breanneporter's review

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emotional funny inspiring sad medium-paced

4.5

I loved this book and basically sobbed my way through the entire last third. What a cool concept - Lori Gottlieb draws from her own personal and professional experiences as both a therapist and a patient to give readers an inside look into what a therapy process can look like from both sides of the couch. She discusses the personal situations that drove her to seek therapy and allows us to follow the journeys of several compelling patients from their first sessions with her through their moments of breakthrough/revelation. All of the characters felt supremely real and complicated and it felt to me like such a beautiful gift to read these stories and glimpse these lives and these emotions and motivations. This book is very emotional - I’m not kidding that I bawled my eyes out - but it’s also so thought provoking and reflective and insightful. 

Lori has a distinctive writing voice and a way of ending every chapter with a lesson or a cliffhanger that took some getting used to, for me, but overall I liked the short digestible chapters and how the story flowed and how she slowly revealed more to the reader, never rushing for us understand faster than we needed to. I struggled a bit to finish around the middle, which knocked it down a bit from a 5, but I wonder if I had read it via audio (instead of digital) if it would have been a 5. Either way, I don’t think everyone would enjoy this but I would recommend to anyone interested in the human condition, in therapy, in a unique kind of memoir, in a book that makes them reflect on themselves and their pasts and their attitudes toward living. Thank you Lori, for ditching that last contract so you could write this instead!

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roveronez's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

What a great book! Lori Gottlieb talks about her life, how she became a therapist, and her struggles as well as the life challenges of her patients in such way that we feel like we're reading a novel. So many insights, the kind of book that naturally teaches you so much about psychology and gives you tools to cope with your own struggles without sounding like a "self-help" book. I loved it! ❤️

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fkshg8465's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, and of course, I’m obsessed with trying to figure out who John is and what’s the name of his show!

I liked her thoughtfulness and deliberateness with her patients. I liked knowing she is also someone who needs a therapist as well. It’s given me a new lens to look at me in therapist through.

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michfiske5's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0


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mariamarsbar's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative reflective

5.0


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sapphicbookworm23's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

5.0

As of 9/15/23, this is my 2nd favorite book of the year, second to Pleasure Activism.

As an aspiring psychotherapist, this book gave me an intimate glimpse into the tender, dynamic, and evolutionary client - therapist relationship. I think anyone who appreciates raw, authentic, and deep human connection and honesty will appreciate this book. We all have unique an often painful stories and histories that we carry with us, yet it's so rare for others to learn about them and hold space for them. This book gently forces you reflect on your own life, how you're living in ways that don't align with your values, and a reminder that life is so short. If we knew we had only a few months left to live, most of us would change our priorities and behavior entirely - how can we do that NOW until waiting for our death to near?

Memorable quotes:

Page 332: "The inability to say no is largely about approval-seeking - people imagine that if they say no, they won't be loved by others. The inability to say yes, however - to intimacy, a job opportunity, an alcohol program - is more about lack of trust in one-self. Will I mess this up? Will this turn out badly? Isn't if safer to stay where I am?

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cylite's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5


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ju_harue's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Essa leitura conversou muito comigo de um jeito que me levou a gatilhos que nem mesmo sabia que poderiam me afetar, mas sobre os quais refleti bastante (e levei a minha própria terapia).
Achei a forma como foi exposto e escrito as histórias e exemplos, foi muito respeitosa e honesta. Acompanhar alguns pacientes em paralelo em como reverbarava na Lori, foi especial, enfim, uma leitura que eu amei muito, apesar de ter sofrido em muitos momentos.

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hadsbaker's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.25


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vanesst's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

4.5


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