Gottlieb offers network of sometimes interconnected and consistently meaningful searches for purpose and peace.
This hit the spot for me. I was going to be happy with a light, surface-level look at therapy and the ins and outs of a therapist's providing and receiving therapy. But the book quickly grows into a network of sometimes interconnected and consistently meaningful searches for purpose and peace.
Gottlieb says therapy is about asking, "Who am I? What do I want? What's in my way?" And that "Everyone needs to hear that other person's voice saying, 'I believe in you. I can see possibilities that you might not see quite yet. I imagine that something different can happen, in some form or another. ' In therapy we say, 'Let's edit your story.'" I loved that, and this "editing of the story" is apparent in Gottlieb's own therapy experience and in her experiences with her patients.
There's beautiful exploration in Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed of dying, death, appreciating the beauty of the impermanence of our lives, planning for loved ones after our death, and living life fully.
What did you think?
My book club was a little split on this one. I got so much more out of this than I expected, and I was fascinated. Have you read it?