Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Good Morning, Monster: A Therapist Shares Five Heroic Stories of Emotional Recovery by Catherine Gildiner

22 reviews

firedew's review against another edition

dark hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, and Cancer

mxfrog's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

throwback682's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

2.75

As others have mentioned, this book has lots of problems, including the audiobook narrator putting on Chinese and First Nations accents, deadnaming and other transphobic comments, among others. There were just so many times that I cringed. The author at times seemed self aware but often was just painfully out of touch. The book did feel rather exploitative, and often felt fake. I felt like it was particularly insensitive about sexual abuse, for example the way the author distinguished between “violent” sexual abuse and… what?? It’s all violent! I think I agree with other people who called the book trauma porn. I did (enjoy doesn’t seem like the right word) parts of the book. I did gain some understanding into how childhood trauma can impact people, and felt hopeful at times that I and people I love can heal from difficult things. But overall the book felt pretty icky. I’m kind of shocked how many people uncritically loved it. Definitely read with caution especially if you’re a survivor of abuse, especially sexual abuse or child abuse generally. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Genocide, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Drug use, Infidelity, Excrement, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, and Dementia

This book is all about people who have overcome HORRIFIC things, mostly in their childhoods. It is very very difficult to read.

arantxalasa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Genocide, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

mari_teran's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

zoeysdigest's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

A very informative and moving read. It was easier to follow than Maybe you should talk to someone as the ‘case studies’ were clearly segmented, it was also less about the therapist’s own life. However, the characters had more triggering and extreme issues that made reading difficult at times. Would caution all to read up on the content warnings before proceeding.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

biojesspj's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Mental illness

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Vomit, and Death of parent

jabu_lani's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

2.0

**Audiences I would NOT recommend this book for: those with unresolved traumas, particularly sexual and emotional abuse, and neglect. Marginalized groups, particularly Indigenous peoples and transgender people. **

While I did find the material engaging, it was mainly the patient’s journeys themselves that carried me through the book rather than the author’s writing or reflections, per se. The first 2 (out of 5) patient’s stories were ok, but the more I read, the more problematic I found the book to be. The author tended to highlight physical traits and whether she though a patient was attractive or not, and had some observations that seemed irrelevant to the cases. 

The 3rd patient was an Indigenous man and that story was difficult to get through because it seemed to expose some implicit biases. This particular patient had also died before the author could ask for consent to share his story, and it wasn’t addressed whether thus was acceptable for his particular tribe’s beliefs or not. 

A new foreword for future editions might be useful to address these issues. I tried to give author the benefit of the doubt as she practiced decades ago before representation was as commonplace as it is today. But dead-naming a transgender person bothered me. I tried to view it from a clinical or anatomic lens, but the author repeatedly stated how her patient didn’t need the “mother and father” role she was receiving from her transgender partner. Again, the author may not have had the language that we have and use now, but it was uncomfortable to read at the very least. 

The patient’s stories themselves were very traumatic and could bring up strong emotions for those with their own trauma. I had to take reading breaks for this reason. I would have appreciated a trigger warning, but again this may not have been as commonplace as it is now in 2023. I will also say that her few reflective points about her patients did help me see myself better, like the “tapes” we play on loop in our heads can be lies; that was helpful. While the author does mention a few times she had come up short or made a mistake, it by and large felt like a compilation of her greatest work; she often talked about how proud she was of her and her patients’ work. I would have appreciated more self reflection in her book that only comes up briefly in the very last chapter. Though, I admit that may be my own bias as a non-white person reading a white author’s book. I wouldn’t be able to recommend it without some changes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Gaslighting

koszulek's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

kloughlin's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, and Gaslighting