The Stethoscope Cure

Already reeling from his tragic mishandling of a patient under his care, Dr. Paul Gilverstein-a first year psychiatric resident at the New York VA-- finds out that his young wife is pregnant. Caught off-guard, Paul begins to question his marriage, career choice, and very sense of self. As Paul drifts closer and closer to the edge, the Chief of Psychiatry dumps on him one of the Department's toughest outpatient cases: Sgt. Lionel Tool, an angry vet just back from Vietnam. In the process, Paul finds himself compelled to confront some troubling questions: Can a psychiatrist who has never been to war heal veterans who have? How do you help someone who really needs you, when you need help yourself? With enormous psychological acuity and drawing on his own personal experience during the Vietnam War, Sam Osherson lays bare the deeply personal human relationship that underlies psychotherapy. This dynamic between patient and therapist turns out to have wide-ranging repercussions not just in the professional realm but in Paul Gilverstein's private life as well. In the final analysis, THE STETHOSCOPE CURE is a novel about how a man heals himself by listening to his heart in relationship with others, not with a medical instrument but with the tools of his own humanity. "Vivid, moving, funny, sexy....BRAVO." --Justin Frank, MD, author of Obama on the Couch and Bush on the Couch "Sam Osherson explores what it means to fall apart and become whole with rare precision and grace. Wrenching, honest, and shot through with moments of great humor, The Stethoscope Cure deepens and enlarges our understanding of what it means to be alive. Osherson's love for his characters is contagious, and the generosity and wisdom of his vision are a gift. This is a beautiful, riveting novel. " Abigail DeWitt, author, LILI and DOGS "A touching and edgy portrait of contemporary marriage" --Sophie Powell, author, The Mushroom Man "Sam Osherson conjures up a very vivid and telling portrait of a pivotal moment in American history when the horrors of the Vietnam war transformed not only our national, but also our personal and psychological consciousness. The Stethoscope Cure is a gripping study of the nature of a young psychiatrist's coming of age and his search for meaning and relatedness in the context of personal and national chaos. It provides an authentic and compelling representation of day to day work and life in our psychiatric hospitals, and reminds us that the questions we struggled with in and out of these hospitals during the 1960s remain largely unanswered. " --Sanford L. Drob, Ph.D. formerly Senior Forensic Psychologist and Director of Psychological Assessment, Bellevue Hospital, New York "I literally couldn't put this novel down and zoomed through the last 60 pages. A powerful, moving and thoroughly absorbing recreation of the turbulent times that were the late '60's. Osherson vividly captures the Vietnam War's effects on soldiers as well as on those attempting to treat them. I was reminded often of the men I interviewed for my book, their suffering, their painful memories . A potent mix about times we need to remember, being played out again now with this generation." -- Tom Weiner, Author of "Called to Serve: The Stories of Men and Women Affected By The Vietnam Draft"