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Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life
Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life
Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life
Audiobook10 hours

Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life

Written by Christie Tate

Narrated by Christie Tate

4/5

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About this audiobook

A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

The refreshingly original and “startlingly hopeful” (Lisa Taddeo) debut memoir of an over-achieving young lawyer who reluctantly agrees to group therapy and gets psychologically and emotionally naked in a room of six complete strangers—and finds human connection, and herself.

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 despite 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.

“Often hilarious, and ultimately very touching” (People), Group is “a wild ride” (The Boston Globe), and with Christie as our guide, 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.

Editor's Note

Therapeutic and gripping…

Glennon Doyle meets “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone” in this fearlessly raw memoir. Christie Tate shares her experiences stripping down emotionally and psychologically in front of a bunch of strangers in group therapy in this hilarious, heartbreaking, and transformative story of healing. “Group” proves a book can be both therapeutic and a gripping page-turner.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
Release dateOct 27, 2020
ISBN9781797114286
Author

Christie Tate

Christie Tate is the author of the New York Times bestseller Group, which was a Reese’s Book Club selection. She has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and elsewhere, and she lives in Chicago with her family.

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Reviews for Group

4/5

289 ratings21 reviews

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  • 5/5
    This book is awesome. I listened to it during a yoga retreat in India and was completely drawn in from the start. It’s a memoir navigating this crazy world. Trying to find a way through, making sense of ourselves and the experiences that have made us who we are and finding deeper intimate connections with other human beings. Very funny too. I wish I had a therapist and a group(s) like this!
  • 2/5
    I got all the way almost up to the last chapter but couldn't finish it. I thought this book was going to read like Maybe You Should Talk To Someone by Lori Gottlieb or like I'm Glad My Mother Died By Jennette McCurdy. Instead the narration of her "finding herself" was her throwing tantrums the whole time, explicit sex stories, and generalizing all republicans. Here is a direct quote from the book. " I was 90 percent sure he was Republican but he had yet to demonstrate any misogyny, racism, or classism, so I let myself be wooed by his blue-blooded manners and kind demeanor" I know this book clearly is written by a liberal by can't a book just be written without inserting personal bias that alienate your reader. I dunno it felt a bit crass for my taste trying to get through it.

    I wanted to understand her journey of healing but it felt more like a book about sexual escapades and a poorly-behaved adult female that gets to insult and curse her group session members and therapist all the time. I thought she crossed the line in how she treated others and never got held accountable for being so disrespectful. Who says f you to their therapist? I dunno she definitely was not kind herself.
  • 5/5
    It is very touching, funny and real. When I first started I didn’t believe about its content but in the contrary it left me with a good taste in my mouth.
  • 5/5
    This book not only gives insight into many topics around mental health but also gives the clinician a unique look into the struggle a client has outside of therapy and the battle to implement the tools needed to heal and grow.
  • 4/5
    If you are at all an empathetic person there will be times all you can do is feel the raw emotions she describes. It's sad and hopeful and if you're like me and have not been to therapy, puzzling just as it is to the authour watching the action or inaction of the therapist on her life.
  • 5/5
    Honest, riveting and now I think I most definitely need GROUP.
  • 4/5
    I’m happy for her, but disagree with methods. People should feel comfort in seeing they are not alone in their fears and insecurities. It’s a shared human condition.
  • 5/5
    Very generous book, full of spirit and wisdom. Hopefully, it will inspire people to engage in more group therapy and trust a process of allowing others into their lives. I also enjoyed how the book avoided labels and diagnoses. It focused on people and the processes of recovery. Well done all around by Ms. Tate, and I look forward eagerly to her next book.
  • 5/5
    I loved this so much! It made my heart ache! I cried at the end! Yay Christie for never giving up! You’re my hero! Please publish another book!
  • 1/5
    The audio is off on this book too! I’m only leaving this so hopefully it’ll be fixed then of course I’ll take away the one star review :)

    5 people found this helpful

  • 5/5
    Loved it. Couldn't stop listening. It was like a train wreck you can't look away from.

    1 person found this helpful

  • 3/5
    This book was frustrating, boring, insufferable and indulgent. I didn’t think I could possibly make it to the end. In the end, it was honest, hopeful and candid. I can’t say I highly recommend it to other readers, but it has stayed with me, and that’s a sign of a good read, isn’t it?
  • 5/5
    When a friend mentioned this book to me, I was intrigued. I just started listening to the story unfold and thought that I was reading a fiction story. As I continued to listen, I was amazed at this writer’s insight with the psychologist’s advice and the pure raw feelings that the main character was sharing. It was then that I found this is a memoir and that I too could relate to how she was living and feeling- or not feeling. The events mentioned in this book made me realize that I am not alone. I am thankful for this book and all the healing that happened.
  • 5/5
    Loved it! Therapy is not a linear process. Thank you for your honesty and letting us experience your journey.
  • 1/5
    I hated this. She was insufferable. I got nothing out of it.
  • 4/5
    I almost let a few poor reviews stop me from listening to this audiobook. I’m glad I didn’t. The thing I praise the most it’s that Christie is brave enough to share all her therapy journey, including all the ugly she went through while finding herself. People need to see that. We need to talk about that. There will be moments when you will be, if you think you are mentally ‘healthy’, fed up with her behavior as I did. But I remember it was her story and I can’t judge her because it wasn’t me dealing with all her grievances. In the end I feel honored to be able to listen to someone’s story of recovery. It also made me remember the importance of therapy. Anyhow. I think it’s worth the read/listen.

    3 people found this helpful

  • 5/5
    Having been a group leader...LOVED IT! STAY OPEN! KEEP LOVING ❤

    1 person found this helpful

  • 5/5
    christie’s journey discovering herself is incredible, raw, and she doesn’t hold back. this is one of my favorite books now.

    3 people found this helpful

  • 3/5
    Roundup 3.5
    Consumed by this audio but baffled at times by both the therapist and Christine Tate. Not sure I cared for either of them but still a compelling audio.

    2 people found this helpful

  • 1/5
    I’m actually angry at this. She’s just infuriating as a person, I can’t even verbalize how mad this made me. I’m all for therapy, but this just became ridiculous. Not a good story.

    1 person found this helpful

  • 5/5
    Amazing book, full of lessons and honest struggles that we all face

    1 person found this helpful