Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps her clients through their struggles in Los Angeles. When Lori’s life suddenly comes crashing down, she realises that she too might need help.
Lori takes us through her own therapy experience with Wendell, and shares stories from her own clients – a young woman diagnosed with cancer, a narcissistic Hollywood producer, a senior citizen threatening to end her life on her 70th birthday if nothing improves, and a young woman who always seems to attract the wrong kind of guys. Despite all of their different stories and backgrounds, they have one thing in common – the desire to be helped and understood.
Maybe You Should Talk To Someone by Lori Gottlieb is fascinating. Lori’s memoir is partly her own experience undergoing therapy, but she also shares stories from her clients as well and the types of things she has to deal with.
What stood out to me immediately about this book was how real it is – these are real people, stories and emotions that people have experienced, and some of these stories are truly heart-breaking.
This book was an emotional rollercoaster, it had me chuckling on one page and tearing up the next, and I grew so attached to Lori’s clients (even the more difficult ones). It’s quite a heavy read at some points, but it’s worth it.
What really struck a chord was the fact that despite Lori’s years of experience, the questions and struggles she helps her clients with are the same sort of things she brings up and discusses with her own therapist Wendell. It just goes to show that no matter how good we might be at rationalising other people’s emotions, it’s an entirely different story when it comes to our own.
The memoir is full of really inspiring messages and stories. I think the biggest takeaway for me was that there’s no shame in talking to someone and asking for help. (Even therapists themselves need help too!) Change won’t happen unless you want to put in the effort, which is crucial to this memoir.
I would absolutely recommend ‘Maybe You Should Talk To Someone’ – maybe grab a box of tissues before you start (just in case).
Favourite quotes:
“People often mistake numbness for nothingness, but numbness isn’t the absence of feelings; it’s a response to being overwhelmed by too many feelings.”
“There’s a difference between pain and suffering. You’re going to have to feel pain – everyone feels pain at times – but you don’t have to suffer so much. You’re not choosing the pain, but you’re choosing the suffering.”
“The nature of life is change and the nature of people is to resist change.”