The Eel & the Blowfish by Leanne Domash and Terry Marks-Tarlow

The Eel & the Blowfish: A Graphic Novel of Dreams, Trauma & Healing  by Leanne Domash and Terry Marks-Tarlow

Click Here to Purchase:  The eBook of this book on Amazon Kindle.

How do we speak about the unspeakable? How do we escape the darkest thing that’s happened to us? In The Eel & the Blowfish, Toni ventures into the recesses of her mind, seeking freedom from the consequences of incest. Through the guidance of her best friend Lulu and therapist Dr. Young, Toni finally finds her power.

This book contains courageous action, deep friendship, and gripping revelations. Dreamwork, fantasy, and psychotherapy enrich the complicated relationships between therapist and patient, brother and sister. Written and illustrated by two seasoned psychologists, this psychedelic, playful presentation transforms suffering into healing. It offers hope and guidance to those living with trauma plus inspiration to psychotherapists and their patients. For the general reader, it offers key insights into the world of loved ones suffering from trauma.

Leanne Domash, PhD, is a psychologist/psychoanalyst, writer, playwright, and Certified Embodied Imaginat on Practitioner in New York, NY. She has recently published Imagination, Creativity and Spirituality in Psychotherapy: Welcome to Wonderland.

Terry Marks-Tarlow, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, author, and artist in Santa Monica, CA. Her books span creativity, intuition, contemporary science, and mythology. She is Adjunct Professor at Pacifica Graduate Institute, and California Institute of Integral Studies.

Editorial Reviews:
“Leanne and Terry have provided us with a tremendous service: showing us how the dreaming imagination can process and digest traumatic events by creating manageable encounters with these horrors in the shape of poetic metaphors in nightmares. They show in absorbing graphics how shifting perspective away from the habitual way in which we tell ourselves our traumatic life stories, into an unfamiliar state of mind and soul, can create an inner space to heal. Trauma is depressingly frequent in this terrifying world of ours, covered over by a veneer of civility. The more ways we find of dealing with it, the better off we are. I am personally very pleased to welcome the first graphic novel that has the method of embodied imagination as a central theme!”
     ~Robert Bosnak, PsyA, Jungian psychoanalyst, originator of the Embodied Imagination dreamwork method

“This creative graphic novel vividly illustrates and accurately describes the power of relationships and evocative images in therapeutically working with traumatic memories.”
     ~Allan Schore, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine; author, Right Brain Psychotherapy.

“The Eel and the Blowfish is an engaging, brave, and creative view of the psychotherapeutic process. It breaks down the complex process of healing from trauma into a series of graphic landmarks that touch the heart and capture the imagination. Bravo Drs. Domash and Marks-Tarlow!”
     ~Louis Cozolino, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Pepperdine University; author, The Making of a Therapist

“In The Eel and the Blowfish Drs. Domash and Marks-Tarlow take the reader on a dream-like trip into the unconscious mind of a sexual trauma survivor. Through characters Toni, Lulu, and Charlie, a family secret is revealed, and Toni’s personal healing journey begins. Readers gain an intimate look into therapeutic processes likely to inspire healing hopefulness for any survivor of family trauma. With memorable stunning illustrations and gentle guidance for emotional containment, it offers courageous and compassionate guidance through the shame of sexual trauma.”
     ~Gina Simmons, PhD, author, Frazzlebrain: Break free from anxiety, anger, and stress using advanced discoveries in neuropsychology; executive coach; corporate trainer.

“As I read The Eel and the Blowfish graphic novel,  I was in awe of how the masterful weaving of precise words and evocative imagery entrained the depth and complexity of powerful therapeutic practices into practical application. This graphic novel provides practical steps and powerful ideas for the client, the therapist, the family and friends in working with trauma. Leanne’s and Terri’s own capacities to face the truth of trauma, to engender trust in relationships, and to transmit compassion are the subtexts that in themselves create context for healing and hope.”
     ~Narandja Milanovich Eagelson, PhD, Co-founder of the Embodied Imagination Program: Getting the Courage to Change, Executive Coach, Shamanic Healer

“The Eel and the Blowfish submerge the reader into the suffocating depths of the tangled web of incest. Smart and poignant with stunning imagery, Domash and Marks-Tarlow skillfully escort their characters through the painful terrain of contacting their unconscious, then illuminate the way to restoring wholeness. A must-read for psychotherapists and their patients!”
     ~Alexandra Katehakis, author, Sex Addiction As Affect Dysregulation: A Neurobiologically Informed Holistic Treatment;  Founder, Center for Healthy Sex, Los Angeles, California

This project was given generous support by the Psychoanalytic Society of the New York University Postdoctoral Program.