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Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb
68 reviews
headinthepages's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Chronic illness, Infertility, Medical content, Mental illness, Abandonment, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Grief, Alcoholism, Child death, Infidelity, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence
kimveach's review against another edition
4.5
Moderate: Car accident, Addiction, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Medical content, Stalking, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship
orchidd's review
4.5
Graphic: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Sexism
wardenred's review against another edition
5.0
What makes therapy challenging is that it requires people to see themselves in ways they normally choose not to. A therapist will hold up the mirror in the most compassionate way possible, but it’s up to the patient to take a good look at that reflection, to stare back at it and say, “Oh, isn’t that interesting! Now what?” instead of turning away.
This is definitely the sort of book that leaves a lasting impression. On one hand, I can't say I've learned anything profoundly new; I've been in therapy for a long time, and I've been interested in the matters of psychology and mental health since my late teens. On the other hand, there were plenty of little moments that made me reexamine the familiar things from brand-new angles and arrive to new conclusions. It was also really interesting to see therapy sessions unfold from the other side of the coach, and to see a therapist as a patient.
I absolutely loved the way the narrative unfolded, too; how both Lori and her clients came in with relatively small-scale problems, for the most part, then dug deeper into the large-scale ones hiding underneath, and then arrived into proper existential crises—and figured out their paths through those, one way or another. The book is filled with relentless compassion, kindness, and humanity, and it left me with a strong reminder that if a problem doesn't seem solvable, perhaps you're solving the wrong problem. Or at the very least, perhaps there are other problems you can solve that will make the big central thing easier to live with and change your perception of it.
In a way, I picked up this book because I'm going through a hard time and I wanted more tools to figure out my pain and the methods of dealing with it. I can't say it worked—which isn't surprising, I was just reading a book about people whose problems aren't just like mine, I wasn't sitting in front of a therapist. But it definitely has given me more tools to poke at my pain with while I wait until I can afford therapy again.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Death
Moderate: Child death and Car accident
haleywofford's review against another edition
4.5
Minor: Suicide, Miscarriage, Grief, Death, Cursing, Addiction, Abortion, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Alcoholism
thenovelmaura's review against another edition
3.0
I'm of two minds when it comes to this rating (maybe it's too low?), but I didn't really like the sections about the author, which is a terrible thing to say about a memoir, I guess. All of her patients were so interesting and their therapy sessions were so thought-provoking; I loved reading those chapters and was always disappointed when the story went back to Gottlieb. There was a lot of unaddressed privilege in the narrative she told about herself, from the ease with which she found a therapist when she needed one to the way she left a well-paying job in television to attend medical school (before dropping out of medical school entirely).
On the other hand, the rest of the book was engrossing and had so many amazing tidbits about love, forgiveness, and living life to the fullest. I do see how this could encourage people to start therapy if they were previously on the fence about doing so. And I'm all for stories that normalize mental health issues and ways that we can cope with the difficulties in our lives. The psychology minor in me wants to give this 4 stars but the English major in me pulled it down to 3, so make of that what you will!
Graphic: Cancer and Child death
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Alcoholism
stories's review
5.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Medical content, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, and Addiction
lawsam's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Cancer, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
lydiavsbooks's review against another edition
4.5
I thought there was a perfect balance between some really emotional accounts and funny anecdotes. The whole tone and narration just felt so genuine, and I really loved getting to know the 'characters' and routing for them, as well as the author herself. Loved Wendel, bless him, and Sam the delivery guy warmed my heart.
Big recommend
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Abandonment
jesselopod's review against another edition
4.5
Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Death, Cancer, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Car accident, Toxic relationship, and Suicidal thoughts