Waking Up: Climbing Through the Darkness

by Terry L. Wise

FOREWORD

Rabbi Harold S. Kushner

Best-selling author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People

Harvard Medical School, Lyn M. Duncan, M.D., Professor

"As a member of the faculty of Harvard Medical School...I have recommended Waking Up for the reading list...and also as a selection for the faculty...at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

...Wise intimately describes several topics critical to medical education today...[I] recommend [Waking Up] as a valuable addition to every health care provider's reading list..."

Columbia University

Barry Farber, Ph.D., Professor, Director of Clinical Training
Chair, Department of Counseling & Clinical Psychology

"I have adopted Waking Up for a graduate-level class I teach."

"...[Waking Up] struggles with the most salient issues of our time:  child abuse, depression, suicidality, the tension between giving to others and taking care of ourselves...no book has as accurately captured the pace, focus, and words of actual therapeutic sessions, nor the immediacy and power of a therapeutic relationship..."

John Kalafat, Ph.D.
Rutgers Graduate School of Applied & Professional Psychology

Past President, American Association of Suicidology

"I have adopted Waking Up for my graduate courses on crisis intervention and counseling skills.”

"A tremendous teaching resource for professionals who teach and conduct research in therapy process…a priceless description of a therapist's commitment, compassion, tenacity, and willingness to connect. One can react to this book on emotional and intellectual levels, and I would ask anyone who does not have an emotional response to please turn in their license to practice."

David Rudd, Ph.D.
Past President, American Association of Suicidology

Author, Treating Suicidal Behavior

"For those in the helping professions, this book is a must read...For those struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts, [Waking Up] is a reminder that even when you think it impossible, you can...find a reason for living..."

American Association of Suicidology (AAS) Competency Skills-Based Curricula National Training Program

Waking Up has been adopted for inclusion in the national training materials for clinicians "to illustrate training competency to help clinicians better understand the phenomenology of being at-risk for suicide." 

Program developed by the AAS under a sub-contract to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, through a government-funded grant awarded to the SPRC. 

National Center for Death Education

Carol Wogrin, Psy.D., RN, Director

"[Waking Up] is compelling enough that I was willing to break my cardinal rule of not reading anything work related while on vacation.  The choice was well worth it.  [Terry's] story is captivating as well as educational. Despite my having been a practicing therapist for many years now, the ways in which she shared her conversations with her therapist, her emotional and psychological work as well as her growth stimulated new thinking and ways of understanding the therapeutic process for me."

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American Psychiatric Nurse's Association, NE

Heather M. Wilhelm, MSN, APRN-C, President

“Not only did I find a book that could potentially change the lives of my patients, …[Waking Up] reminded me how important it is to be caring and compassionate during the therapeutic process…It is…my recommendation that all practitioners, “young and old,” read [Terry’s] book about courage and recovery.”

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Safe Harbor Behavioral Health, Outpatient & Crisis Services Dept., PA

Jonathan Evans, President & CEO

www.safeharborbh.org

"[Waking Up] is now mandatory reading for all [145] clinicians in the outpatient and crisis services department of Safe Harbor Behavioral Health...It is very insightful and packed with information about the therapeutic process, trust and the many core issues that surface in successful therapy."

"I had the opportunity and pleasure to hear you speak recently in Erie, PA.  I want to let you know how much I appreciated and learned form your very open and candid talk.  I have worked in the field for almost 30 years and remain continually grateful for those of you who are willing to share there experience in a different forum...Thank you for your courage and willingness to share your experiene and the excellent skills that your [psychologist] had to work in a collaborative journey that you went through together."

St. Mary's University, Minneapolis, MN

Jeanne McIntee, MA, LFMT, LICSW

Graduate Departments of Marriage & Family Therapy and Human Development

"Waking Up is required reading in the graduate course I teach."

" While this book is an important contribution to professionals regardless of their level of expertise, it is an equally powerful contribution to deepening the common understanding of what it means to be human."

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Rabbi Harold S. Kushner

"...I am asked to read a great many books, perhaps forty or fifty a year, by people chronicling their personal tragedies.  Most of them are more important for the author to write than for anyone else to read.  Ms. Wise's memoir is a notable exception."

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Cayuga County, NY
Bart A. Wasilenko, 1st Vice-President

"If you ever wanted to be that “fly on the wall” during a therapy session and know what really goes on between therapist and patient, this book will fulfill your wish.  Ms. Wise’s honest and inspiring account of the traumas that she endured and strove to overcome are truly awe-inspiring.  She is a living testament to what is an everyday occurrence in today’s society : child abuse, depression and suicide...This book speaks volumes to the multitude of people who have such low self esteem that the only thing that can end their pain is death.  Thank GOD for therapists like Dr. Glaser and courageous people like Terry Wise who might be able to provide a glimmer of hope to those of us who find ourselves in desperate situations."

Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance
Lydia Lewis, President

 "Terry [Wise] has taken her own experiences and demystified the therapeutic process in a frank and healthy way so that others can learn and take courage from the experience."

