A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The refreshingly original and “startlingly hopeful” (Lisa Taddeo) debut memoir of an over-achieving young lawyer who reluctantly agrees to group therapy and gets psychologically and emotionally naked in a room of six complete strangers–and finds human connection, and herself. Christie Tate had just been named the top student in her law … been named the top student in her law school class and finally had her eating disorder under control. Why then was she driving through Chicago fantasizing about her own death? Why was she envisioning putting an end to the isolation and sadness that still plagued her despite her achievements?
Enter Dr. Rosen, a therapist who calmly assures her that if she joins one of his psychotherapy groups, he can transform her life. All she has to do is show up and be honest. About everything–her eating habits, childhood, sexual history, etc. Christie is skeptical, insisting that that she is defective, beyond cure. But Dr. Rosen issues a nine-word prescription that will change everything: “You don’t need a cure. You need a witness.”
So begins her entry into the strange, terrifying, and ultimately life-changing world of group therapy. Christie is initially put off by Dr. Rosen’s outlandish directives, but as her defenses break down and she comes to trust Dr. Rosen and to depend on the sessions and the prescribed nightly phone calls with various group members, she begins to understand what it means to connect.
“Often hilarious, and ultimately very touching” (People), Group is “a wild ride” (The Boston Globe), and with Christie as our guide, we are given a front row seat to the daring, exhilarating, painful, and hilarious journey that is group therapy–an under-explored process that breaks you down, and then reassembles you so that all the pieces finally fit.
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I love reading books about therapy. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone was one of my favorite books last year and I recently reviewed Good Morning, Monster which I also thought was riveting. Both of those were written by therapists about their experiences helping patients through various issues. Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Helped Save My Life by Christie Tate is a memoir about her years in group therapy and this new perspective sucked me right in.
Christie is at the top of her law school class but also a lonely, recovering bulimic with suicidal thoughts. She starts group therapy hoping that fixing herself will help her form the healthy relationships with others she desperately craves. Her therapist, Dr. Rosen, is kid of unconventional and Christie’s journey is both hysterical and heartbreaking. She goes on bad dates, has REALLY bad sex, makes some great decisions and other terrible ones, has professional triumphs and personal breakthroughs, she throws tantrums and breaks dishes and considers harming herself, all while being supported and held accountable by Dr. Rosen and her fellow group members. Christie is often is hard to like but you can’t help but hope she finds what she’s looking for.
Tate’s writing is sharp, funny and raw – she doesn’t shy away from sharing every detail with her group or with us as readers. There were several times I literally laughed out loud like when she compares herself to her friend Marnie, who’s in another of Dr. Rosen’s groups – “Marnie was clearly doing better than I was. If we were a tampon commercial, I’d be the one scowling about odors and leakage; she’d be doing a jeté in white jeans on her heavy flow day.”
Tate’s honesty in group led her to find happiness and her honesty in this book is refreshing and gripping. Group is one of the best books I’ve read all year.
Thanks to NetGalley, Avid Reader Press & the author for an advanced copy to review.
Group is an example of memoir at its absolute best. Christie Tate lays everything on the line in this raw, unflinchingly honest story about her struggles with PTSD, bulimia and attachment issues. I am honored to have been allowed to stand by her side, even as she makes horrible decisions and self sabotages. Though all of her relationships are fascinating, the most intriguing are the ones she develops with her cherished therapist, Dr. Rosen, and her group mates in her two regular group therapy sessions. Her group mates morph from strangers into literal lifelines as she learns to open up to them and bare her mortifying secrets. I rooted for Christie every step of the way as she grew, made mistakes, and ultimately learned how to love herself and form healthy relationships. A wonderful and enlightening journey.
I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir. The author has had some tough mental health issues that I have not had, but I related to her life is so many ways all the same. We’re both Texans that don’t fit the Texas mold, we both have dated some really wrong men along the way. I was entertained and enlightened.
I really enjoyed this and can see why it was on Reese’s Book Club list. It was easy to empathize with the author and her want for a relationship. She is dramatic and abrupt at times, but I still found myself feeling frustrated, sad and happy with/for her. For me, this book makes group therapy sound so productive and I loved reading about the people she was able to form connections with.
I’m not sorry I read it but it’s not one I’d read again. It reads like fiction but turns out to be a memoir. The author is a huge mess and a rather overwrought sort of personality. But I was happy to see that her life did improve and she learned to live with herself.
