Hungry for Ecstasy Trauma, the Brain, and the Influence of the Sixties

Hungry for Ecstasy: Trauma, Dissociation, and the Influence of the Sixties by Sharon K. Farber explores the hunger for ecstatic experience that can lead people down the road to self-destruction, in an attempt to help mental health professionals and concerned individuals understand and identify the phenomenon and ultimately intervene with patients, friends, and loved ones. Farber discusses the different means people may use to reach states of ecstasy and examines the implications of these varied experiences. Hungry for Ecstasy explores not only different dissociative processes and their relationship to feelings of ecstasy, but also the factors that may drive individuals to seek these states out. Finally, Farber draws from her own experiences as a mental health professional to offer advice on how to help the individual who is seeking ecstasy at the risk of his or her own well-being.  

Sharon Klayman Farber, PhD, is a Board Certified Diplomate in clinical social work. She is the author of When the Body is the Target: Self-Harm, Pain, and Traumatic Attachments.