SMACK in the MIDDLE:
My Turbulent Time Treating Heroin Addicts at Odyssey House (a memoir)

In April 1968, six months after I began to work at Odyssey House, I started my journal. Included were direct quotations of catchy conversations, pieces of theories, and a catalogue of important events. Looking back, my entries seem like a collection of fragments with no central thread holding them together. The missing structure of the journal reflected the missing structure within myself. It was the start of something new that characterized Odyssey and me; I was reaching for cohesion and development — as was Odyssey House.

Buy it here.

Endorsements

“GIBBS WILLIAMS HAS DRAFTED A COMPELLING NARRATIVE THAT BRAIDS TOGETHER HIS LIFE STORY, HIS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AND HIS TUMULTUOUS EXPERIENCE AS A COUNSELOR FOR DRUG ADDICTS AT THE RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT CENTER, ODYSSEY HOUSE. HE WRITES WITH A KEEN EYE, SEARING SELF-REFLECTION, AND CLEAR REPORTORIAL OBSERVATION ABOUT THE SUCCESSES OF THE TREATMENT CENTER, AND HOW THE AUTHORITARIAN METHODS THAT INITIALLY GUIDED THE UNIQUE TREATMENT PROGRAM EVENTUALLY TURNED OUT TO BE THE SOURCE OF ITS DECLINE, DISILLUSIONING AND ALIENATING ITS FORMER ADHERENTS. COMBINING DESCRIPTIONS OF LIFE AT ODYSSEY HOUSE WITH MEMORIES FROM HIS OWN CHILDHOOD ENRICHES THE EXPERIENCES GIBBS WILLIAMS DESCRIBES AND ADDS TO THE RIVETING FASCINATION WITH WHICH THIS NARRATIVE GRIPS THE READER’S ATTENTION.”

FRANK LACHMANN PH.D. PSYCHOANALYST, SUPERVISOR, AUTHOR

“[SMACK IN THE MIDDLE] … IS RICH IN INSIGHTS NOT JUST ABOUT THE PAST BUT ABOUT THE PRESENT; AND BECOMES AN ODYSSEY OF DISCOVERY AND ILLUMINATION WITH PRACTICAL APPLICATION FOR TREATMENT SETTINGS TODAY.”

CRAIG FEES- CHIEF RESEARCHER OF A CONGLOMERATION OF A WORLDWIDE FEDERATION OF THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITIES

REVIEWS

Reviewed By Amy Raines for Readers’ Favorite - 5 Stars - Nov. 5th

Smack In The Middle by Gibbs Williams, Ph.D. with Joel Samberg is the autobiography of his life and work at Odyssey House in New York. After more than fifty years, Williams shares the reality of what the world is like when attempting to work with addicts that needed help. Odyssey House operated on a very different principle than most halfway houses or rehabilitation centers in those times. Rather than giving their residents a drug that made matters worse, they were given love, acceptance, understanding, meaning, and purpose. Making addicts feel like every achievement was worth notice was Dr. Judi’s primary goal; to heal the addict by giving them the real support they so desperately needed. Williams discovered a whole new way of viewing an addict’s problems during his time at Odyssey House. Was there abuse of power inside Odyssey House’s walls? Were they truly helping as many addicts as they’d hoped? Were their ethics and methods too unorthodox or were their ideals and ambitions right on target?

I realize that Smack In The Middle may not have been written to inspire but that is exactly what this autobiography does as it gives the inside story of what life was really like at Odyssey House. The goals and concepts laid out by Dr. Judi’s idea of treating addicts like human beings from the very beginning are more than just inspiring. Through Williams’s memories of his time at Odyssey House, it is easy to see how he was quickly mesmerized by Dr. Judi’s passion for reaching out to help those that society deems unreachable. My favorite thing about Smack In The Middle is how Williams recounts how he learned to recognize that an addict was not just a person who chose to pick up a drug and use it but a real person with real problems they wanted to numb away rather than face. Their methods were very different than the typical rehabilitation centers and they had a fair share of successes. They also had their fair share of setbacks and problems that made them question whether or not they were helping as much as they thought. I recommend Smack In The Middle to anyone who has ever wondered how an addict’s life can change for the better once they decide to learn how to live again.

