Docs Turn Patients into Material

What ever happened to doctor-patient confidientiality? The New York Times reports on six New York-based psychotherapists draw inspiration from the ever-changing lives of their patients to write novels, short stories, screenplays, and non-fiction books. The women, whose specialties range from children to Zen Buddhism and the intersection of religion and therapy, get together Friday mornings and write together on just about anything from their patients' lives. "Mothers are a big topic in here," psychoanalyst Bonnie Zinel said of the group, which she joined seven years ago. Suspicious now that your psychotherapist might be using you as material for her next book deal? Don't worry. When it comes to patients' identities, the women are masters of disguise.