Delivering Doctor Amelia The Story of a Gifted Young Obstetrician's Error and the Psychologist Who Helped Her

"Voices are a soul's signature," says psychologist Dan Shapiro, who in his daily practice hears plenty of them. For all his expertise, he admits he's still terrified that "someone will keep something from me, and when they tell me the truth, I'll be useless." Treating other physicians has become one of Shapiro's specialties. When the obstetrician Amelia Sorvino seeks his helpdistraught that her own medical error could have injured a patient's baby Shapiro finds his talents as counselor and healer pushed to their limits. Session by session, he works to discover the sources of Amelia's anguish--for his own sake as much as hers: he's familiar with the burden of a doctor's guilt, and he has seen how loss and trauma, if unchecked, can echo from generation to generation in a family. In this probing, intensely personal memoir, the words "Physician, heal thyself" assume a fresh and moving urgency.

Dan Shapiro is an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Arizona, and the author of <b>Mom's Marijuana</b>. An expert on physician self-care and physician-patient relationships, he has been featured in the <i>New York Times</i>, the <i>Chicago Tribune</i>, <i>Salon</i>, and on ABCNews.com. He lives in Tucson. For more information, visit Dr. Shapiro's website at www.danshapiro.org.