Fire of the Five Hearts

This book is about the influence of twenty years of work in the field of incest on a therapist's professional and personal life. It is comprised of individual cases, and touches upon topics including spirituality, sex between siblings, counter-transference, and incest teams. The author shares, in unadulterated prose, her experience as an incest therapist. This important, courageous work touches upon issues important to and resonant for mental health professionals treating incest and sexual abuse as well as the incest survivor or survivor's family member.

Holly A. Smith is the supervisor of the Boulder County Sexual Abuse Team in Colorado. She has taught graduate-level courses on the treatment of incest and sexual abuse at the Naropa Institute and has trained at the Denver University School of Social Work.