Sophie Freud, Ph.D. Professor Emerita, Simmons College, School of Social Work

“A modest paperback book, published without media fanfare and therefore in danger that its treasure trove of stories of human endurance, suffering, dignity, courage, and/or despair may be overlooked.  Dr. Climo brings his humanity - which emerges from each of his stories-a new perspective, new energy, creativity into every new setting he enters.  His temporary status allows him more spontaneity, less conformity to the often rigidified rules of a particular place, more freedom to use unconventional methods in his encounters, relloying on his intuition, good judgment, extended knowledge and experience to meet his patients’ needs.”



Marie Harris, Barrington, freelance writer and former Poet Laureate of New Hampshire
“With unusual empathy and considerable literary skill, Dr. Climo recounts the stories of the people for whom he cared. Each vignette is a kind of prose poem, by turns riveting, tender, funny, disturbing and heartbreaking. And his deftly and honestly rendered tales serve as object lessons in the extraordinary power of the very ordinary act of listening. This book will surely hold an important and necessary place in the literature of healing.”



Deirdre C. Neilen, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Bioethics and Humanities, SUNY Medical University
"Thoroughly enjoyable, a wonderful and important read." ("The Healing Muse")



Leo Goldberger, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Psychology, New York University

“A born storyteller, Dr. Climo vividly describes his various assignments, illustrated by riveting narratives of some of the patients and their predicaments. He clearly struggles with his personal psyche, but in the end comes to term with his sense of loss in the context of a broader awareness of the human spirit. A notable feature in Dr. Climo’s book is the attention he gives to the cultural differences he observed as he moved about the country.  Altogether a delightful lighthearted treat!”



Dennis McCrory, M.D., Board of Directors, National Alliance of the Mentally Ill - NAMI
“An engrossing account of Dr. Climo’s “adventures” as a locum tenen, a psychiatric temp, in several very different programs and locales across America.  He admits us into his practice via a series of stories, not just the clinical facts but, unusually, his own experiences of these encounters with patients and the cultures in which they live and receive their treatment. 



James Sacksteder, M.D. Associate Medical Director, Austen Riggs Center
“Anyone interested in healing should read this book. It is a deeply humane and wise meditation on the factors that either contribute toward or impede healing. Dr. Climo artfully interweaves his efforts at healing his own wounds with an account of his clinical encounters with the people who he is attempting to help heal. Like the after work glass of sherry, this book should be sipped not gulped. I usually read two or three vignettes at a time and then stopped to think about what I had read and to sit with the feelings that had been evoked. I was often moved by his account of what his patients struggled with, by how he thought about them, by the parallels drawn to his own troubles, and by his ongoing efforts to discover ways to help and heal.”



Jean Milofsky, M.D., Reviewer for American Journal of Psychiatry 2010 (February)
“This is a talented psychiatrist who turned the very painful experience of being terminated from an almost 20-year job as medical director in a big New England clinic into the beginning of the next chapter of his life. His decision took guts and heart, great flexibility, and apparently a great spouse.”

Thomas Griebling, M.D. Journal of Aging, Humanities, and the Arts
“The real treasure of this volume is hearing the voice of the older healer shine through the stories.  The book serves as an outstanding example of the power of narrative analysis in the process of health and healing.”



Cecile Lawrence, Ph.D., J.D. Metapsychology Online Reviews
“This book is very reminiscent also of the hero’s journey, or even Cervantes’ longer Novelas Ejemplares because Dr. Climo presents a focused and mostly indirect critique and interpretation of the social, political as well as medical problems of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, wending his way between history and creative writing.”



Terri Kelley, Merimack Valley Magazine

“Recounted in beautiful prose, and with stunning clarity, each memorable vignette describes how healing takes place - or doesn’t.  Some of the stories are heart-wrenching: others are heartwarming.  Some...are both.  This book defies categorization.  It is at once a diary, a memoir, a collection of stories, a meditation- but most importantly it is a journey into the human soul and the healing power of the simple act of listening with mind and heart.