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Suicide prevention by snail mail

October 31st, 2008 Dennis - Central

When No One Understands : Letters to a Teenager on Life, Loss, and the Hard Road to Adulthood presents psychologist Brad Sach’s efforts to reach an uncommunicative teen who recently attempted suicide.  After his client remained mute during their first therapy session together he decided to try corresponding with her.  She responded and, even though she eventually began verbalizing during their face-to-face encounters, their correspondence therapy continued. 

Each chapter takes the form of a letter that responds to an opening question in the form of a chapter title.  Individual chapters deal with parents, siblings, loneliness, self-mutilation, drugs and alcohol, sex, grief, death, and the future, so there’s quite a lot of information being dispensed.  Most of the chapters are fairly short and, while not superficial, deal with issues on a level that a teen can relate and respond to.  There’s even a happy ending.  Additional sections at the end of the book are addressed to teens, parents, and other therapists, explaining the author’s intentions and offering suggestions for readers in each of the groups.

I should note that the young woman’s letter’s were not included, just Dr. Sach’s responses, and he makes clear that his letters have been edited for clarity, so his responses lay out the problem of the week in context before he begins his response and suggests an interpretation of the situation.  And, really, his responses and interpretations seem almost too good at times.  It’s easy to see where those stories of people falling in love with their therapists come from.  My one area of discomfort with this work is that each chapter includes a farewell signature such as “With respect for your courage” or “With appreciation for your patience” or “With respect for your struggles.”  It’s a little cloying for my taste, but that’s just me.

That reservation aside, it’s an extremely accessible and valuable examination of that painful transitional period between childhood and adulthood and worthwhile reading for teens and people who care about them.

Also available in a Spanish language version.

Entry Filed under: Nonfiction, Young Adult