Let's All Hold Hands and Drop Dead: Three Generations One Story

by Elaine J. Cooper

Overview

Quietly step into a group therapy meeting and listen to the members and the celebrated group therapist struggle to connect in true relationship. Witness the Russian Revolution and famine through the eyes of a boy. Watch two Jewish children in East L.A. in the 50's, trying to make sense of their world. Go deep into the Social Unconscious and discover how these adventures are not only connected to each other but to YOU as well.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781630473600
Publisher:	Morgan James Publishing
Publication date:	04/07/2015
Pages:	290
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Elaine Cooper is a Clinical Professor at the Universityof California School of Medicine at San Francisco. She is an internationally recognized expert in the practice of group psychotherapy. She has been on the faculty of Smith College, New York University, New York Medical College, Hunter College, Adelphi Universityand U.C. Berkeley. She currently has a clinical practice in Berkeley, California.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction xii

Cast of Characters xv

Part 1 Prelude 1

1 From My Father's Book: Ukraine 3

2 A Letter to My Four-Year-Old Self 11

3 Getting Ready 14

4 A Letter to My Six-Year-Old Self 17

5 My Brother Arnold's First Letter 19

6 Wanting and Fearing 20

7 Lecture for Beginning Group Therapists 27

8 Robert: A Bad Boy 33

9 From My Father's Book 37

10 Sex and STDs 44

11 My Father's Drive to California 48

12 A Letter to My Seven-Year-Old Self 52

13 Linda: An Alien 54

14 A Letter to My Eight-Year-Old Self 57

15 The Wonder of Discovery 59

16 Tim: A Dropout 63

17 Curious Exploration 66

18 A Letter to My Ten-Year-Old Self 70

19 Movie Stars 73

20 Hate, Anger, Despair 75

21 We're Going to Have a Baby 77

22 Junior High 78

23 Crushes On Teachers 80

24 My Father Gives Me His Book 82

Part 2 An Unrecognizable World 85

1 Arnold's Short Story 87

2 From My Father's Book 92

3 High School 96

4 Meet My Friends 99

5 Wait'll You Hear This! 102

6 Making Out and One Dollar 104

7 Arnold's Thoughts from Nowhere 107

8 I'm So Happy! 109

9 Summer Camp Job: A Letter from My Father 111

10 Arnold's Notes and Yearbook 113

11 Arnold's Notes at UCLA 115

12 The Struggle for Relationship 116

13 I Want Sex 124

14 Arnold's Notes 126

15 College Portia 127

16 Arnold's Notes 129

Part 3 Circles within Circles 131

1 One Month Ago: Anger vs. Assertiveness 133

2 Arnold's Notes 138

3 Hugo: The Search for Self 139

4 From My Father's Book 142

5 David: The Scapegoat Dilemma 147

6 Cheryl: Anxiety Attacks 150

7 Separation 155

8 Arnold's Poem 156

9 Elizabeth: Feeling Invisible 157

10 Arnold's Postcards from Europe 160

11 The Triangle: Competition for the Love Object 162

12 Self-Examination 180

13 From My Father's Book 183

14 Primeval Man 187

15 Arnold's Postcards from Israel 191

16 What Happened? 192

17 A Note from jerry 198

18 After 199

19 A Letter to My Twenty-Six-Year Old Self 201

20 Retirement and Divorce 204

21 My Mother, Gazelle 206

22 My Baby Brother, Gary 210

23 Los Angeles Times 212

24 Trying to Understand 214

Part 4 The Winning Ticket 217

1 From My Father's Book 219

2 An Insight 226

3 A Confrontation 229

4 From My Father's Book 233

5 Harry: Under the Table 238

6 From My Father's Book: The Polonia 246

7 The Winning Ticket 252

8 My Father's Good-Bye 257

9 Arnold Looks at the Face of a Dead Woman 259

10 I Want My Mommy 260

Note 267

My Wish 268

Afterword 269

About the Author 270

Bibliography 271

Editorial Reviews

"Elaine Jean Cooper, an internationally renowned group psychotherapist and teacher, writing from both personal memories and diaries of her family members, has produced an intensely intimate and often heartbreaking account of how the ravages of war and poverty resonate unconsciously through subsequent generations, and deeply affect the capacity for happiness and intimacy. And through the lens of her therapy group, we experience the universality of the struggle to transcend trauma and find loving connection. This is a courageous and important work—deeply affecting and packed with wisdom about human nature." Dennis J. Zeitlin, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Universityof California , San Francisco

"...a treasure trove of personal and professional insights, roiling emotions from both... a veritable human drama played out on two continents and within the confines of a tightly knit therapy group." George Lee Butler, General, U.S. Air Force (retired)

"...extraordinarily poignant, engaging, colorful, sensual, evocative, and funny...an original and creative weaving of professional, personal, intergenerational, historic cultural...superb!" Les R. Greene, Ph. D, President, American Group Psychotherapy Association

"A spellbinding literary work that memorializes the dynamics of group interaction as it is played out in both the intimate relationships of a family and in group psychotherapy...a passionate and complex story that documents the parallel struggles of intergenerational strife in both personal and professional life. Bette Korman, Founder and Director Emirates of the Children's Museum of Manhattan

"An absolutely gorgeous, magnificently written, insightful, vulnerable, informing, personal and universal, at times funny, at times excruciating revelation!"Patricia Stamm, M.D., Psychiatrist, San Francisco, California, Songwriter, Artist

"A family's journey from holocaust to redemption; a therapy group's journey from despair to wholeness...the work of the courageous group members offers hope for humanity." Lurline Aslanian, Ph.D., M.S.W., Psychoanalyst, Sarasota, Florida

"I liked the image of circles within circles, sort of ripples of attachments, but also circles that sometimes don't intersect at all (no attachment) or only a little (weak attachments). What a lovely image for families and generations and for therapy." Robert Tyminski, DMH, Jungian analyst and President, CG Jung Institute of San Francisco

"I think the book is fabulous. The way the strands are woven together is compelling. The comments about group, the members of the group, therapist interventions, and your belief its efficacy comes through loud and clear and rings true." Jerome S. Gans, MD, Associate Clinical Professor, Harvard Medical School

From the Publisher