Catherine Gildiner

Break in Fiction: Afternoon Coffee, pastries and Someone else's Therapy

I picked this one up whilst milling about the bookstore after breakfast this morning.
I saw the cover and thought it would be a quick and undemanding reading break from the list I had created for my 100books52weeks challenge, My April challenge is quite ambitious. So, here I am, on chapter 3 and I have to say, I was right. Easy quick read.

More to come ...

So, the cases presented are harrowing and sometimes the author lets her own beliefs slip into her narrative. But for the most part, I feel like she really does champion each patient and their journey through therapy. Peter and Danny's stories are just crushing. I am conflicted about Laura, she still seems emotionally damaged no matter how successful she went on to become. How can she look at Tracy's life trajectory and not belief in the child molestation accusation leveled at that deadbeat father who also clearly murdered her mother and stepmother. As the opening case, it left a bad taste in my mouth and I questioned the therapists definition of "hero" which she uses frequently to describe the "successful" patients journey through therapy.

All in all, it was a read and although it set out to inspire the reader I suppose it did to a certain extent.… (mais)

I'm just going to come out and say it: I'm not buying what Catherine Gildiner is selling. In this book, the author congratulates herself over and over as she shares exaggerations of her 5 most memorable psychotherapy cases, showing how each individual is a hero in their own right.

Despite being published in 2020, this book is incredibly outdated on multiple levels but what stood out most to me was her fetishization of a Native American man, whom she told was sexually assaulted because he was handsome. Or maybe it was that another patient had dated a transgender individual because they were seeking a mother AND father figure and could find them both in that one person. Or maybe it was using an abusive father's name to make a cute pun, which was so absolutely distasteful.… (mais)