* 2023 Openbook Award Author, counseling psychologist, and social worker Wei Ming-I has decades of experience walking side-by-side with her clients through the fires of intense suffering. This collection of entries from her case notebooks records the observations and reflections of a front-line “suffering specialist” in interaction with those in need.

The little girl displaying her self-inflicted wounds in a bid to win the sympathy of her social worker; the perpetrator of domestic violence who threatens suicide; the juvenile delinquent; the civil servant who has become numbed by the system.… each of these people suffer silently in the margins, yet the myriad tendrils of their pain touch every corner of society. And there are certain people, the “suffering specialists” – the social workers, the counselors, the police detectives, and so on – who extend a hand to pull others out of their suffering, and require special skills and training so that they themselves are not sucked into misery’s black hole in the process. Written by a counseling psychologist and social welfare supervisor, Reflection(s) of/on Suffering records decades of observations and reflections from the front lines of this struggle to assist those in need.

The book is composed of forty entries from the author’s case notebooks, providing detailed snapshots of episodes from her working life. Organized into three “sites”, the book gradually draws readers deeper into the issues confronted by suffering specialists in their work. First, the author uses real case studies to illustrate the darkness and tragedy that exist in society. Next, she broaches the unavoidable dilemma faced by suffering specialists working within a capitalist system: is it possible to retain their ideals, or are they doomed to be assimilated into a system which drives individuals to compete for recognition, position, and power? Finally, the author borrows the concept of open-ended games to encourage suffering specialists to think outside of conventional frameworks when confronted with the challenges of their profession.

Suffering specialists are critical links in the chain of social welfare services. Here, their daily encounters are vividly recounted by a counselor and social worker whose background in anthropology contributes to her objective assessment of human affairs. With her lyrical prose and strong philosophical tendencies, she guides readers through the contradictions and blind spots of the social welfare system, granting a taste of the uncertainty and confusion faced by suffering specialists, and reminding readers of the importance of preserving their optimism and ideals in the face of life’s challenges.