Full of promise, with a newly minted law degree and her whole future ahead of her, Christie Tate was experiencing a crisis. Despite all her advantages, she felt desperate, with suicidal ideation and the looming ghost of a preexisting eating disorder threatening to return. This is where Tate begins her memoir, Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life. Facing what she perceives as unabating desperation and devastating loneliness, Christie decides to meet with a therapist recommended by a friend. Following an interview, Dr. Rosen invites her to attend a weekly group therapy session to work on her issues. She has some experience with groups due to her experience with a bulimia 12-step program, but still feels apprehensive about Dr. Rosen and his unconventional approach. The book follows the author through a series of catastrophically failed relationships, temper tantrums and bouts of serious instability. Soon Dr. Rosen asks her to add two more groups to her weekly schedule. Many of the fellow group members attend multiple groups and have been involved for many years. The confessional nature of Rosen’s group allows no boundaries, no secrets, and no taboo topics, and the doctor seems to be revered to almost cult-like status by his clients. Every detail of Christie’s sex life is discussed and dissected, including some liaisons with fellow group members. Crosstalk and gossip, inappropriate contact outside of group, and cross-transference seem to be accepted in ways that would likely be considered ethical breaches according to professional standards. It is apparent that Christie unfortunately equates ultimate success with finding a soul mate, disregarding any of her other achievements. Her own portrayal of herself comes across as overly histrionic and self-centered, whining and entitled. Tate’s unremitting inclination toward poor choices and over-dependence on Dr. Rosen (and the others) make it difficult for the reader to truly celebrate the attainment of her goals. She takes pride in the fact that she is still reliant on the Dr. Rosen even ten years later. Her story could be disheartening for those who approach therapy as a credible tool with an endpoint culminating in long-term stability and independence. Group is a brutally honest, deprecatingly humorous, wincingly graphic, and ultimately sad depiction of someone torn between building internal self-esteem and compulsively seeking the approval of others. As such, it is tale that many will recognize—a too-common reflection of the pressures faced by many young people, especially women, today.
Thanks to the author and Avid Reader Press (Simon & Schuster) for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
A memoir that is eye-opening, insightful, and totally worth your time .
The book in a few words; honest, raw, vulnerable, fascinating. Christie Tate provides vivid insights into the hard work of group therapy and how her group friends lifted her up, saw her through the worst, and ultimately the best.
She does a fabulous job of encouraging us to seek help when needed and be okay with leaning on others, but also avoids being heavy- handed in delivering that important message.
One note: if you prefer not to read about sex, at points you may feel uncomfortable – as the author honestly shares the entirety of what she’s struggling with.
This book was selected for Reese’s book club this month- a huge coup for a debut author- and I see that it’s totally merited! Such an important topic and absorbing memoir.
Eugene Onegin made me want to move to Russia and Little Women made me want to have sisters. Group made me want to rewind a decade, sit with a number of strangers and one shamanic doctor, strip down and survive. This unrestrained memoir is a transporting experience and one of the most startlingly hopeful books I have ever read. It will make you want to get better, whatever better means for you.
It takes courage to bare your soul in front of a therapist, but when you add six strangers to the mix, it becomes an act of faith. In Group, Christie Tate takes us on a journey that’s heartbreaking and hilarious, surprising and redemptive — and, ultimately, a testament to the power of connection. Perhaps the greatest act of bravery is that Tate shared her story with us, and how lucky we are that she did.
Group sucked me in and never let go. Real transformation is not for the faint of heart, and in these pages Christie Tate captures her evolution in all its misery and hilarity, along with the beauty of bearing witness to one another as we grow. Group reminds us that we are hurt by other people, but we can be healed by them too. Damn, I want to join a group now.
In breathtaking bursts of beauty and vulnerability, Christie Tate’s Group dares to tell the story of a body from the inside out. There is a place between pain and joy and her body is the word for it. This book will remind you how to come back to yourself even when you want to give up, make you laugh, make you cry, help you breathe. This book will save lives.
What actually helps when we despair? In this therapeutic page-turner, a boon especially to women struggling with loss, loneliness, or imposter syndrome, Christie Tate tells the story of how she overcame trauma and found love. Her hard-won strategy is as simple to say as it is tough to do: keep showing up.