Today I am sharing my review of Group: How one therapist and a circle of strangers saved my life by Christie Tate. This book was fascinating and I hope you read my entire review because I have a lot of THOUGHTS!
Synopsis
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.
Why I decided to read this book
The premise of this book sounded very interesting and I had seen a lot of mixed reviews. This is one of the non-fiction books I wanted to read for Non-fiction November this month. This book is also Reese Witherspoon’s book club pick this month.
Rating
READ this book if you want and find the premise interesting. I don’t rate Non-Fiction books with stars as I do with fiction books. Check out my rating system here.
My Thoughts
I found this book fascinating! If you skipped the synopsis above let me remind you that this book is a MEMOIR. It is the author’s story and her experience with group therapy. The author goes into details about her life and how the group therapy helped her heal and get to where she is at now. I am glad this is another book that normalizes talking about therapy.
This book is very honest and raw. Christie lets it all out there including her anxiety, her relationship with food and others. At times I cringed because I felt I shouldn’t be privy to some of the details. However, that is why this memoir is captivating, we get to see her grow throughout and understand her experience and process. I don’t agree with some of her actions but I am not here to judge her experience but to listen to it.
There were some methods used by the therapist that I found interesting and others questionable. I have never been in group therapy myself but you can tell from the story that even Christie thought some of these things were unusual. I believe therapy to not be one dimensional and people have different experiences. There is not a one size fits all to therapy, and this is the author’s personal experience with it. I have read reviews and seen therapists opinions about the potential ethical issues some of these practices. It has been interesting to hear people that have experience in the field’s opinion about it.
I would like to point out that I don’t believe this book to be problematic in my opinion. I think there is a controversial therapist discussed in the book but that does not make this a problematic or inappropriate memoir.
This would be a great book to read with a book club. The main reason being that there is a lot to discuss and it is interesting to see different people’s perspective about it. So far I’ve had many discussions with people that have read this book and this is the reason why I love to read and discuss books. The best discussions we’ve had in my book club is when we have different opinions about a book and I think this is a book that lends itself to that.
Format
As far as format, I started reading the physical book but since I’m having a hard time focusing on reading this month I switched to the audiobook which is narrated by the author. I recommend the audio format. However, I would say that the writing of this book is kind of all over the place (it’s more stream of consciousness). Some people may find it hard to follow in audio.
Content Warnings
Suicidal thoughts, eating disorder, mental health
Who I recommend this book to
I recommend this book to people that like to read memoirs and find it fascinating to hear others stories. This book is NOT for everyone. I can’t make a blanket recommendation for this book so if you are thinking about reading it consider messaging me and we can chat about it!
Get the book!
Did this review of Group convince you to read it? You can get the book from Bookshop.org here. Please consider ordering it from a Black owned independent bookstore. This list of Black owned independent bookstores accepts online ordering.
If you’ve read this book I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
