Whispers from the East

by Frances E. Steinberg and Richard E. Whiteside
Type: Hardcover

In the long-distance race between the art and the business of psychotherapy it often seems as though the latter is winning. As you peek out from behind the forms and the red tape that constitute the business side, perhaps you wonder about what will happen – or has happened – to the creativity and sense of awe that galvanize the art.

Authors Frances Steinberg and Richard Whiteside bring a fresh new voice to the literature. They are both archeologists and pioneers, sifting through ancient wisdom to forge an entirely unique approach to psychotherapy. Because the well of knowledge from which they draw dates back thousands of years, their message carries the power of a million healings across a million different circumstances.

Yin and Yang; Internal and External; Heat and Cold; Excess and Deficiency; Earth; Metal; Water; Wood; Fire – the Table of Contents reads like no other in the field. And in these chapters are insights, strategies, and case examples that will get your creative juices flowing, as you find your perspective shifting in latitude a few degrees at a time.

Whispers from the East is more than interesting reading; it is an opportunity to receive a deep and practical education, to understand why and how the enduring principles of Eastern healing can be applied with extraordinary effectiveness within the context of Western practice.

THERAPISTS WHO SEEK a wide perspective in therapy will find the Eastern ideas presented in this work to be valuable. The healing ideas of the East meet those of the West, and the bridge is Lao-tzu.
Jay Haley

THE BOOK OFFERS THERAPISTS an expanded view of problems brought to therapy – one that is wiser, more tolerant, and more compassionate.
Cloe Madanes

THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOTHERAPY is replete with countless examples of metaphors meant to illuminate subtle principles of human behavior and complex mental processes. In Whispers from the East, Steinberg and Whiteside provide us with a clear and intriguing introduction to the ancient metaphors of Eastern healing. At first glance, the authors seem to be teaching us a new language, a new theoretical framework, and a new set of beliefs about the nature of the problems psychotherapists are routinely asked to treat. On deeper reflection, though, we are being gently reminded – with a whisper – that there are common denominators of effective intervention that transcend a literal interpretation of our metaphors, whether created in the ancient East or the modern West. For that reason, and many others as well, this is a book well worth reading.
Michael D. Yapko