I rarely read memoirs or true crime but enjoy fictional psychological and crime related books. This gives a very interesting yet deeply disturbing insight onto Dr Myers work with violent prisoners accused of sexual offences.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion

This was a fantastic memoir by Dr Myers on a subject seldom written about; the treatment of violent sexual offenders. Beginning way back in the olden days of the 90’s she walks us through her first job in a prison and how she and her prison officer colleagues have to facilitate a groundbreaking therapeutic course with 6 men all of whom have committed sexual crimes or crimes that may have been motivated by sex.
Like Dr Myers I found myself actually liking these men as they struggled bravely with accepting responsibility for their crimes and analysing what led them to commit these crimes and what they could learn about themselves in order to prevent them reoffending should they ever be granted parole. We get to see Rebecca and her colleagues challenging their own schemas and attachment types and looking at where these impacted on their lives negatively.
It was fascinating in the final chapters to fast forward by 20 years and find out how successful the project was and what has changed in the use of CBT based therapy now.
Dr Myers’ tone is warm and conversational and I read the book very quickly in one evening.

This was a fascinating and deeply disturbing read. I am interested in crime and the psychology of offending and this book went into detail about the crimes committed but also shared some hope some people are able, with help, to come to terms with their behaviours and learn from it. If this were a tv programme, it would be shown after the watershed and probably with a trigger warning or signposting to further help at the end, such is the gritty and explicit content. Hard-hitting, but a compelling read.

I was drawn to the topics covered in this book and was not disappointed with the in-depth look at the SOTP programme for prisoners.
Rebecca leads you through the offenders progression through the course in a clear and open manner.
Thoroughly engaging, I read the whole thing in a day!

I’m into shows like Criminal Minds and SUV so naturally this book piqued my interest. I don’t usually read memoirs but this was an interesting read and I would recommend

Inside Job - Dr Rebecca Myers

I rarely read memoirs and never read true crime, so this may seem like strange choice to read and review.

I read Psychological Thrillers and Crime, devouring books by Val McDermid and Michael Robotham featuring fictional psychologists and those by American psychologist turned author Lucinda Berry. In the spirit of exploring the subject I thought this book looked interesting.

We walk into the high security prison with the author on her first day, the atmosphere, tension and attitudes of the time are palpable. She's about to embark on leading new treatment plan, the Sexual Offender Treatment Programme.

While the cover highlights 'Murderers and Sex Offenders' be prepared for a lot of the book to be about child molesters, following Dr Myers and her first intake on the programme through its stages.

It is bleak but very honest, many of her subjects are repeat offenders and lifers. There are some horrifying accounts of the most serious crimes.

The author is extremely self-aware and unflinching in describing her own failings and fears in her life, professional and personal. She assesses the programme and the hopes of reducing reoffending.

Not an easy read, given the subject matter and level of detail, but it is achingly truthful, reflective and honest. The author can certainly write, and there are some lovely descriptive flourishes.

I did feel a little bogged down with some of the therapy sessions, but that could be because I'm more used to a fiction narrative flow to keep things moving.

I think it's very good for what it is. So far away from my usual reads but it is worth having a look at if you interested in Psychologists or the psychology of offenders.

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK

I wanted to read this book as someone who was practising on the other side of the prison doors at about the same time as the author. I have to admit that once my clients were sent down I gave little thought to their rehabilitation and the author has certainly enlightened me.

Whilst the program is no more, I would highly recommend this book for anyone involved in the criminal justice system

I was given an ARC of this book for an honest review. As a Fourth Year Trainee Systemic and Family Psychotherapist, a qualified a social worker, and bookworm, this was a darkly fascinating and useful read.

Myers’ account of what it was like to conduct one of the first perpetrators’ rehabilitation group with some of the highest risk and violent crimes offenders in a prison was interesting. She manages to avoid jargon where possible, and clearly explains terms where technical language was included. Myers is painfully honest, and her sharing of internal monologues/thoughts/feelings, and the external voiced questions were really useful to a developing therapist to consider what questions would I have asked and why. Working with people who have done heinous and violent actions towards women and children is nothing new to me, but it is rewarding to know that she observed (and shared with us) that meaningful change can occur for some people. It's validating to hear that a strengths-based approach that emphasises respectful curiosity to enhance an offender's ability to hold themselves accountable, accept responsibility for their actions, and the importance of psychoeducation in rehabilitation and the prevention of future crime. I can see how Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) was successful in some areas, but I also wince at the restorative justice approach and the use of re-enactments, (which Myers’ acknowledge was problematic) for those who occasionally used those sessions to gratuitously re-live some of the experiences they had during sexually violent and terrible acts against others.

The self-honesty of the book is pretty staggering. Myers’ doesn’t try to make her mistakes any prettier or frame her own issues in a better light – she chooses to highlight how there were more similarities than differences between herself and the men she was trying to help. This a set of ethical principles and a willingness to see the humanity in those who have been convicted of horrendous things is a difficult position to straddle - one that social workers, doctors, EMTs, fire services, therapists and religious leaders need to take regularly. Her reflective and reflexiveness increased overtime, and became more overt as she began to work with Kenny, a fellow co-facilitator. Myers also briefly explored her stance on the death penalty and asked hard ethical questions about the topic to herself and her co-facilitator.

It was thought-provoking to see within the book Myers’ own cognitive distortions (CDs) in respect to her own interpretation that there was no controlling or stopping her affair, the CD in normalising affairs in prisons, as well as the isomorphism of the facilitators and the offenders. She freely shared both positive and less healthy coping mechanisms used in her work, for our own verdict.

The stories of the prisoners were illuminating, and occasionally surprised me. Some of them moved from a perpetrator position to one of a protector and positive reflective team members (expert by experience) - these were moving moments. It helps make sure the reader sees them as more than just their rap sheet – although a heavy level of self-preservation should remain firmly in place, nor the absolvent of their part in the pain of the people they harmed, directly and indirectly.

The vicarious trauma and PTSD symptoms she describes in the book validates my own experiences of the same and many other people in similar fields. Such work does shape and change you - particularly in the early years. I remember 2 years after qualifying as a social worker being convinced that a man I saw every day at 8:30am talking to a lollypop man outside a junior school on the way to work was a paedophile – I kept asking myself why he had to see his friend every morning while he was surrounded by young children, but not any other time? This likely would not have occurred to me without my training and my job.

Most interesting of all for me as a trainee psychologist is her reflections, challenges and criticisms of the original program and how treatment has changed 20 years on. I’ll be particularly recommending this book for anyone completing perpetrator work.

Thanks. Food for thought!