Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Dzień dobry, potworku. Historie z terapii, które inspirują do walki o samego siebie by Catherine Gildiner

20 reviews

ambeda's review against another edition

inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

I also appreciate case reports/case studies in a psychodynamic perspective, and this is no different. While the traumatic events these patients/clients experienced aren't given in every graphic detail, big content warning on different types of traumas. Not a lighthearted read but if you've ever provided psychodynamic therapy you can appreciate this. Also if you've ever benefited from therapy, this may also offer some interesting insights. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault

There is also some transphobic comments made by a patient (likely a different personality, but still said) and when the therapist reflects the statements back with an interpretation, it also reads a s transphobic and could be triggering to some.

lama_mo's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

anncottrill's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Child abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Incest, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault

makinzimyers's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Incest, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Cancer, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Violence, Vomit, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism

katiejohns's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Abandonment, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Cancer, Self harm, Child abuse, Body shaming, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

ali_runs_and_reads's review against another edition

5.0

🎧 Good Morning Monster by Catherine Gildiner

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you’re looking for a compelling non-fiction book, this is it. Catherine Fildiner is a renowned therapist in Canada. In this book she recounts the story of five different patients who changed her life that she considers a hero. Each section of the book follows one patient from the time they enter therapy until they leave, and then a followup when she talked to them about using their story in this book. She goes to great length to conceal identities and maintain her patient’s anonymity. Each story is different. All start out as someone entering therapy who thinks they’re nothing special, but as their story emerges we see they are incredible resilient people. All have been through hell and back and we see how therapy heals them and allows them to grow and live a fulfilling and meaningful life. It made for a great audiobook. These are not easy stories to hear, but all five of her patients truly are heroes. Trigger warnings abound, so proceed with caution. I got this one from the library, but it is also available on Kindle through Kindle Unlimited. I’ve see Good Morning, Monster compared to the book Maybe You Should Talk To Someone, so I’m putting that one on my list. I don’t think I will ever forget the stories in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Animal death, Rape, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Pedophilia

kathrynclaire's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Physical abuse, Infidelity, Violence, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Suicide attempt

tessazwaan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

3.0

Okay tbh I loved this book for its readability - easy to read (tbf very intense traumatic stories so look at the trigger warnings first), very interesting and the cases so extreme that you want to  keep reading. However, to me it was problematic too, which is why I give this only three stars. 

First and foremost, I hate the emphasis on being “strong” (read: cope with excessive working, shutting off feelings and function “normally” in a kapitalist society). The sentence “She had to be tough, otherwise she would have formed a disorder” perfectly describes the tone of the book. 

Secondly, as a therapist, I feel like you should refrain from labelling people’s feeling as “whiny” or “needy”, especially since the people being called whiny and needy were severely abused. Sentences along the lines of “I wish people could hear this story when they are in my office complaining about insignificant childhood events” just don’t sit right with me. It’s disrespectful and lacks empathy, especially coming from a clinical psychologist. 

Third, there is some transphobia in this book. There’s deadnaming someone, only referring to her as a her after her surgeries and seeing a transgender woman explicitly as someone who could fulfill both a male and female role. I could have really done without that part, it also felt super unnecessary to add, since she wasn’t even a main character. 

Last but not least, how do you get consent to publish a life story from a dead man? Especially one from an Indigenous culture where keeping low profile is key? And this story was detailled as fuck? It felt just like she picked the most extreme stories to put in her book so her book could get as much shock effect as possible. 

So yeah, for me those issues took this from a five star review to three. I would recommend to read Maybe You Should Talk To Someone by Lori Gottlieb over this book any day. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Grief, Incest, Abandonment, Mental illness, Deadnaming, and Death of parent

maggienolin's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Abandonment, Incest, and Mental illness

florapants84's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Child death, Gaslighting, Self harm, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Grief, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Confinement, Bullying, Body shaming, Blood, Animal death, Alcoholism, and Alcohol