"Breaking the Fall" opens as Sherry Berger, a therapist on the northwest side of Chicago, contemplates how to reconcile her apparently middle class life with the life and death emergencies of her clients. Sherry has secrets of her own and she hopes that these secrets won't impact her ability to help her clients. As the reader meets Sherry's clients, she'll see Sherry's frustration and agony. Sherry tries to help them overcome barriers to their healing that our society places before them, often unexpectedly and at crucial times in their lives. Her clients are people that we meet everyday, but whose stories are hidden from view. They often face obstacles to achieving their goals, maintaining their equilibrium, and in some cases, even surviving. Will Sherry decide to continue to work with these challenges or will she choose another path? Will she resolve her own family issues or will her clients' problems engulf her?