About this item

Lina was a precocious toddler—charming, chatty, joyful. At the age of three, in the aftermath of her second MMR vaccine, first came a seizure, and then, to her parents’ horror, the loss of Lina’s ability to play, use language, and control her impulses. Over the next few years they continued to lose Lina. She communicated her acute discomfort by biting, screaming, hitting, laughing maniacally, and throwing violent tantrums. As a single mother, with the help of her ex-husband, Helena Hjalmarsson tirelessly pursued every possible avenue to find a diagnosis, and more importantly a treatment, for her daughter, and the search continues to this day. Lina is nine.Special schools, restrictive diets, sensory stimulation, relationship-based therapy, gastrointestinal links, homeopathy, and allergy treatment are all explored in detail.



About the Author

Helena Hjalmarsson

Helena Hjalmarsson, M.A., L.C.S.W., L.P., is a psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City. Her practice is informed by the idea that everything is interconnected, the healing powers of true acceptance, and a belief in living in the now. She is the coauthor of The Quotable Book Lover and is published in Psychoanalytic Social Work on "Transference Opportunities During the Therapist's Pregnancy: Three Case Vignettes." She has also published multiple articles in Swedish newspapers and magazines. She lives in New York City with her two daughters, Lina and Elsa.



Read Next Recommendation

Report incorrect product information.