In Diary of a Country Therapist, Dr. Marcia Hill chronicles more than a decade of her thoughts and feelings about practicing therapy in rural Vermont. She shares her professional challenges, psychological revelations, and emotional upheavalsand ultimately, the fulfillment she foundworking in this extraordinarily demanding therapeutic environment. While this text will be enlightening for mental health professionals of all kinds, its accessible, jargon-free style makes it an excellent selection for nonprofessionals who want insight into the mind of a practicing therapist.

• INTRODUCTION
  
• But First, a Word from My Sponsors
  
• Welcome
  
• 1989
  
• Putting the Heart to Work
  
• Let Me Go!
  
• Professional Loneliness
  
• The Gift of Transference
  
• The Feminist Gets Nervous
  
• Be Careful What You Ask For
  
• Courage
  
• Failure
  
• Feeding the Soul
  
• Coming Home
  
• Christmas As a Defense Mechanism
  
• 1990
  
• Faking It
  
• The Witness Protection Program
  
• Visibility
  
• Weightlessness
  
• Identity
  
• Heal Thyself
  
• Doing It for Free
  
• Neighbors
  
• Zen Landscape
  
• What's It Worth?
  
• 1991
  
• Back to Kindergarten
  
• The Bright Line
  
• The Cost of Silence
  
• Remembering What's Sacred
  
• Pain Makes the Best Therapist
  
• Bending the Rules
  
• The Politics of Therapy
  
• Finally Getting the Drift
  
• 1992
  
• Spiritual Winter
  
• The Feminist Therapist Diagnoses Oppression
  
• How Magic Works
  
• A Surprise
  
• Working When It Hurts
  
• Ignorance
  
• The Delicate Balance
  
• Worth a Thousand Words
  
• Getting Done
  
• 1993
  
• A Known Evil
  
• Paying the Price
  
• One of the Perks
  
• The Expensive Gift
  
• Up from the Ashes
  
• It's for You
  
• Pissed Off
  
• Trusting the Experts
  
• Living Outside the Lines
  
• 1994
  
• Nowhere to Hide
  
• A Slump
  
• The Curative Powers of May
  
• Hear What I Do, Not What I Say
  
• The War Against Women
  
• Soul-Searching
  
• Emotional Whiplash
  
• It Takes Guts
  
• 1996
  
• Ripped Open
  
• Managed Care Rears Its Ugly Head
  
• Life's Vicissitudes
  
• For Love and Money
  
• Breath
  
• Transformation or Technician
  
• It Takes All the Running You Can Do
  
• And Now, a Word from Mother Nature
  
• Turning Gold into Lead
  
• The Therapist Finally Matures
  
• A Punch in the Gut
  
• Still Hurting
  
• 1997
  
• Trying to Stay Sane
  
• God Visits the Therapist
  
• There but for the Grace of God
  
• The Trauma Attack
  
• Leaving Where the Edges Are
  
• The Knowledge of Death
  
• Heroes
  
• Sucking the Soul out of Therapy
  
• Ode to November
  
• No Winners Here
  
• 1998
  
• Panic
  
• Keeping Perspective
  
• Grounded
  
• The Therapist Lets Go
  
• Working While Drowning
  
• Powerlessness and Joy
  
• Grace
  
• The Noose Tightens
  
• The Terror Time
  
• Darkness
  
• Hedonism Cures Overresponsibility
  
• Slipping the Bounds of Self
  
• Becoming Visible
  
• 1999
  
• The Truth About Sin
  
• On the Way out the Door
  
• Hard Work
  
• What I've Learned
  
• Invitation to Joy
  
• Honor
  
• Still Miles to Go Before We Sleep
  
• The Truth About Relationships
  
• The Lesson Repeated
  
• Choice
  
• Acceptance
  
• Taking Stock
  
• Authenticity
  
• 2000
  
• Coming to Terms
  
• The Existential Moment
  
• Forgiveness
  
• What to Do When You Don't Like It
  
• Midlife
  
• Omnipotence
  
• Searching for the Truth
  
• The Other Path
  
• CONCLUSION
  
• Counting My Blessings