*Book source ~ A review copy was provide in exchange for an honest review.
Dr. Zieman has enjoyed an interesting and diversified career in psychology. Instead of the typical upscale office and couch setting he’s traveled far and wide, usually with nary a couch in sight.
I’m not usually a fan of non-fiction. It has to be something special to 1. catch my interest, 2. keep my interest and 3. make me actually finish it without skipping any parts. This book does all three. Dr. Z. writes an informative book about a field that mystifies the majority of us. Ok, maybe it’s just me. Despite a few classes way back in college (which I enjoyed, btw), it still mystifies me. The writing flows along, is easy to plow through and is not full of technical intraspecies jargon. In other words, I didn’t have to sit there scratching my head wondering what the hell he’s talking about. Easy to understand ~ check.
The chapters are well laid out and the anecdotes are as interesting as the writing is entertaining. I had heard about many of the problems in this book, but there were a few that took me by surprise. The treatment plans Dr. Z would implement were new to me also. The classes I had in college were basically intros, so there wasn’t much on how to treat the issues he mentions in the book. I loved how he had to think on-the-fly and how he listened and cared about the people he was helping. They weren’t just another file in his filing cabinet. Well, he didn’t really have a filing cabinet a lot of the time, but you’re picking up what I’m putting down, right? Interesting ~ check.
I mentioned Dr. Z.’s writing flows well and is easy to understand. The stories he tells are very diversified and he makes me care about the people in them. He has really done quite a bit in his field, most of it in a way that many would consider unorthodox and yet it worked. Sometimes I think the saying, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ needs to be erased from standard vocabulary. Just because something has been done one way for so long doesn’t mean another way won’t work better. Variety, after all, is the spice of life, is it not? All-in-all an excellent read.
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