Book Secret 4

It may interest many to know that, despite my clinical perspective and intentional discussion of Posttraumatic Stress, there are no clinical diagnoses provided about Sylvia Plath in my book. This is intentional. Too many, I believe, have diagnosed Sylvia, put her in one or a combination of many diagnostic categories, labeling her, stigmatizing her, objectifying her, reducing her to a "condition" and detracting from the real human, more complex challenges she faced. And yet, I don't believe any of those who have diagnosed her have ever met or worked with Ms. Plath in therapy. I do believe diagnoses are over-rated in their significance, used and relied upon too much. Yes, they do help us with defining the problem, but we must be cautious not to see the diagnosis as the person, or as a sole, one-and-only, absolute truth-teller about a person.. Plath has been given many diagnoses and identified as psychotic, schizophrenic, bipolar, schizoaffective, majorly depressed, panic disordered, borderline in personality, chronically suicidal, and more. Yet, as you hear these labels, do they really tell us about Sylvia's uniqueness of self, about her unique journey in life? My intent in "Trauma and the Golden Lady" was to understand, "stand-under" and see this unique, gifted lady. Yes, I chose to look with an eye to the impact of trauma, but never to define her as PTSD. Indeed, although I do believe she suffered the effects of trauma and experienced features or symptoms of PTSD, not being her therapist and not being-with her in therapy, leads me away from diagnosing. Only a real therapeutic relationship with her would lead me to a diagnosis of PTSD and, even then, I would view this as giving me one of many "factors or issues" to consider as impacting Sylvia's life and her distress. As the book shows, I hope, Sylvia's life, as with all human life, is much too complex, rich and multi-faceted to put in one or two or so diagnostic category boxes. Sylvia Plath was a gifted lady, a golden lady, a person who, like all of us, sought to be happy, healthy and fulfilled, while dealing with the challenges of life that came her way. In therapy, I try (sometimes fail. How easy it is for the ego to get in the way.) to always look to the unique gift of the human being I meet and seek to put aside my issues and view and appreciate and understand the world of the other. As one of my gifted mentors would say, "be an unassuming presence." Staying human and humble helps me to help others.