23 January 2021
Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life
The refreshingly original debut memoir of a guarded, over-achieving, self-lacerating young lawyer who reluctantly agrees to get psychologically and emotionally naked in a room of six complete strangers—her psychotherapy group—and in turn finds human connection, and herself.
Christie Tate had just been named the top student in her law school class and finally had her eating disorder under control. Why then was she driving through Chicago fantasizing about her own death? Why was she envisioning putting an end to the isolation and sadness that still plagued her in spite of her achievements?
Enter Dr. Rosen, a therapist who calmly assures her that if she joins one of his psychotherapy groups, he can transform her life. All she has to do is show up and be honest. About everything—her eating habits, childhood, sexual history, etc. Christie is skeptical, insisting that that she is defective, beyond cure. But Dr. Rosen issues a nine-word prescription that will change everything: “You don’t need a cure, you need a witness.
So begins her entry into the strange, terrifying, and ultimately life-changing world of group therapy. Christie is initially put off by Dr. Rosen’s outlandish directives, but as her defenses break down and she comes to trust Dr. Rosen and to depend on the sessions and the prescribed nightly phone calls with various group members, she begins to understand what it means to connect.
Group is a deliciously addictive read, and with Christie as our guide—skeptical of her own capacity for connection and intimacy, but hopeful in spite of herself—we are given a front row seat to the daring, exhilarating, painful, and hilarious journey that is group therapy—an under-explored process that breaks you down, and then reassembles you so that all the pieces finally fit.
| Title | : | Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life |
| Edition Language | : | English |
| ISBN | : | null |
| Format Type | : |
Readers Also Enjoyed Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life
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This is a memoir in which the author, while in law school and while having very dark thoughts, decides to seek help in the form of a group therapy session. Initially, therapy seems to do a lot of good...
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“I was afraid of marrying my heart with the scoring that rose naturally between people, the inevitable bumping against other peoples desires, demands, pettiness, preferences, and all the quotidian N...
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I can’t really in good faith recommend this book to folks (unless you’re simply looking for non-fic that can be taken with a hefty grain of salt). This was salacious and entertaining and... honest...
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This is a complex review for me! I got to read this book as an ARC and I was super excited about it since I am first-year therapy graduate student. I think that I was coming at this book from a differ...
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Giveaway Win!I want to start this review off by saying that I don't think traditional forms of therapy are for everyone. I've tried going to therapy and I've tried taking anxiety medication and neithe...
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“Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life” (2020) is a candid and remarkable debut written by Christie Tate. The basis of her memoir is the exploration of group therapy tha...
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I listened to the Audible version of the book, read by the author.Memoirs are difficult when the writer comes across as unlikable, more so when that writer narrates her story. I suppose a certain amou...
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Just what the doctor ordered to forget about the pandemic and no electricity- what’s better than reading about someone else’s crazy messed up life! Lots of humor and misery kept me engaged until t...
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I love reading about other people's therapy, so was fascinated by this account of unconventional group therapy and its life-changing consequences....
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This is difficult to rate because I didn't have any problems with the writing or how the author presented herself as a person, but the whole thing made my skin crawl. Everything Dr. Rosen did felt gro...