Is 'EMDR Toolbox' Suitable For Self-Help Therapy?

Cerena Rose thought marriage would bring passion, intimacy, and security. Instead, life with her husband, Daniel Hale, feels suffocating—controlled by his overbearing mother and trapped in a bedroom where desire has long gone cold. Desperate to fix their failing marriage, Daniel hires the most sought-after sex therapist in the country: Reid Romano. Confident. Dangerous. Unapologetically dominant. Reid opens Cerena’s eyes to a side of herself she never knew existed—a world of hidden desires, power, control, and pleasure she has spent her entire life suppressing. But therapy quickly becomes something far more complicated. Because Reid doesn’t just want to fix her marriage. He wants her. Every session pulls Cerena deeper into temptation, forcing her to question everything she thought she wanted. Her loyalty to her husband begins to crumble under Reid’s intoxicating dominance. And when lines between therapy, obsession, and forbidden desire begin to blur, Cerena must decide: Will she save her marriage… Or surrender to the man who truly understands her darkest cravings?

I was holding my wife as we slept when her phone suddenly gave a special alert tone. “Rachel, my whole body hurts. Please help me…” The message was from Daniel. He sounded entitled, and he even attached a photo of his abs. My wife pushed me away at once. “Wait for me. I will head over right away.” I could not hold back my anger. “Where are you going? It’s the middle of the night, and you are going to see him? He’s your brother-in-law. Can’t you keep a bit of distance? “Your sister has been dead for half a year. Do you have to take care of him like this forever?” Rachel suddenly raised her hand and slapped me. “Sam, he has post-traumatic stress disorder. You already know that. I am his psychologist, so what is wrong with helping him? Why are your thoughts so filthy? “Forget it. I can’t talk sense into someone like you. Stay home and reflect on yourself.” After saying that, she did not look at me again. We had been married for five years. Every time we argued, she would walk away and give me the cold shoulder. She knew how much I loved her, so she hurt me without restraint. She was certain that I would ultimately give in and try to make peace. However, this time, I did not try to salvage the situation anymore. My heart was dead. I did not want her anymore.

The novel consists of several mini-stories about therapy sessions at a therapy clinic named "Soulmate", but the letters "m-a-t-e" were broken in a storm. Each mini-story is narrated by both the psychologists and the patients, describe the patients' worldview, why they do what seems "mentally ill" to us. We often say that the patients' head is abnormal, that their way of thinking is so weird. But is there any possibility that it's because they received different (whether right or wrong) information, so they react differently? Is that just because we "normal people" haven't got enough understanding about this world? Throughout the story, we could see that therapy sessions are a two-way arrow. While the experts are affecting the patient, the patient is also influencing them,“When you look deeply into the darkness, the deep darkness is also looking into you". The story does not make any conclusion about who is right or which world is real, maybe all of them are real, maybe they are all virtual, or maybe, it all doesn't matter. Isn't the world where we live? Wherever you live, that's your world.

I have been a keeper of many secrets since I was old enough to know what secrets were. No one knows the truth or the real me. No one knows about the abuse I suffer from my father behind closed doors. No one knows about the cuts and scars I hide from the world. To the outside world, I am your average teenager, but the truth is, I am a broken girl with no one to love her, to see the real sadness in my eyes. I keep it to myself because I want to. It is things I have hidden for years, and no one seems to notice. Until him, Ryland. The new boy in the town. The stranger who sees right through me from the second we meet. We are drawn to one another like a moth to the flame. The more I get to know him, the more I see I am not the only one fighting demons. To start with, he is a pain in my ass, but every day we grow closer, and we become what the other needs. A bond develops between us, one that becomes unbreakable. Neither of us realised that when two broken souls come together, it would be exactly what we needed to help one another heal. He shows me love, something I haven’t had since I lost my mother. I soon learn that just because you are broken doesn’t mean it needs to stay that way. Your past doesn’t need to define you. Possible Trigger Warnings: Physical abuse (It does happen, not often and not in too much detail). Rape, suicide, and self-harm are also mentioned. It doesn’t happen in the book, but it's discussed.

“This is wrong. You’re supposed to help me fix my marriage” “And yet here you are, squirming under my hands like you're begging me to break it” “You're too close… I can’t think straight when you’re this close” “Then stop thinking. Just feel.” He leans in, his breath brushing against my lips. “Tell me to stop Lillian—and I will. But if you don’t, I’m going to kiss and claim your body like I’ve imagined a thousand times on that chair” *~*~*~*~*~*~*~* When Lillian Calloway walks into marriage counseling, she’s desperate—not just to save her crumbling relationship with her emotionally distant husband, but to hold together the image of a perfect life. Then she meets Dr Ronan Carter. Calm, devastatingly handsome and far too familiar for her comfort. Each session unravels more than just the crack in her marriage—it exposes desires she’s locked away for years. Ronan makes her feel alive. And when the professional lines begin to blur, Lillian finds herself stepping on the edge of something forbidden. He’s her counselor. She’s his client. Falling for each other will cost them everything. But what if the biggest lie was the marriage they were trying to save?

Her boyfriend called her boring. So she booked a sex therapist. What Alessia didn't expect was Dr. Zayn Steele - 34, tattooed, pierced, and utterly irresistible. He's supposed to teach her control... but every session turns into a dangerous game of denial, commands, and dirty secrets. He says not yet. Her body says please now. And when the rules finally shatter, neither of them will be able to stop.