. Denny shares her personal and professional insight through reactions of vulnerability, sadness, compassion and frustration. Readers are invited into the minds of patients as well as the internal workings of a therapist’s mind.

Exploring the complexity of the patient and therapist relationship, and what actually happens in therapy, this book is essential reading for qualifying and early career therapists.

Bianca Denny is a clinical psychologist, working in private practice in Melbourne, Australia. She is an accredited supervisor of trainee (provisional) psychologists and those seeking clinical endorsement. Bianca also contributes to the media, writing on mental health and psychology topics.