Ackerman, Diane - A Slender Thread: Rediscovering Hope at the Heart of Crisis

[oyceter]

Diane Ackerman recounts her experience as a counselor for a suicide and crisis hotline, along with various musings on the nature of the human animal and how our states of crisis are somewhat reminiscent to animal states of crisis.

I picked this up mostly to see what sort of advice counselors gave to the callers; from a very practical standpoint, I felt as though I should see how the professionals did it. Ackerman doesn't so much focus on this; the book is more of a meditation on crisis and suicide, along with a chronicle of her own feelings of helplessness and weariness, and also of hope. I wasn't quite as impressed with her meditations on nature as I was in her A Natural History of the Senses, although I did very much appreciate the speculation on drunk squirrels and roadkill.

Er, I can't remember what it had to do with suicide hotlines, but come on! Drunk squirrels!

I am easily amused.

Anyhow, I didn't get as much practical advice as I wanted, but I liked the look behind the scenes and the feel that all these anonymous people out there suffering had somewhere to turn to.

Comments

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

Not quite the same, but related is Mary Pipher's--I think it's Letters to a Young Therapist.

[oyceter]

Oh cool, thanks!

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I never heard of this before, but it sounds like something I'd like.

[oyceter]

It was pretty good ^_^. I find so far I like Ackerman in general; I think I'll pick up her A Natural History of Love some time as well.

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

I read this too and liked it -- it was a bit Pop Psych Lite in certain places, but it was a good look behind the scenes at a crisis center and I liked the squirrels, too. (IIRC the squirrels are all over the book because she is conducting a study of them that coincies with the writing of the book.)

[oyceter]

Yeah, I really liked the behind the scenes look! I liked the squirrels too, though I didn't quite see the connection that she did between squirrels in crisis and people ;).