« The diary of a therapist », is a distillate of life of the well-known Psychotherapist, Trainer and Writer Haris Katakis. In this book, the author reverses the scene and talks about the human hiding behind the therapist. She turns the lens into her own experiences and shares with her readers the «wealth» she has gained through the stories she has heard, the therapeutic paths she was involved in and the kaleidoscopic experiences she has lived through. Revealing her work and her reflections on her work, she shares with her readers what she has learnt about herself, her family, our country, our cultural backgrounds, the political, social and economic happenings going on, and about the new world.
Thus, amongst many other things the reader will learn the importance of our contact with our genealogical and cultural backgrounds, in order to unite the links of our personal chain and find ourselves.
The author goes through personal experience to the therapist/therapeusant relationship, to the theoretical integration and so on. This multidimensional writing invites the reader to recapitulate the crucial turning points of his/her own personal course when s/he was called upon to make important decisions about his/her life.
In this book, among other things, we will read about the threads that tie us with others and how they spread out in time and space and keep us attached to persons we did not know and places we did not see. Generations, social transformations, struggles, wars, traditions are intertwined in our souls and in our contacts. We will learn how important - though we do not understand it - are the losses in comprehending our blockages. Mourning is settled in the family’s collective soul and is transferred to the descendants.
The author explains how she views the therapeutic relationship as a simulation of interpersonal relationships, where the archetypal characteristics of constructive dialogue could be illuminated. This requires an open transaction, parity and emotional participation between therapist and therapeusant.
In a simple and substantial manner, she illuminates the holistic view. She connects psychotherapy with social and positive sciences and with personal experiences, using elements from mythology, verses of songs and the wisdom of the people.
Using many extracts from therapeutic sessions she explores the meaning of psychosomatic symptoms, of provocative behavior, of mourning etc.
She talks about the processes through which she had accumulated knowledge. Over time, this accumulated treasure has been transformed into theoretical models such as the "Cognitive Reference System", the "model of the three eco-theories" and into theoretical concepts that she elaborated through dialogue with scientists from other disciplines, speaking the systemic language—the "Esperanto" of scientists. The concept of "teleonomic entropy" emerged from the discourse with her husband -a scientist –and helps us to understand how laboriously we struggle to keep our balances.
Where do we find the meaning of life? “It is recorded in the closed archives of our mind ... It is not visible but it determines how we will proceed, what choices we will make, what we will accept and what we will reject from those that knock on our door. It is the internal detector that guides us silently”.
She invites us to consider families in the context of cultural changes. Developments in information technology and internet offer today's man unlimited possibilities and have radically altered the meaning of key social and psychological coordinates. Human networks replace the hierarchical structures that maintain balance. They connect us to new forms of coexistence. The postmodern couple works with new standards. They seek and claim another "togetherness", but in the uncharted land where contemporary man is heading, contact with the roots is necessary. "If you do not know where to go, find out where you come from".
The publication of the book coincides with the completion of thirty years of operation of the Psychotherapeutic Educational and Research center "Laboratory for the Investigation of Human Relations", founded by Haris Katakis. Throughout her distinguished career as psychotherapist, trainer of new therapists and writer, Haris Katakis has been bold enough to challenge established perceptions and practices, to view things upside down, to “make waves”.
In the last pages of the book she asks..."Finally ... will you tell me if it's time to graduate? ...Much has changed in my life, but there is a lot that I did not see, I did not understand ... nothing ever closes; Heraclitus told us that everything keeps going on... We leave everything unfinished..."
She concludes with her granddaughter’s phrase ¨The creation of man makes me love as high as the sky "