Welcome To My Newsletter, Inkblots And Interpretations!
The psychologist who writes psychological fiction. Let's talk.
Welcome, new subscribers! I’ve chosen this space to share my thoughts about psychological topics I find interesting, with linked articles and resources for those who may also be intrigued by issues related to mental health and recovery.
I & I also allows me to highlight recent blogs I’ve posted, excerpts, and teasers from my current projects, a window into my writing process, and those things that inspire my stories.
Recent Blogs
Over the last two months, I’ve written several blogs on matters I thought were timely and fascinating. Here is a sampling:
• The Stigma of a Mental Illness and the Tragedy of Not Recognizing the Reality of It by J. Herman Kleiger | December 14, 2023
I found Jonathan Rosen’s book The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions a riveting read. The story about the tension between mental health stigma and minimizing the impact of severe mental illness prompted me to write about finding the balance between advocating for the rights of the mentally ill and developmentally disabled while still recognizing their vulnerabilities and needs for treatment and support.
The Best Minds is a cautionary tale for when the balance tips in favor of the former while ignoring the latter…
• Navigating Bipolar Disorder: Key Information on Diagnosis and Treatment by J. Herman Kleiger | December 24, 2023
Having recently completed an edited volume on The Psychological Assessment of Bipolar Spectrum Disorders, for the American Psychological Association, I wanted to provide a snapshot about bipolar disorders for interested lay readers.
This blog provides essential information about the diagnosis and treatment of bipolarity, as well as how bipolar disorders have been portrayed in literature, including my novels, The 11th Inkblot and Tears Are Only Water.
• Breaking the Silence: Uncovering the Lingering Impact of Hidden Trauma by J. Herman Kleiger | February 15, 2024
My clinical encounters inspired my most recent blog with individuals suffering from traumatic events, which, by most standards, remain implicit and often hidden. In contrast to highly visible, easily recognized traumas like combat, rape, abuse, and natural disasters, there are myriad hidden forms of trauma.
Some of these, like bullying and authoritarian religious indoctrination, have not been recognized for their impact on individual lives. Other hidden forms of traumatization are often unspeakable, like the suicide of a family member or extreme acts of violence committed by a family member.
In these situations, survivors may harbor hidden shame and, in the case of violence committed by family members, face condemnation by their communities and have few people willing to hear about their unspeakable grief.
Other forms of hidden/unrecognized trauma include the arduous plight of migrants, the insidious impact of poverty, and the trauma that people experience in abusive relationships…
What’s Next?
My novels and many of my blogs involve themes of trauma. I want to write a piece on the societal traumatization we’ve all endured over the last decade.
Going all the way back to 2001 and continuing to the present time, we’ve been whipsawed by the convulsive shattering of societal norms and expectations.
The outcome of the 2016 election, the Pandemic, and the January 6th insurrection, polarized beliefs, and an assault on established norms are a sampling of collective traumatization from which we’re still experiencing peri- and posttraumatic symptoms.
Other Writing Projects
My colleague Dr. Ali Khadivi and I will release our second edition of Assessing Psychosis: A Clinician’s Guide (Routledge) later this year. Our original volume was widely read among members of the mental health community seeking to understand the nature of psychosis.
The book will include new chapters on psychosis risk, conspiracy theories vs delusions, and assessing psychosis within forensic and multicultural contexts.
My second novel, Tears Are Only Water, was released in January and has received some excellent reviews. TAOW blends themes of trauma, madness, and recovery together with Indigenous healing and arcane mathematical facts and formulae and wraps them all in a blanket of mystery and criminal intrigue.
"A visit from a ghost, terrible traumas, and numbers that don't match up—Carmine has a handful of questions, but one persists...Who is the face he keeps seeing at the window?
A mystery and a journey of self-discovery, J. Herman Kleiger's Tears Are Only Water takes a complex character and a windy plot and breaks it down layer by layer, until finally, everything is laid bare. Poignant, intricate, and intriguing, Tears Are Only Water is a progressive tale of intense awakening."
—Michaela Gordoni, San Francisco Book Review
Whispers, my WIP, is a sequel to Tears Are Only Water. Storylines of several key characters from TAOW will appear in Whispers. Eight chapters in, I’m excited about crafting another story of psychological intrigue, breakdown, and redemption with an ensemble of poignant, quirky characters––some new and others familiar.
Here is a teaser from the beginning of the book. It is a poem that is found at the scene of a murder:
Comes the Whisperer
In the quiet of the night, silence prickles the skin and murmuring voices speak,
Telling stories in hushed tones of private lives and secrets buried so deeply that no one can hear,
Comes the Whisperer.
Tell me your secrets,
Speak to me of sin and shame,
And trust me with your soul.
—Anonymous
What to Read and Watch
• I’ve recently begun Debbie Young’s Sophie Sayer’s cozy mystery series. Debbie is a terrific storyteller who writes immaculate prose and creates vivid settings for her characters to show and tell us about their experiences.
• I’m also finishing Abraham Verghese’s Covenant of Water. A masterful writer and storyteller, Verghese is easy to read and easier to listen to, if you’re following along on the audiobook version.
• I’ve seen a few intriguing shows, including binge-watching the Coen Brothers Fargo. An array of offbeat characters and twisty plots feeds the imagination over five seasons. Will there be a sixth season??
• An inveterate consumer of BritBox shows, I’ve become addicted to Shetland, Line of Duty, Grace, and A Confession. The characters are complex, often troubled and conflicted, and the plots are always intriguing. I love these shows!
Finally, cold winter nights bring warmer summertime memories to mind. Here are a few of my favorite images of warmer times.
I look forward to connecting with you. You can learn more about me at jhermankleiger.com.
What a great intro to your world, Dr. Kleiger! Thank you for all the great resources, also.