All therapeutic work described in this book happens online. The pandemic forced therapists to move to remote work but Anastasia Piatakhina Giré had already been working with her clients in this way for a decade. Her stories show how a curious and skilled online therapist can make the most of the unexpected gifts that ‘screen’ therapy offers – be it the intrusion of a pet, a parent breaking into the session, or a client taking her therapist for a trip outside. Rather than being somehow ‘less’, taking therapeutic conversations out of a physical therapy room breathes a new energy and new possibilities into the therapeutic process. These conversations happening through the screen have a surprising close-up quality and foster a different kind of intimacy and intensity. Giré’s years of experience reveal the positives of digital practice, including how it enables multilingual, cross-cultural therapy, and will inspire others who work in this way or are considering a move to online therapy. Her accessible storytelling has a broad appeal to those working in psychotherapy and to the general reader curious about human psychology, diversity, and contemporary psychotherapy.
Irvin D. Yalom, MD, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, Stanford University –
‘This is first-rate storytelling; these tales of therapy entirely drew me in and left me wanting more. A most impressive debut collection.’
Lawrence Rubin, PhD, ABPP, Psychotherapist and Editor of Psychotherapy.net –
‘This rich compilation of riveting, international online therapy tales prove that barriers and boundaries can be traversed by a skilled and caring clinician. A multilingual and courageous émigré and explorer, Piatakhina Giré offers no less than a dynamic clinical travelogue during the height of a global pandemic. Despite great distances, both psychological and geographic, her storytelling unlocks the mysteries of the human experience directly from the heart of psychotherapy.’
Monica McGoldrick, Director of the Multicultural Family Institute, New Jersey and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School –
‘A brilliant guide to therapy during the pandemic – or at any time. Piatakhina Giré is a master therapist and writer. She offers fascinating illustrations of an online therapist working with clients from all over the world. Unlocked reads like a suspense novel, but the thoughtful, respectful and profound interventions are just enough to help clients free themselves from the circumstances that have locked them up.’
Joseph Burgo, PhD, Clinical Psychologist and author of Building Self-Esteem: How Learning from Shame Helps Us to Grow –
‘Beyond revealing how distance therapy thrived in surprising ways during worldwide lockdowns, these wise stories bring to life the unexpected richness of online psychotherapy – unique sources of therapeutic insight offered by visual cues and physical intrusions from a patient’s ‘virtual’ life. More profoundly, Piatakhina Giré shows how unconscious shame locks down so many of us; she models how an insightful, sensitive therapist may help them to break free of it, whether in person or online.’
Katharine Graham, integrative psychotherapist, New Psychotherapist –
‘With an undoubted storytelling ability, [Giré] takes us into the world of the therapist, accompanying her as she journeys with each of these clients. […] It is a very readable book. Giré writes beautifully, and very visually, and it is easy to imagine her clients as they appear to the therapist on the screen. I would recommend this book to anyone curious about how relational therapy supports transformation and healing, and especially if you are concerned that online work may not be adequately relational.’