Reviews

By Russell Meares, Emeritus Professor Psychiatry, University of Sydney

This is a wonderful book! It tells the remarkable story of Michael Masani’s successful treatment of a man who had suffered a disabling depression for more than twenty years, despite multiple forms of therapy. The therapy was of an original kind consisting a combination of “trance, story, and voice,” coordinated in the context of an empathic, non-intrusive, and flexible relationship. The outcome was a restoration of the feeling of “flow” and the capacity for enjoyment.

The therapeutic focus was on feeling states, “the very stuff of life.” It is our internal feeling milieu, Masani states, “that shapes and colours our thought patterns and behaviour — not vice versa.” Unique features of the book are the quality of its language and the skill in its construction. The author weaves into the story his patient’s treatment, that of the referring psychiatrist, and parts of his own personal background. The theory of treatment is supported by references to the scientific literature in a way which does not dull the liveliness of the narrative. The language is clear and lucid. Complex concepts are effortlessly distilled into brief, apparently simple, formulations.

Michael Masani’s use of words and the voice is sophisticated, highly developed. He states: “My only instrument is my voice… its effect is through resonance and pattern recognition rather than through reason. Storytelling, with its limitless capacity for imagery, analogy and metaphor, is a great facilitator.” He sees therapy as facilitation. “Carefully crafted stories” using allegory and symbolism “reverberate throughout our nervous system” triggering “a cascade of self-healing, and self-generating responses.”

This book might signal a breakthrough in the therapy of treatment resistant depression, a major psychiatric problem. Masani’s account will be of great value even inspiration, to those trying to help people suffering the endless pain of this disorder.

Russell Meares, Emeritus Professor Psychiatry, at the University of Sydney. Recent books include, “The Poet's Voice in the Making of Mind,” “Intimacy and Alienation: Memory, Trauma and Personal Being” and “The Metaphor of Play.”

By Peter Jackson, Founder of Calmbirth Australia, PSH Therapist

 Michael’s understanding of anxiety as the collective experience, conscious and unconscious, of all our unprocessed emotions, brings new depth to our understanding of mental illness.

It is these raw emotions that cause much, if not all of our mental and emotional suffering. I too have worked with clients suffering from anxiety and mental illness for many years; my own experience has taught me that both poetry and science are needed in the healing arts.

As Michael clearly describes, much of the mainstream focus to date has been on the science of mental illness – now it’s time to focus on the deeply subjective inner experiences of mental   health, time to bring beauty and poetry into our healing practices.

I encourage everyone with an interest in mental health, be it professional, personal, or both, to read this book! Michael’s insights and Darren’s experiences will forever change your understanding of mental illness and mental health.

You may find, as Darren did, that “the window is still the same; the eyes have changed…”

Peter Jackson, Founder of Calmbirth Australia, PSH Therapist