Lori Gottlieb opts for therapy after a personal crisis. It works out well for her. A therapist most often works like a good listener who is able to offer professional insights and practical advice when required. Along the way, her therapy sessions provide her the self-awareness and truth serum that she requires to make some essential changes to her life. It is similar to her practice. This memoir is able to offer therapist and patient’s point of view sympathetically rather than a clinical assessment. As a therapist Gottlieb shares stories of some of her patients without violating doctor-patient confidentiality. There are four distinct case studies from different stages of life, with their own preoccupations and anxieties. It is able to speak directly to the lay reader too. It is excellent. No wonder it is an NYT bestseller. Every line and word is in place. Nothing fussy. And yet so illuminating. Storytelling at it’s best!

23 June 2020