The five stories of this short collection portray the mental health struggles of five memorable individuals as they are treated by a caring psychologist.

The preface and epilogue frame these five concise tales as the experiences of Dr. Jerome Masonheimer, a psychologist at a treatment facility called Kinzua State. The narrator describes Theresa, treated for a tendency to self-harm; Uhsah, a gentle recluse who retreats into warmer childhood memories; Dee, agonized by self-loathing over her appearance; Kuba, who exposes himself to get back at those who torment him; and Mallory, the doctor’s first experience of dissociative identity disorder, once known as multiple personalities.

As he recounts treatment sessions with this varied cast of patients, Masonheimer also sketches the culture of a publicly funded psychiatric hospital and the dedicated people on staff, including no-nonsense head nurses, employees who risk their physical well-being to care for others, and other psychologists who sometimes have their own axe to grind.

This collection serves as an epilogue to Geiger’s three novels about Masonheimer’s experiences at Kinzua State, fiction undoubtedly informed by Geiger’s own career as a psychologist. The subject matter, which addresses mental health struggles with compassionate awareness, will fascinate readers interested in the human mind. Each story is focused around one conflict and resolution and delivers a satisfying breakthrough for each patient.

However, some readers might feel the lack of a narrative arc or dramatic tension overall. The narrator doesn’t face his own conflicts or evolve, leaving the stories feeling more like fleshed-out case files. The prose is to the point, unadorned by figurative language or literary device, and the language of treatment doesn’t make for gripping dialogue, particularly when Masonheimer falls into diagnosis or discussion of psychological theories.

Nonetheless, the stories in this collection succeed as an effort to sympathetically portray the experiences of those fighting to restore their brain health and suggest the kinds of therapy those in treatment most need.

Also available as an ebook.