Rabbi Earl A. Grollman, D.H.L., D.D., Ph.D.
Best-selling author of Living When A Loved One Dies

"Drawing compelling insights from her own inner territories of doubt, confusion, and agony, Terry Wise's pioneering book will provide both understanding and courage in the quest for the redemptive possibilities of life's meaning."

Prevent Child Abuse America
A. Sidney Johnson III, President & CEO

"...a breathtakingly honest account...a true testament...that child abuse does not end when the touching stops..."

National ALS Association
Mary Lyon, RN, MN, Vice President, Patient Services

"...Terry Wise's insightful and personal account of her experiences following her husband's diagnosis with ALS, illustrates the enormous psychological impact this disease can have on caregivers and family members and offers tools for recovery."

Kenneth Doka, Ph.D.
Author, Disenfranchised Grief & Living With Grief Series

Hospice Foundation of American, Senior Consultant
Professor of Gerontology, The College of New Rochelle, NY
Journal Omega, Editor

"I was delighted to have the opportunity to read Waking Up: Climbing Through the Darkness. It is a powerful story. I was most impressed with the fateful account of the struggles of the therapeutic process. It illustrates so much—the work of therapy, the interconnections of grief and mourning and the long struggle to a better existence."

Rabbi Levi Meier, PhD, Chaplain

Cedar-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA

"...written with great insight, courage, sensitivity and integrity...The only other person I can think of who has managed to describe such a process is the famous psychiatrist and author, Dr. Irvin Yalom."

Bernie Siegel, M.D.
Best-selling author of Love, Medicine & Miracles

"Waking Up is a brave woman's story which can help those who want to survive."

George Stricker, Ph.D.
Past President, Division of Clinical Psychology of the American Psychological Association
Past President, New York State Psychological Association
Author, Comprehensive Handbook of Psychotherapy Integration
Professor, The Derner Institute, Adelphi University

"Waking Up is a brave, revealing, and inspiring book...and provides a wonderful model for others who feel in despair."

Stop It Now! - The Campaign to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse
Fran Henry, President & Founder

"...a moving recounting of the dance that must occur between parts of us, or between we as the broken, and the counselor as the healer... Now [Wise's] book can help others reach for help, too."

The Samaritans of Boston

Roberta Hurtig, Executive Director,
Co-Chair, Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention

"I was tremendously moved by [Terry Wise's] abilities as an author when I read her book Waking Up... As a professional interested in suicide prevention, I'm impressed by her ability to speak to what it feels like to be suicidal and what helped her climb back. The way Terry connects with her audience on both an emotional and intellectual level is a true gift."

Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal

Leroy Spaniol, Ph.D., Executive Publisher

"Waking Up is a...courageous and redeeming journey of the heart...Ms. Wise shows how she was...able to reclaim hope and a sense of self that is unique, authentic, supportive of her strengths, and compassionate."

Boston University

Arthur E. Dell Orto, Ph.D., C.R.C., Professor and Program Director, Rehabilitation Counseling

Associate Executive Director, Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation

"I thought that to review this book would be an opportunity to learn.  I now see it as a gift Terry has given us to share."

Reese Butler
Publisher, Preventing Suicide: The National Journal
President, Kristen Brooks Hope Center & National Hopeline Network (800-SUICIDE)
Co-founder, National Council for Suicide Prevention

"...no book has ever had the impact on me that [Waking Up] did. Both APA's should be touting this book as a must read for every psychologist/psychiatrist to read and also give to their patients...[Terry Wise] gives hope to the hopeless...I will do all in my power to help [Wise] spread that message..."

World Pastoral Care Center
Rev. Dr. Richard B. Gilbert, BCC, Ph.D.
Association for Death Education and Counseling, Board of Directors
Publisher, Resources Hotline

"...a marvelous book...rich in its insights...Terry Wise is a remarkable woman. I have met her and heard her story. Read the book. Visit her on the website. Invite her to your programs and conferences. There is a story here to be told and heard."

ALS Association, MA Chapter

Judith E. Teplow, MSW, Director of Patient & Caregiver Services,

"The author reminds us that major depression, when left unchecked, can threaten the very foundations of life...This book is destined to become a classic of very great proportions."

Columbia University
Dinelia Rosa, Ph.D., Director

Center for Educational & Psychological Services 

"...[Wise's] presentation [to our Counseling and Clinical Doctoral students] was one of the most compelling, and impressive presentations that we have had...The power of the "therapeutic moments" conveyed..., the uniqueness of the patient's perspective about the treatment of suicidality, and the treatment of depression provided...an opportunity to hear a well-rounded perspective rarely seen in training."

Curt & Shonda Schilling - Co-Founders "Curt's Pitch for ALS"
Boston Red Sox pitcher, 2004 World Series

Curt's Pitch for ALS

“[Wise’s] choices give insight and hope to those who think life has nothing to offer, and a faith and belief that if she can do it...so can we.”

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