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Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'
Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life by Christie Tate
16 reviews
ashleereadsbooks692's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Toxic relationship
kelly_e's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.25
Title: Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life
Author: Christie Tate
Genre: Nonfiction - Memoir
Rating: 3.25 stars
Pub Date: October 27 2020
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
T H R E E • W O R D S
Emotional • Raw • Unconventional
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Having just been named the top student of her law class and having control over her disorder eating, Christie Tate couldn't figure out why she was fantasizing about her own death. Group is Christe's memoir recounting her journey through group therapy and a group of stranger what would change her life forever.
💭 T H O U G H T S
I want to start out by saying I understand there is much controversary surrounding this book, from ethical boundaries to privilege to oversharing, there are certainly issues here that deserve to be recognized and discussed. At times the book left me feeling extremely uncomfortable in some of the therapy practices used and the disclosure of personal information of some of the author's groupmates.
Controversary aside, I have to commend the author for staring vulnerability in the face and sharing her story. I certainly hope the process of writing it was therapeutic in itself. What I personally want to take away from this is the power of connection. When Christie started group, all she wanted was to be 'fixed' but what she will learn is the need to put in hard work, all the time knowing her groupmates will always be there to support her through whatever goes on in her life.
If this book can do anything, I hope it is that it helps normalize therapy and helps remove the stigma surrounding mental health. Therapy, though proven beneficial, remains inaccessible to many for both financial and shame culture reasons.
If you do decide to embark on the journey of reading this book, keep it mind it must be taken with a grain of salt. After reading reviews and more about the author, I've come to question whether the content truthful or not. In no way is this an accurate portrayal of what group therapy always looks like or is like for everyone.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• book clubs
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"You don't need a cure. You need a witness."
Author: Christie Tate
Genre: Nonfiction - Memoir
Rating: 3.25 stars
Pub Date: October 27 2020
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
T H R E E • W O R D S
Emotional • Raw • Unconventional
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Having just been named the top student of her law class and having control over her disorder eating, Christie Tate couldn't figure out why she was fantasizing about her own death. Group is Christe's memoir recounting her journey through group therapy and a group of stranger what would change her life forever.
💭 T H O U G H T S
I want to start out by saying I understand there is much controversary surrounding this book, from ethical boundaries to privilege to oversharing, there are certainly issues here that deserve to be recognized and discussed. At times the book left me feeling extremely uncomfortable in some of the therapy practices used and the disclosure of personal information of some of the author's groupmates.
Controversary aside, I have to commend the author for staring vulnerability in the face and sharing her story. I certainly hope the process of writing it was therapeutic in itself. What I personally want to take away from this is the power of connection. When Christie started group, all she wanted was to be 'fixed' but what she will learn is the need to put in hard work, all the time knowing her groupmates will always be there to support her through whatever goes on in her life.
If this book can do anything, I hope it is that it helps normalize therapy and helps remove the stigma surrounding mental health. Therapy, though proven beneficial, remains inaccessible to many for both financial and shame culture reasons.
If you do decide to embark on the journey of reading this book, keep it mind it must be taken with a grain of salt. After reading reviews and more about the author, I've come to question whether the content truthful or not. In no way is this an accurate portrayal of what group therapy always looks like or is like for everyone.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• book clubs
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"You don't need a cure. You need a witness."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing and Death
bulimia, mental health, witnessing death, privilegereading_between_the_trees's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
This book stirred up a lot of controversy on bookstagram about ethical therapy practices, and although I am not a therapist, I have gone to therapy myself and spoken to friends in the field at length about this book. Ultimately, my opinion is that therapy is completely voluntary, and different things will work for different people. While Dr. Rosen's techniques may be unconventional, this book is a memoir, and his techniques clearly worked well for the author.
My biggest takeaway from this book was about honesty. With others, with yourself, about yourself. Honesty is not something you just have to commit to, but something you have to work towards and uncover, because typically it is buried in shame and embarrassment. It was really inspiring to read about Christie learning to confront her most shameful secrets as a mode of liberation. It inspired me to really examine my self-talk and the ways I interact with and convey myself to others.
One qualm I had about this book was that I wish the reader had gotten more insight into Christie's journey with her eating disorder. I understand that the book was about group therapy, and maybe she focused more on her eating disorder in the meetings she attended for it, but it felt like a big part of the story in the beginning, and I was curious to see how her management of it was entangled with her healing in other areas of her life that she did discuss in group. Overall though, this was a very powerful memoir that I would recommend.
Please look at the content warnings before reading the book. The parts about eating disorders were especially difficult to read about.
My biggest takeaway from this book was about honesty. With others, with yourself, about yourself. Honesty is not something you just have to commit to, but something you have to work towards and uncover, because typically it is buried in shame and embarrassment. It was really inspiring to read about Christie learning to confront her most shameful secrets as a mode of liberation. It inspired me to really examine my self-talk and the ways I interact with and convey myself to others.
