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Thanks to the recent news about the Texas Observer, I learned about Corrections in Ink and bought a copy. From the online blurb; "Keri Blakinger is the author of Corrections in Ink, a memoir about addiction, incarceration and building a life after it all.

In her day job, she is a staff writer at The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news site dedicated to covering the criminal jutice sustem. Her work focuses on uncovering the worst parts of American prisons, and exposing flaws in the county's criminal justice system. Before coming to TMP, she covered prisons and prosecutors for The Houston Chronicle and her work has also appeared in VICE, the BBC, the New York Daily News, The New York Times and more.

She was part of the Houston Chronicle team whose coverage of Hurricane Harvey in 2017 was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Two years later, she wrote a piece for the Washington Post Magazine's Prison Issue, which won a National Magazine Award. Currently, she lives in Texas."

So far I am really enjoying it.

The author is a professional therapist, and she has formulated an approach to dealing with trauma based on her clinical experience and expertise, that draws on a wide evidence base.

Her approach is novel and probably as a result controversial, as it also involves critiques of other approaches to trauma therapy. It’s difficult to describe why this book is so good, the method described, called “parts therapy” makes a lot of sense. The goal is to help people understand how and why trauma influences their emotional state, and how to integrate trauma effects positively, without focusing on the trauma. There is a body of thought that suggests that approach, of focusing on trauma, only reactivates it and keeps people emotionally trapped. I love this book and have revisited key chapters frequently since first reading it. The book isn’t designed to be a self help course, it’s aimed at explaining the method to therapists and people looking for therapists, but I still found it really helpful as someone who can’t afford therapy, to understand my own struggles more fully.