Healing of a Psychotherapist by Charles McCormack, MA, MSW, LCSW-C.

Healing of a Psychotherapist by Charles McCormack, MA, MSW, LCSW-C.

As a young boy, I was often called too sensitive by my well-meaning mother. She was referring to the fact that events affected me deeply, and because of this, I gave a lot of thought to them. Raised in a military family by an abusive father, I had much to think about.

My journey as a writer began with my journey as a thinker, far before I put pen to paper. Rebellious and a risk-taker, I was admitted to Loyola College of Baltimore, now Loyola University, under social and academic probation. There I was introduced to religious and philosophical theories and loved the thinking entailed. Nonetheless, having majored in economics, I entered the business world only to quit several years later to go on a camping trip that had no destination in mind. I planned to travel till the money ran out, to go for broke.

During this trip, I realized I didn’t need a job but a calling, and what called to me was my need to understand myself and others. I became a psychotherapist, authored several publications, joined the faculty of the Washington School of Psychiatry, named the Clinician of the Year by the Maryland Society of Clinical Social Worker, and honored by the University of Maryland School of Social Work with the Emeritus Award for contributions to the field.

However, I still felt unsettled. Trying to understand why became one of several motivations for writing my memoir. During the ensuing seven years, I relived my past, processing my memories in bits and pieces, sometimes crying, sometimes laughing, until they coalesced into “Healing of a Psychotherapist.” Along the way, I came to understand that my story was unique to me, but the journey was not. Rather, it reflected many of the struggles we all contend with as part of the human condition. Others agreed. “Healing of a Psychotherapist” won the Eric Hoffer 2022 Montaigne Medal for the most thought-provoking book of the year.

Fortuitously, in the telling of my story, I discovered what had been holding me back. Relieved of this constraint, I was finally content.