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In the bumpf on the back it says that these are 'aphoristic and elegant stories'.

Here then are the aphorisms I have derived from each chapter; in order; with none missing:

� Trauma that is experienced in pre-speech years can lead to silence (inability to express) and/or destructive behaviour (acting out?) in later life.
� Making jokes about problems can bring temporary relief but can block a better understanding of the situation.
� Praising specific positive behaviour (rather than just praising in general) can be good way to help someone to grow.
� Engaging with painful emotions can enable us to know and examine what hurts us and why (but to what end?)
� Before you try to address a person's obsession with X, make sure that X is real - or 'how to turn someone's case history into a funny anecdote'.
� Not all of these stories are ameanable to aphorismation, unless it's something general like: sometimes a person's world turns on a very small pivot or something specific like: sometimes bedwetting can be the only way you can get your Mom to notice you.
� Maybe: Just because one has a fear of intimacy don't mean that one don't want to talk about it. Or: Having a problem about talking is not the same as talking about having a problem.
� Oh I don't know - maybe I should just read these stories for entertainment instead of looking for a deeper meaning. Anyway, this is about the final straw breaking the camel's back.
� Sometimes having an affair with a prostitute is a revenge attack on your wife for transferring her affection to a freshly minted baby. Hmm.
� "The bigger the front, the bigger the back" (read it yourself)
� You can't eat your cake and yet still have it in your pantry.
� People get paranoid that someone is watching them because it's better than the alternative - that no-one is watching them - maybe.
� Don't tell children how to feel - let them work out their own emotional responses!
� If someone always says 'Masha'Allah' when you tell them of your tears and triumphs, it would be a mistake to assume that they always mean 'Whatever!'
� Desire manifests in odd ways.
� Hate can transfer to another target if there is a strong taboo against hating the original target.
� Don't get stuck.
� When you hear an alarm (real or metaphorical) - do something!
� Emotional surrender to a loving partner can sometimes represent a net loss if previous emotional surrenders led to negative experiences.
� Could it be that the author's reference to 'The Kaverns of Krock' is a subconscious nod to his fear that some of his conclusions are a crock of.. ahem. Not that I could do any better you understand. ;)
� The more I read these stories the more I get a picture of a person who is unsure of his own professional capabilities (yeah, yeah, I know - I'm just projecting) or maybe a person humble enough to acknowledge his own limitations. The receptionist is the real mover and shaker! ;)
� It seems to me that more progress is made at the end of analysis than at the beginning. Books tend to be more exciting towards the end too. I wonder why life is not billed as being like this.
� Sometimes people can monopolise the conversation in a purposeful and aggressively boring way in order to avoid confronting what is happening in their lives at the present time. That doesn't sound contrived does it?
� "The future is a fantasy that shapes our present." Be careful about your fantasies.
� If something is broken, you can either try to fix it, or give up on it and throw it away. If I were broken, I'd always be wanting to be fixed - even if I behave otherwise.
� Wow! I mean - WOW!! Listen to this: "I thought about his fear that if he was known, if he was seen as he believes he truly is, he would be found dirty, broken. And being dirty and broken - how could he love, or be loved?"
� If you're going to save the children from the horrors of .. whatever, at least have the courtesy to tell them that's what you're doing.
� Sometimes you can figure it out all by yourself - you just need to find your own voice.
� Don't stop therapy because you think you're going to succumb to disease soon - you may not succumb to disease as soon as you think.
� A closed door can be reopened.
� Then comes death, and beyond this, nothing more can be said.

Enjoy.