Locus of Control: Therapy Poems - Paperback

by Rebecca Herz (Author)

Locus of Control is a poetry collection written to make sense of a rapidly shifting world. In these poems, I trace the contours of neurodivergence, new motherhood, queer identity, and my work as a middle-school crisis counselor, weaving together the clinical language of therapy with the raw emotional undercurrent that rarely makes it into the office.

Across themes like countertransference, imposter syndrome, burnout, co-regulation, radical acceptance, and the intimate bewilderment of pregnancy through IVF, these poems explore what it means to hold hope for others while learning to hold it for myself.

In writing Locus of Control, poetry became the place where I could confess my uncertainty, and acknowledge the spiritual questions that trail my work: What does it mean to witness another person's pain? What is the cost of caretaking? Where is the line between healing and harm? What remains of the self when we spend our days giving ourselves away?

At the same time, the personal and political never stay separate-fertility treatments alongside news alerts of disaster, Jewish identity intersecting with queer family-making, motherhood emerging through statistics, ultrasound screens, and wishful thinking.

Above all, Locus of Control is an invitation to find resonance within the ambiguity. These poems don't attempt to fix or advise. They sit with uncertainty, and trust the reader to find themselves within the space that remains.

All proceeds support Jewish Queer Youth (JQY), honoring the young people who inspire my work and my belief that healing is possible, even when the path is nonlinear.