Seven Rooms: Author’s Preface by Yong Cho, PhD
Author’s Preface
It was the fall of 1999, when I was completing my clinical training at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York. Among the clients I met, one woman stood out to me.
When I first saw her, she was elegantly dressed, highly intelligent, and remarkably articulate. I wondered why she had come to the hospital. As psychotherapy progressed, however, I came to learn about the hidden scars of self-harm across her body, her unhappy childhood marked by a deep hunger for love, and the wounds left by years of sexual abuse by a relative. Outwardly, she appeared beautiful and composed; inwardly, she was marked by unbearable pain.
Whenever she was alone at night, she was overcome by intense anger and emotional upheaval, and she would harm both her body and her heart.
Over the past 17 years, as a psychologist and psychotherapist, I have met countless people suffering from similar pain. Through their suffering, I have come to understand more deeply both the true face of human beings and our imperfection.
Psychotherapy has a history of more than 100 years in the West, but in Korea it remains unfamiliar to many people. When I lecture on psychotherapy in Korea, I often meet people who view the treatment process as mysterious or understand it only in fragments.
This book began with one question: How can people come to understand psychotherapy more accurately?
For that reason, I chose the form of a novel to show parts of the psychotherapy process and to allow readers to experience it indirectly. Through this book, readers will be able to gain an engaging understanding of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), which treats severe emotion dysregulation, borderline personality disorder, and self-destructive behaviors; Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE), which treats Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); and the treatment of eating disorders.
This book contains seven stories adapted from the actual records of clients. It was made possible by the courageous clients who willingly agreed to allow their real experiences to be written and published. By facing painful memories they did not wish to reveal, they helped create a meaningful opportunity for treatment and understanding.
As they hoped, I sincerely wish that, through this book, many people who are suffering from overwhelming psychological pain will discover new possibilities and come to see psychotherapy with a sense of hope.
March 2016
Yong Cho, PhD
