Let's All Hold Hands and Drop Dead - by Elaine J Cooper (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Quietly step into a group therapy meeting and listen to the members and the celebrated group therapist struggle to connect in true relationship. Witness the Russian Revolution and famine through the eyes of a boy. Watch two Jewish children in East L.A. in the 50's, trying to make sense of their world. Go deep into the Social Unconscious and discover how these adventures are not only connected to each other but to YOU as well.

Review Quotes

"Elaine Jean Cooper, an internationally renowned group psychotherapist and teacher, writing from both personal memories and diaries of her family members, has produced an intensely intimate and often heartbreaking account of how the ravages of war and poverty resonate unconsciously through subsequent generations, and deeply affect the capacity for happiness and intimacy. And through the lens of her therapy group, we experience the universality of the struggle to transcend trauma and find loving connection. This is a courageous and important work-deeply affecting and packed with wisdom about human nature." Dennis J. Zeitlin, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco

"...a treasure trove of personal and professional insights, roiling emotions from both... a veritable human drama played out on two continents and within the confines of a tightly knit therapy group." George Lee Butler, General, U.S. Air Force (retired)

"...extraordinarily poignant, engaging, colorful, sensual, evocative, and funny...an original and creative weaving of professional, personal, intergenerational, historic cultural...superb!" Les R. Greene, Ph. D, President, American Group Psychotherapy Association

"A spellbinding literary work that memorializes the dynamics of group interaction as it is played out in both the intimate relationships of a family and in group psychotherapy...a passionate and complex story that documents the parallel struggles of intergenerational strife in both personal and professional life. Bette Korman, Founder and Director Emirates of the Children's Museum of Manhattan

"An absolutely gorgeous, magnificently written, insightful, vulnerable, informing, personal and universal, at times funny, at times excruciating revelation!"Patricia Stamm, M.D., Psychiatrist, San Francisco, California, Songwriter, Artist

"A family's journey from holocaust to redemption; a therapy group's journey from despair to wholeness...the work of the courageous group members offers hope for humanity." Lurline Aslanian, Ph.D., M.S.W., Psychoanalyst, Sarasota, Florida

"I liked the image of circles within circles, sort of ripples of attachments, but also circles that sometimes don't intersect at all (no attachment) or only a little (weak attachments). What a lovely image for families and generations and for therapy." Robert Tyminski, DMH, Jungian analyst and President, CG Jung Institute of San Francisco

"I think the book is fabulous. The way the strands are woven together is compelling. The comments about group, the members of the group, therapist interventions, and your belief its efficacy comes through loud and clear and rings true." Jerome S. Gans, MD, Associate Clinical Professor, Harvard Medical School

About the Author

Elaine Cooper is a Clinical Professor at the University of California School of Medicine at San Francisco. She is an internationally recognized expert in the practice of group psychotherapy. She has been on the faculty of Smith College, New York University, New York Medical College, Hunter College, Adelphi University and U.C. Berkeley. She currently has a clinical practice in Berkeley, California.