A male listener from Tehran wrote me this touching letter after listening to my interview on shrink rap radio (listen here (or view on youtube here). His letter touched me so much that I asked his permission to reprint it, anonymously.

“Dear Dr. Shelby,

It’s such an honor to be able to contact you, after listening to your delightful interview with Dr. Van Nuys on Shrink Rap Radio.

I’m a 26 years old psychology graduate and I live in Tehran, Iran and I’m proud to say that I’m a big fan of Dr. Van Nuys and his work in Shrink Rap Radio (so far that I’ve not missed a single episode in over 6 years time!). I’ve also had the privilege to work with Dr. Dave as a volunteer in transcription. I was so moved by what I found in your talk on Shrink Rap Radio and this is just a humble attempt to convey my gratitude for what I hope I’ve learnt from you. Unfortunately, the many sanctions of over four decades imposed on Iran does not allow any financial exchange between my country and the rest of the world and this means, among other things, that I cannot purchase the books I, as a big fan of psychoanalysis, am willing to read. Alas, I’ve not yet read your book but I sincerely hope I might be able to do so sometime in the future. If you follow the news about Iran, you might know that Iran is, unfortunately, not famous for its friendly appreciation of women in general and it’s a shame to say that many women of my country suffer from te many facets of injustice and discrimination. Hence I found your interview of tremendous importance for our situation in Iran and I guess this was a contributory factor in why I was so touched and moved by your interview. It’s a pity to say that many of my friends and colleagues do not speak or comprehend English well but I’ve shared the link to your interview with many female acquaintances in various cities of Tehran and they tell me they’re trying their best in catching the most of what they can from your wisdom! One of my big dreams is to be able to translate books solely dedicated to studies contributing to women rights or any such topic, leading to emancipation necessary for the development of what you aptly call the “wild woman”. In my humble estimation, I think it’s high time we have much more wild women from the land of Scheherazade!

Sincerely yours,
Kind Soul~”