———————————————————————————————————————————————REVIEW By Edith Wairmu - 5 Stars - For Readers Favorite

SMACK in the MIDDLE by Gibbs Williams Ph.D. and Joel Samberg recounts Gibbs’s thought-provoking observations and experiences working in Odyssey House, a leading rehabilitation program for drug addiction. In November 1967, Gibbs arrived at Odyssey House for the first time. Excited and eager to join the program, Gibbs walked into what he thought would be an interview, only later to realize that it actually was his first day of work. At first, he was enthusiastic, fascinated even to work with Dr. Judianne Densen-Gerber, Odyssey’s intriguing founder and director. Half a year into his work, however, Gibbs began to question some of Dr. Judi’s methods of directing the program. As the months passed, Gibbs’s concerns continued to grow but the idea of leaving Odyssey House was still foreign to him.

SMACK in the MIDDLE parallels Gibbs’s personal growth with his professional journey while working at Odyssey House. A passionate man walks into work in 1967, not fully aware of his personal psychological issues that began in his teenage years, which will have a profound effect on his life at Odyssey House and his perspective on Dr. Judi, especially at the beginning. The work carefully explains Gibbs’s concerns at the time, following his observations with anecdotes that further explain the book’s contents. It also offers enlightening information regarding drug addiction, noting the complexity of the problem as causal factors and reactions are different from patient to patient. It contains keen, compelling observations and an analysis of a leading figure who had struggles of her own but could not see it. Gibbs Williams Ph.D. and Joel Samberg’s SMACK in the MIDDLE is a valuable read for its precise content on various topics ranging from human behavior and leadership to drug addiction.

——————————————————————————————————————————————— Review by K.C. Finn - 5 Stars - For Readers’ Favorites - Nov,2019

Smack in the Middle is a work of non-fiction focusing on a memoir style to recount a career, and it was penned by Gibbs Williams Ph.D., with the aid of Joel Samberg. Subtitled “My Turbulent Time Treating Heroin Addicts at Odyssey House”, the events of the recollections take place more than fifty years ago in the late 1960s, when drug use was on a sharp rise. More than just the everyday struggles of the users and the staff members who were trying to help them, there is much discussion about the abuse of power when looking at Odyssey House’s leader, and reflections on rehab and power relations in the modern-day.

Author team Gibbs Williams and Joel Samberg recount a fascinating period of a dark history that we often don’t think of when we think about heroin usage and rehab, yet the past has much to teach us about how things have been and continue to be done. The prose is heartfelt and natural, taking readers from the simple to the sublime in the array of different experiences that the author has with patients seeking treatment at the aptly-named Odyssey House. The organization of the many incidents which are chronicled makes good sense, taking readers from tale to tale with clear breaks, and leaving observations and parallels to the modern-day to their appropriate moment to be brought up. These observations are poignant and well put without being preachy or political, and they elevate Smack in the Middle to a sophisticated and informative memoir that’s well worth a read.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

LIT PICK REVIEW OF SMACK 4 STARS - November, 2019

Copy of Summary:

In Smack in the Middle: My Turbulent Time Treating Heroin Addicts at Odyssey House, psychoanalyst Dr. Gibbs Williams recounts his 17 months working as an assistant director at New York’s infamous Odyssey House, a facility that treated recovering heroin addicts in the late 1960s. Led by founder Dr. Judianne Densen-Gerber, Odyssey House employed some controversial techniques to keep its residents clean and put them on a solid path to recovery. While at first excited about his new position, these techniques, philosophies, and morale of the staff and residents quickly begin to wear down Dr. Williams.

By then, he has become so invested in the cause and so emotionally enslaved by Dr. Densen-Gerber that the job takes on its own form of addiction that becomes tough to break. Suffering from his own past traumas, a desire to fulfill a meaningful purpose in the world, and a determination to make this dream job work for him adds fuel to this emotional fire, which eventually spirals out of control. Like any addiction, there comes a time when enough is enough. For Dr. Williams, that realization forces him to choose between jumping ship or going down with it.

Copy of Opinion:

The average memoir about addiction is usually told from the perspective of the addict. So, Dr. Williams’ account of what it’s like to be on the other side of the treatment is a refreshing point of view that delves into the politics behind rehab facilities, the mind games that staff are forced to play with their patients, and the abuse of power that can come from treating this particular type of illness without proper outside supervision.

Readers looking for Dr. Williams’ anecdotes about particular patients that he treated are going to find very little focus on that aspect of his time at Odyssey House. Instead, he lays out the moral conundrums he faced in doing what he thought was right versus Dr. Judi’s enforced philosophies on addiction.

