![]() Ruth, a supermarket worker, aches to understand why her stepfather tormented her years ago, after her father had left the family. I should have preferred the less weighted word ‘need’, since sexual desire may certainly be present yet is not central to most of these case histories.įor example, Agatha, a retired nurse, is anxious about her extremely annoying adult son and needs him to accept her new love affair in late middle age. It is also, even if the therapist operates a sliding scale of fees, very expensive.Ĭhung’s subtitle is, ‘Conversations on desire, power, love and growth’, but the word ‘desire’ is itself open to question, since these days we tend (rightly or wrongly) to attach it first and foremost to sexuality. In these engaging and, at times, demanding chapters, Chung makes it clear that real psychotherapy, with a dedicated, experienced practitioner, is a complicated, time-consuming and interactive business. People often write to my Saturday advice column saying they have ‘tried counselling’ - and I’m afraid that phrase usually means just a couple of sessions. What becomes clear, reading this ‘love letter to seven patients I cannot name’ is that, thankfully, there is no ‘one size fits all’ about the therapeutic exploration the author embarks on with each client, in intense weekly visits that can continue for two or three years. She identifies a ‘feared longing’ within (by implication) all women - which may or may not be true, or might even be on a level with the ludicrous so called penis-envy. What women ‘want’ depends on who we are and what we’ve gone through and how we intend to work towards our individual futures - as psychotherapist Maxine Mei-Fung Chung reveals Really? Are we? I recognise none of those conditions in women I know. What I want to understand more deeply is what it is that keeps us in denial, loveless, a constant state of longing.’ But there is a complexity attached to our desire. In her introduction she writes: ‘Women are not a mystery and neither are our wants and needs. Maxine Mei-Fung Chung is also guilty of questionable generalisations. But of course, for others it will be true. ![]() ![]() When Byron wrote: ‘Man’s love is of man’s life a thing apart Tis a woman’s whole existence,’ I’d hope there was a feisty, independent woman bold enough to tell him where to get off. What women ‘want’ depends on who we are and what we’ve gone through and how we intend to work towards our individual futures - as psychotherapist Maxine Mei-Fung Chung reveals through seven portraits of women who came to her clinical practice looking for explanations and (hopefully) solutions to a variety of issues. Obviously, it is as absurd to generalise about ‘what women want’ as it is to lump together all men as beery, footie mad oiks who think about sex every two minutes. Mayhem almost certainly breaks loose when the cheater learns that their significant other has been listening in on another line the entire time.Sigmund Freud once wrote to a friend and asked 'What does a woman want?' Psychotherapist Maxine Mei-Fung Chung reveals several probably explanationsĪll these questions keep psychotherapists and journalists in business,although more complex truths might be found in great works like Anna Karenina and Middlemarch. When Hamilton finally unveils the prank the (often caught) cheater is confused and bewildered when they become aware that they've been taken in by a ruse. ![]() ![]() However, the cheatee' having previously been contacted, is in fact listening silently to the entire call on the another line. Finally this casual probing leads to where he or she would like the roses delivered too. During the call, Marie will ask the alleged cheater questions that might reveal information about their "relationship", to better help understand the nature of it. Marie acts as if she's calling from a floral company and offers the alleged cheater a free dozen roses in a beautiful crystal vase. After hearing the nature of their story they then begin to place a call to the suspected cheater. Hamilton & Marie take calls from listeners who are in cheating relationships. The show is written and produced by National Radio Hall of Fame personality, Sean “Hollywood” Hamilton, and is hosted by himself along with his "no-nonsense" sidekick Marie. War of the Roses is currently one of the most listened-to and highest-rated radio features in New York City. ![]()
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