Friday 27 June 2014

Don't Stand So Close by Luana Lewis


One of the most poignant sub-plots in the book is the ethics, trust and morality upon which a therapeutic relationship depends. Therapists must abide by certain rules and regulations. Always. No deviation from them.The client is vulnerable and that vulnerability can not and should not under any circumstance be exploited.

When the client accuses the therapist of breaching that trust, it can be a career breaker. Then again who is going to believe a quite obviously disturbed individual.

Unfortunately Blue decides to stalk and share her stories with Stella, a therapist unable to carry out her job anymore because she is suffering from agoraphobia.

Her phobia is caused by post traumatic stress, her fear of the outside and confronting the world has become all-consuming. Days spent in a haze of drugs and alcohol to forget and hide from her past.

I have to say I was really angry the way the traumatic event was handled by Stella, Max and Peter. Like so many other victims it is just swept under the rug and the sweeping ultimately leads to the agoraphobia. Such an hypocritical reaction for someone in her profession and at the same time so very human.

The traumatic event was done very well. It is disturbing, uncomfortable and very realistic. The perpetrator is very experienced.
The author has created an extremely tense psychological game of cat and mouse between Stella and Blue with the looming presence of accused hanging over them both like a dark cloud.
An extremely good read.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.

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