Dr. Judi’s methods were contradictory, physically and emotionally draining, manipulative, and at times, even abusive. According to the author’s account, she fought fire with fire, commanding trust and respect and then weaponizing them on both her patients and staff.

Dr. Williams is the Nick Carraway to Dr. Judi’s Jay Gatsby. She assumes near total control over him until he breaks enough to escape her clutches. But the influence remains even years later through his candid, straightforward storytelling.

His writing is professional but simple. It isn’t weighed down with technical jargon, though he does go on extra-long tangents about his emotional state in trying to make sense of his time at Odyssey House, feeling more like a resident than a staff member.

Even after all he goes through, Dr. Williams still puts both Dr. Judi and Odyssey House on a pedestal. Whether or not he should is up to the reader to decide. I recommend this book to avid nonfiction readers who want to learn about a different side of addiction from a writer who has made it his life’s work to battle it while, in his own way, falling victim to it.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

Smack in the Middle: My Turbulent Time Treating Heroin Addicts at Odyssey House documents Dr. Gibbs Williams’ experience during his time at Odyssey House, assisting in treating heroin addicts during the 60s and 70s. Dr. Williams details his interactions with the residents, staff, and the founder, Dr. Judianne Densen-Gerber. As a reader, you will get to learn about the ins and outs of the Odyssey House from the intake process for new residents, treatment for them, as well as what eventually lead to Dr. Williams’ departure from this facility. Dr. Williams spent a year and five months inside this community located in lower Manhattan sharing his journey in a journal he kept during his time there.

Copy of Opinion:

While I appreciate Dr. Williams’ willingness to shed light on the drug epidemic and the effect it has on individuals, this book didn’t interest me until Dr. Williams started detailing his time at Odyssey House. I felt that he included too much of his backstory, which at times took away the interest in wanting to continue reading. However, what I did like was seeing how some of the residents coped while being at this facility. I also welcomed Dr. Williams’ ability to recognize this facility’s approach regarding the negative and positive contributions when it came to helping the residents, both new and remaining, rid themselves of this debilitating disease. I would recommend this book for adults and for those who like reading personal narratives.

———————————————————————————————————————————————

DEMYSTIFYING MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS(SYNCHRONICITIES): THE EVOLVING SELF, THE PERSONAL UNCONSCIOUS, and THE CREATIVE SELF

This book offers an original theory of the nature of meaningful coincidences (synchronicities) and their practical use from a naturalistic (non-supernatural, non-Jungian) perspective.

Buy it here.

Endorsements

“Gibbs Williams has struggled with awe-inspiring coincidences in his own life and combed the relevant literature to formulate a rational psychodynamic theory of synchronicity. This book is both a personal journey and a guide for psychotherapists to harness their patients' creative processes to liberate the sense of self from its traumatically imposed restrictions.”

- Frank M. Lachmann, Ph.D.

”Williams provides numerous coincidence vignettes from his patients and 19 from his own experience. Unlike Jung, he provides extensive, detailed contexts for each one… Williams's book extends coincidence studies in a much needed way… Gibbs Williams has clarified a crucial function of meaningful coincidence - to help activate self-awareness in the search for solutions to intractable problems. His work will encourage future researchers to gather the psychological histories and current contexts that are likely to increase the appearance of coincidences… Williams has helped further the development of the emerging field of coincidence studies.”

- PsyCRITIQUES -

Attitude Shifting

The pressing issue for people in a state of crisis whether it is stress, depression, anxiety or any variation thereof, is that they want, need, and absolutely require immediate attention Unfortunately, this generally does not happen. Typically, it takes weeks before people in crisis can be seen by professional caregivers. This guide provides methods for first responders to greatly reduce this time gap. People in crisis can be seen by professional caregivers. This guide provides effective methods for First Responders to greatly reduce this time gap. The Attitude Shifting™ workshop and resource guide offers professionals and lay people, who wish to help someone In need of help, tools to effectively cope with anxiety, in need of help, with tools to effectively cope with anxiety, depression, frustration, and stress while in the moment.

Buy it here.

Endorsements

“To obtain long term mastery over the feelings of anxiety, depression, frustration, and stress you have to assume the responsibility of addressing causes not symptoms by making a choice to change your attitude. To do so you must read this book. “

- SG North Carolina