One qualm I had about this book was that I wish the reader had gotten more insight into Christie's journey with her eating disorder. I understand that the book was about group therapy, and maybe she focused more on her eating disorder in the meetings she attended for it, but it felt like a big part of the story in the beginning, and I was curious to see how her management of it was entangled with her healing in other areas of her life that she did discuss in group. Overall though, this was a very powerful memoir that I would recommend.
Please look at the content warnings before reading the book. The parts about eating disorders were especially difficult to read about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
nonfictionfeminist's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, and Self harm
Minor: Toxic relationship
sara_phoenix's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
mithilareads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Thank you Simon & Schuster UK and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book!
Group by Christie Tate is a larger-than-life memoir that makes you question: how can so much happen to a person, and can they still, then, have a happily-ever-after ending?
In her debut memoir, lawyer and writer Christie Tate shares her experience of group therapy. It's an unconventional form of group therapy: there are no requirements for confidentiality among members, and the members are to disclose each and every aspect of their life weekly during the 90 minutes session. While this seemed outlandish and an absolute scary way of therapy, the process and the end results changed my opinion about it.
At the start of the book, we find out that Christie is a valedictorian at her law college and suffers from bulimia. One day, when she was driving around Chicago, she started having vivid suicidal ideation, which seemed uncharacteristic of her. But there was a reason for it: she felt loneliness stemming from the lack of a romantic relationship in her life. 26 and feeling like a loser about love, Christie goes to her friend's house for dinner one day, where she is introduced to the man who would change her life: Dr. Rosen. And group therapy.
While initially hesitant about the scarily candid nature of the discussions at group therapy, Christie starts learning the basics. Like, feelings have only two syllables, and hence 'defensive' is not a feeling. But 'ashamed' is. Crossing your legs while sitting in a circle means you're not open to sharing, you're hiding something. And the group is meant for you to share every tid-bit of everything: friendship, family, sex, dating, romance. And when the discussion in the group continues in the book, we find out that everything also includes venting about the therapist and other group members.
Meeting by meeting, hour by hour, Christie uncovers the buried aspects of her past. She speaks about them, bawls about them and tears up teddy bears in anguish. She is assigned members of the group to call for 1. to report the food she's had during the day 2. to get a daily affirmation to keep going in life. She climbs up the ladder of love, urged on by group members. And when she eventually falls down, the group members are there to catch her and hold her when she's crying.
This book gives you a reader a front-row seat to the relatively lesser explored form of therapy in India - group therapy. It's a read that will keep you up all night to find out what happens to Christie in the end. After all, who doesn't love the journey towards a romantic goal?
Also, once you're done reading this book, check out the author's post in the Modern Love section in the New York Times which is a perfect epilogue for the book.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/08/style/modern-love-scrabble-therapy.html
Please do check the following trigger warnings before you buy your copy of the book (expected publication: 7th October 2020): Eating disorder, Mental Illness, Body Shaming, Sexual Content, Suicidal Thoughts.
Group by Christie Tate is a larger-than-life memoir that makes you question: how can so much happen to a person, and can they still, then, have a happily-ever-after ending?
In her debut memoir, lawyer and writer Christie Tate shares her experience of group therapy. It's an unconventional form of group therapy: there are no requirements for confidentiality among members, and the members are to disclose each and every aspect of their life weekly during the 90 minutes session. While this seemed outlandish and an absolute scary way of therapy, the process and the end results changed my opinion about it.
At the start of the book, we find out that Christie is a valedictorian at her law college and suffers from bulimia. One day, when she was driving around Chicago, she started having vivid suicidal ideation, which seemed uncharacteristic of her. But there was a reason for it: she felt loneliness stemming from the lack of a romantic relationship in her life. 26 and feeling like a loser about love, Christie goes to her friend's house for dinner one day, where she is introduced to the man who would change her life: Dr. Rosen. And group therapy.
While initially hesitant about the scarily candid nature of the discussions at group therapy, Christie starts learning the basics. Like, feelings have only two syllables, and hence 'defensive' is not a feeling. But 'ashamed' is. Crossing your legs while sitting in a circle means you're not open to sharing, you're hiding something. And the group is meant for you to share every tid-bit of everything: friendship, family, sex, dating, romance. And when the discussion in the group continues in the book, we find out that everything also includes venting about the therapist and other group members.
Meeting by meeting, hour by hour, Christie uncovers the buried aspects of her past. She speaks about them, bawls about them and tears up teddy bears in anguish. She is assigned members of the group to call for 1. to report the food she's had during the day 2. to get a daily affirmation to keep going in life. She climbs up the ladder of love, urged on by group members. And when she eventually falls down, the group members are there to catch her and hold her when she's crying.
This book gives you a reader a front-row seat to the relatively lesser explored form of therapy in India - group therapy. It's a read that will keep you up all night to find out what happens to Christie in the end. After all, who doesn't love the journey towards a romantic goal?
Also, once you're done reading this book, check out the author's post in the Modern Love section in the New York Times which is a perfect epilogue for the book.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/08/style/modern-love-scrabble-therapy.html
Please do check the following trigger warnings before you buy your copy of the book (expected publication: 7th October 2020): Eating disorder, Mental Illness, Body Shaming, Sexual Content, Suicidal Thoughts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Sexual content