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A review by savvylit
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
This book is a behind-the-scenes look at therapy from both sides of the room. The way that Gottlieb paints a complete portrait of the profession as she experiences it is one of the most compelling aspects of the book.
Ultimately, though, I'm not sure what this book was trying to achieve. Other than the behind the scenes glimpses, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone seemed to be lacking in insight. Unlike other nonfiction that I have enjoyed reading, this book felt disingenuous and had no significant takeaways. Perhaps Gottlieb's past in television is what made her composite patients seem more like exaggerated caricatures than real people. In my opinion, that's what leant this book a consistent trite and overplayed quality.
Furthermore, at 400 pages, this book was interminable to me. I nearly set it aside for good multiple times. I really think that it was trying to be too many things at once. It was both an autobiography of Gottlieb's life and also an exploration of therapy and the importance of connection. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone would have been much more effective if it had just been about therapy. Mixing her behind-the-scenes takes with tons of background regarding her academic and career choices felt unnecessary and self-indulgent.
I would not recommend this book. Perhaps you would like it if you are intimidated to try therapy yourself and want to know more about the experience.
Ultimately, though, I'm not sure what this book was trying to achieve. Other than the behind the scenes glimpses, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone seemed to be lacking in insight. Unlike other nonfiction that I have enjoyed reading, this book felt disingenuous and had no significant takeaways. Perhaps Gottlieb's past in television is what made her composite patients seem more like exaggerated caricatures than real people. In my opinion, that's what leant this book a consistent trite and overplayed quality.
Furthermore, at 400 pages, this book was interminable to me. I nearly set it aside for good multiple times. I really think that it was trying to be too many things at once. It was both an autobiography of Gottlieb's life and also an exploration of therapy and the importance of connection. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone would have been much more effective if it had just been about therapy. Mixing her behind-the-scenes takes with tons of background regarding her academic and career choices felt unnecessary and self-indulgent.
I would not recommend this book. Perhaps you would like it if you are intimidated to try therapy yourself and want to know more about the experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Grief, Toxic relationship, Death, Death of parent, and Medical content