Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

Well this is different!

March 28, 2020 was our very first all remote bookclub.  Why?  Because we were all under quarantine because of the COVID-19 pandemic. What a surreal time.  Everything on our schedules was canceled so we all made it!

Mental heath issues have been top of mind recently since we have all been inundated with news of disease and death. It was quite fitting that Amy's pick was a memoir by a therapist called Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb. In the book the author reveals the stories of several of her clients while interweaving her own story of how she became a therapist and her journey finding and seeking help for her own mental health struggles.

The book was well received. We laughed, we cried. Probably one of the most moving stories was of a young client who was recently married and finds she has terminal cancer. Some found they had less tolerance for other (more annoying) clients. There were also some interesting takes on the relationship between the author and her own male therapist.

A large part of the bookclub session was having everyone take a turn and describe how she is doing given the circumstances.  There were many reactions including anxiety, appreciation for our health, struggles not being able to be close to family or help family members, isolation, lack of motivation working when people in the world are suffering vs. newfound worth in our work, and stress from the crumbling economy. Now more than ever we are happy to have each other.