I think therapy is an amazing thing you can do for yourself and I absolutely hate that often people can’t afford to get that kind of help. I am always pleased when people make choices to take care of themselves. Rosen) helps her give voice to issues long left unspoken.īut as we go along, the therapist’s instructions and his role in the author’s life grows, especially as he suggests that she join additional groups and he begins to encourage her (read: commands her) to stay in a toxic relationship or to accept a more high-powered job (that pays more.when his sessions are pricey.

She’s forced to start talking about her issues with eating and sex, and the therapist (Dr. Initially, therapy seems to do a lot of good for Tate. This is a memoir in which the author, while in law school and while having very dark thoughts, decides to seek help in the form of a group therapy session.

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. 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. Rosen’s outlandish directives, but as her defenses break down and she comes to trust Dr. So begins her entry into the strange, terrifying, and ultimately life-changing world of group therapy. Rosen issues a nine-word prescription that will change everything: “You don’t need a cure, you need a witness. Christie is skeptical, insisting that that she is defective, beyond cure. About everything-her eating habits, childhood, sexual history, etc. All she has to do is show up and be honest. Rosen, a therapist who calmly assures her that if she joins one of his psychotherapy groups, he can transform her life. 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?Įnter Dr.

The refreshingly original debut memoir of a guarded, over-achieving, self-lacerating young lawyer who reluctantly agrees to get psychologically and emotionally naked in a room of six complete strangers-her psychotherapy group-and in turn finds human connection, and herself.Ĭhristie Tate had just been named the top student in her law school class and finally had her eating disorder under control.

The group christie tate