INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! Now being developed as a television series with Eva Longoria and ABC! “Rarely have I read a book that challenged me to see myself in an entirely new light, and was at the same time laugh-out-loud funny and utterly absorbing.”–Katie Couric “This is a daring, delightful, and transformative book.”–Arianna Huffington, Founder, Huffington Post and Founder … book.”–Arianna Huffington, Founder, Huffington Post and Founder & CEO, Thrive Global
“Wise, warm, smart, and funny. You must read this book.”–Susan Cain, New York Times best-selling author of Quiet
From a New York Times best-selling author, psychotherapist, and national advice columnist, a hilarious, thought-provoking, and surprising new book that takes us behind the scenes of a therapist’s world–where her patients are looking for answers (and so is she).
One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose ofÂfice she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.
As Gottlieb explores the inner chambers of her patients’ lives — a self-absorbed Hollywood producer, a young newlywed diagnosed with a terminal illness, a senior citizen threatening to end her life on her birthday if nothing gets better, and a twenty-something who can’t stop hooking up with the wrong guys — she finds that the questions they are struggling with are the very ones she is now bringing to Wendell.
With startling wisdom and humor, Gottlieb invites us into her world as both clinician and patient, examining the truths and fictions we tell ourselves and others as we teeter on the tightrope between love and desire, meaning and mortality, guilt and redemption, terror and courage, hope and change.
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is revÂolutionary in its candor, offering a deeply perÂsonal yet universal tour of our hearts and minds and providing the rarest of gifts: a boldly revealÂing portrait of what it means to be human, and a disarmingly funny and illuminating account of our own mysterious lives and our power to transform them.
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This book was a journey. I think I came out of it a little bit more human.
I love this book. Lori’s combo of her story and her experience is something every thinking woman needs to read.
Compelling and wonderful. (Warning: also keep a tissue box close)
Life changing
A rare person who is talking real talk. Gottlieb entertains as she teaches, and that’s the best kind of learning there is. More proof that having conversations that matter is the path out of our suffering.
Gloria Squitiro: Author of May Cause Drowsiness and Blurred Vision: The Side Effects of Bravery—YOU, Too! can OVERCOME ANXIETY and live a bigger more carefree life—Become a New and Better You!
#YayWomenWriters
When I first started to read this book I was at first a little put off because the focus was on the writer and her reaction to her relationship unexpectedly ending. I continued to read because I liked her writing style and as the stories of her patients and information about the various approaches to therapy were were added I started to enjoy the book and began to become invested in the various persons stories. It is a good book and the approach flows like someone in therapy, who starts to see a therapist because of an issue, there is a period where the person works on what exactly needs to be addressed and then there is the resolution where the patient feels that the therapy has provided a resolution to the main problem and the counselling can end. It was on of those books that I was a little sad to see the end because I was enjoying the story. I recommend this book because not only does the reader get to see how other persons mange major life event but there is a learning element as the writer included information about psychology in general and how therapists are trained and practice their profession.
“Our younger selves think in terms of a beginning, middle, and some kind of resolution. But somewhere along the way—perhaps in that middle—we realize that everyone lives with things that may not get worked out. That the middle has to be the resolution, and how we make meaning of it becomes our task.” p. 371
I was hesitant to read this because of the potential ethical ramifications of a therapist discussing her patients. But I was too intrigued by the premise of a therapist also discussing her own therapist not to try it. I’m so glad I did.
Her vulnerability about her own care blew my mind and I wonder how or if this will affect her practice. As beneficial as it was for me to read about her own issues and how she processed them in therapy, I am not interested in knowing the same about my counselor, nor do I want to know what she thinks about me from a clinical perspective. At the same time, it’s important for us to remember that therapists are real people with their own issues. It gave me lots to reflect on regarding my past social work career and my sessions with my own counselor.
Full disclosure: I’m of the mindset that everyone benefits from therapy and we can grow the most when we’re not actively in crisis. I suspect people who are considering therapy will find her approach to be beneficial and hopefully it will help them move forward in seeking help.
This is written in such an engaging manner. I had a hard time putting it down, even though there were aspects I needed to process before moving on. Some stories moved me to tears. While I didn’t agree with everything she said, I have no doubt I will be recommending it often. This will prove to be a valuable resource whether you’re a therapist, you’ve been in therapy for years, or you’re not quite ready to start.
While no book about therapy can cover it all, two things would have made this even stronger. First, Gottlieb is a white woman and it seemed like she sees mostly white patients or at least those were the stories she shared. (I cannot remember for sure whether any POC were featured as patients.) There can be many reasons for this—POC might feel more comfortable with a therapist who is also a person of color, for instance. However, it would have been helpful to address how race impacts therapy. Second, there is a very real financial cost for therapy. While Gottlieb derides mental health apps (and I do agree people should do this with eyes wide open), it may be the only financially feasible option for people. In my last bout of major depression, I could barely afford my bills, much less therapy, no matter how beneficial it would have been. And while some insurance companies might cover therapy, there are very real trade offs, like a limited amount of sessions and requiring a diagnosis, which will then be attached to your health record. The cost of therapy can be a major barrier and it would have been nice for her to acknowledge this.
If you are a sensitive reader, know that this book delves into many patients’ stories, including trauma, assault, and loss, which could be potentially triggering. Please exercise caution as needed.
I loved this book! It made me want to go to therapy. Lori Gottlieb fluidly moves from time and place by sharing heartfelt stories of people doing the best they can with life. She shows us humanistic vulnerabilities and strengths by brilliantly unpacking the private stories of her well-developed characters. I think I’m going to set up an appointment with a therapist so I too can get to the crux of my issues.
Amazing.
I felt it was so worthwhile I bought three copies for gifts!
A little long. Could have done without at the details about her breakup. But, very interesting for its insights into the therapeutic process.
I loved this therapist’s description of her experience as the client. Insightful. Vulnerable. I know some of my enjoyment was because i, too, have been in both roles.
This book made me laugh and it made me cry and then it made me laugh some more. What else can you ask of a good book?
My niece turned me on to this book. She thought it was funny when she started it. Personally, I suspected she had written it about our family.
Reads like a novel. Told my sister to read it.
Good read.
Best thing I’ve read in a long time! Live sitting in a therapist’s office, receiving benefits of good counseling and also listening in on other people’s life stories and their therapy. Wise and witty, warm and human. I loved this book. It’s on my keeper shelf!!
Wonderfully frank exploration of therapy cases including the therapist author’s own sessions with her therapist. Totally absorbing!
This is an awesome book for anyone who has thought about therapy, been to therapy, or who has dismissed the idea of therapy!
My favorite book of 2019 so far. A great combination of personal insight, interesting characters, and very interesting look at what goes on behind closed therapy room doors. Inspiring, enlightening, and truly a page turner.
Shrinks, they’re just like us—at least in Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, the heartfelt memoir by therapist Lori Gottlieb. Warm, funny, and engaging (no poker-faced clinician here), Gottlieb not only gives us an unvarnished look at her patients’ lives, but also her own. The result is the most relatable portrait of a therapist I’ve yet encountered.
Gottlieb is an utterly compelling narrator: funny, probing, savvy, vulnerable. She pays attention to the small stuff — the box of tissues and the Legos in the carpet — as she honors the more expansive mysteries of our wild, aching hearts.