A review by ottiedottie
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb
5.0
4.5?
I don't know how I could begin talking about this book. Initially I remember feeling deeply uncomfortable hearing a therapist's real view of her patients. It is something I have to come to reject or see as extremely unprofessional. However, once I got over that, I was able to make sense of what goes on in a therapy session from both sides, how different personalities react to their pain and trauma in different unsavoury manners and how the therapist is performing a delicate dance while also keeping their distance. It made me appreciate that one does not come into this line of work without a deep love for people. It made me have more empathy for people who seem like assholes on the surface. Most likely that performance is just a defense mechanism because of genetic and environmental factors. But most importantly, it made me trust in my own process when it comes to therapy.
And now I'm just left with more fuel to introspect and with an overflowing handful of quotes from this book that will stay with me for some time to come.
I'll leave this review with ones that made me think.
"Each week, [the patients] push themselves harder than Olympic athletes, and it's a privilege to be part of that process."
"Therapy elicits odd reactions because in a way, it's like pornography. Both involve a kind of nudity. Both have the potential to thrill. And both have millions of users, most of whom keep their use private."
I don't know how I could begin talking about this book. Initially I remember feeling deeply uncomfortable hearing a therapist's real view of her patients. It is something I have to come to reject or see as extremely unprofessional. However, once I got over that, I was able to make sense of what goes on in a therapy session from both sides, how different personalities react to their pain and trauma in different unsavoury manners and how the therapist is performing a delicate dance while also keeping their distance. It made me appreciate that one does not come into this line of work without a deep love for people. It made me have more empathy for people who seem like assholes on the surface. Most likely that performance is just a defense mechanism because of genetic and environmental factors. But most importantly, it made me trust in my own process when it comes to therapy.
And now I'm just left with more fuel to introspect and with an overflowing handful of quotes from this book that will stay with me for some time to come.
I'll leave this review with ones that made me think.
"Each week, [the patients] push themselves harder than Olympic athletes, and it's a privilege to be part of that process."
"Therapy elicits odd reactions because in a way, it's like pornography. Both involve a kind of nudity. Both have the potential to thrill. And both have millions of users, most of whom keep their use private."