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There are psychotherapists and there are writers. Joseph Glenmullen is a therapist. The Pornographer's Grief is a fairly interesting account of a sensitive, knowledgeable psychotherapist at work. The book is really a collection of short stories, each featuring a patient who presents sexual difficulties. It is pleasant and entertaining, but the writing is not of the caliber of the therapy.
Glenmullen repeatedly stresses that sexual symptoms are metaphors for larger psychological stresses and strains in a person's life. But as we have all been aware since Freud that sexual pathology is part of the psychopathology of everyday life, the theme appears to be a clever gimmick for the display of case histories in a manner that will sell the book.
For example, in the title story, “The Pornographer's Grief,” Scott complained that he was numb, that he felt like “an automaton going through the motions of life” (p. 1). Of course, his “numbness” showed in his sex life, in which he had a pattern of withdrawing sexually in his relationships. Actually, his interest in pornography was the one element left in which he could feel. The real problem was not his prurient interests, but the fact that he could not experience emotions of any other kind. Glenmullen helped Scott to articulate his repressed emotions. Eventually traumatic memories were uncovered, and Scott's pornographic addiction gradually fell away.
In addition to being a fine therapist, Glenmullen seems to be a very nice man. For example, he gives out his home phone number to patients in case they need to call him in an emergency. (I, too, made a habit off doing this and found very few patients ever took advantage of it.) He visits his patients in the hospital, although he is not the treating physician, even though some analysts would consider this “acting out.” He seems a very warm and compassionate