ETHICAL CHALLENGES
CLINICAL PRACTICE
The Ethics of Bartering for Psychotherapy . . . Whitney van Nouhuys
Ethical Concerns in a Small Town . . . Mario Starc
A System for Determining Voluntary Consent . . . Geoffrey Shaskan
SELECTIONS FROM PRESENTATIONS AT THE ETHICS CONVOCATION 2002
The Ethical Attitude . . . Claire Allphin
Reflections on the Codes of Ethics and Their Social and Historical Derivations . . . Gareth S. Hill
REPORT FROM THE RESEARCH COLLOQUIUM
"Gone From my Sight:" Parents’ Experience When Children Leave Home . . . Nancy Silva
ROSEMARY LUKTON MEMORIAL LECTURE June 2003
Anticipations of the 21st Century: Reflecting From a Long Career as a Social Worker . . . Chester Villalba
BOOK REVIEWS
Ties Across Time: A Woman’s Life in Social Work by Merle Updike Davis . . . reviewed by Samoan Barish
Sexual
Detours by Holly Hein
. . . reviewed by Mervin
Freedman
REFLECTIONS
Had Anyone Told Me: The Black Madonna in Provence . . . Karlyn M. Ward
A Graduate’s Thoughts About the CICSW Program . . . Steven Zemmelman
Billy Wilder Meets Sigmund Freud . . . Mervin Freedman
Poetry . . . Judith K. Nelson
ANNUAL REPORTS
Sexual Detours was written primarily with a lay, but educated, readership in mind. Despite the rather lurid sub-title " The Startling Truth Behind Love, Lust, and Infidelity," the content and perspective are hardly sensationalistic. The basic structure and framework of the theoretical context are psychoanalytic, and the accounts of the various affairs that are addressed display taste and common sense.
The primary focus of the book centers on descriptions of various affairs entered into by married people with emphasis on the complex motivation that underlies such behavior. Case histories are preceded, however, by presentation of a considerable amount of theoretical context in which analysis of the affairs is embedded. The Oedipus complex, transference, and attachment theory receive some attention. Historical perspectives on the history and evolutions of romantic love and marriage are presented. A partial listing of sub-headings reflect the focus and emphasis of the theoretical discussion: " Fear of Intimacy," "Stages of Marriage," "The Dynamic of the Triangle," "A Search for Identity," "Escape from Anxiety," and "A Source of Self-Esteem."
Case histories from Dr. Hein’s practice, however, provide the centered content of the book. The "titles" or central themes of the case histories are: "A Search for Identity," "An Avoidance of a Life Issue," "An Escape from Anxiety," "A Substitute for Intimacy," "In Search of Self-Esteem," "A Source of Power," and " A Way of Sustaining the Status Quo."
Sexual Detours concludes with several chapters that address the meaning and significance of affairs, a kind of series "post-mortem." Much sage advice is incorporated in these chapters concerning ways in which burdensome guilt may be assuaged and relationships may be rejuvenated with more ease and trust. All in all, readers are provided illuminating insights into the complexities, confusion, and disorder that characterize much of modern life. No facile nostrums are provided, but the wisdom that pervades Sexual Detours can be helpful indeed.
Sexual Detours: The Startling Truth Behind Love, Lust, and Infidelity by Holly Hein, Ph.D. is published by St. Martins Press, New York (2000).
Mervin Freedman, Ph.D., a Board member of CICSW and an editor of Clinical Connections, practices in Berkeley.
