Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

 I read this book during the early days of the pandemic when I thought I might want to be a therapist, so I tried reading books by and about therapists. While that proved a fun endeavor, I fairly quickly realized I did not want to be a therapist, and that reading memoirs was not the way to assess a career move. But like a therapist, I do like getting to know people's complicated lives. Lori Gottlieb is a therapist, she sees a therapist, and she writes about both her and her clients' complicated lives with skill and precision. 

While there were a few times I questioned if a therapist could really do what she did (eat lunch bought by her client, for example) I had to let that go. This is a book about connections and the importance of relationships in all spheres of life. The labels of "therapist" and "client," "helper" and "helped," become less significant.  I was left thinking about the reciprocal benefit and opportunities for self-reflection all relationships offers us, if we are careful and committed enough to notice. 

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