Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
by Lori Gottlieb
About This Book
In this deeply personal and insightful memoir, psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb explores the human condition through her dual role as therapist and patient. When a crisis sends her to seek therapy herself, she discovers that both sides of the couch share the same struggles—love, loss, meaning, and change. Through vivid storytelling and humor, Gottlieb reveals how therapy helps people uncover truths about themselves and transform their lives.
Maybe You Should Talk To Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
In this deeply personal and insightful memoir, psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb explores the human condition through her dual role as therapist and patient. When a crisis sends her to seek therapy herself, she discovers that both sides of the couch share the same struggles—love, loss, meaning, and change. Through vivid storytelling and humor, Gottlieb reveals how therapy helps people uncover truths about themselves and transform their lives.
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Key Chapters
Professional Life: Seeing Human Stories Unfold in the Therapy Room
In my Los Angeles practice, people come in carrying burdens that seem unique, yet as I listen, I realize how much we share beneath our polished exteriors. There’s a pattern that emerges: the craving for love, the fear of rejection, the anxiety that we might never fully measure up. I describe several of my clients—their lives, their contradictions—not as case studies but as mirrors reflecting the emotional truths we all face.
Therapy, to me, is less about fixing people than about widening their perspective. Each session becomes a microcosm of life itself: messy, unpredictable, and full of potential. As a therapist, I witness transformation unfold slowly. Some clients resist, some cry, some change course entirely. But all eventually confront the reality that healing begins the moment they stop editing their stories and start telling them truthfully.
Crisis and Turning Point: My Own Descent and the Call for Help
The irony of being a therapist is that even when you understand the mechanics of emotional pain, you can still be blindsided by it. When my long-term relationship ended abruptly, I was shattered. The professional me—the one who advised others on resilience and acceptance—suddenly couldn’t get out of bed. And so I did what I ask others to do: I sought therapy.
It was humbling. Sitting in the patient’s chair forced me to confront the uncomfortable truth that knowledge doesn’t shield us from grief. My emotional turmoil wasn’t a clinical case; it was deeply human. I began to see that even therapists carry unfinished stories and unresolved fears. This moment became the pivot of my life—the reminder that we all need someone to meet us where we are, not where we pretend to be.
Meeting Wendell: The Therapist Who Helped Me Reset My Lens
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Client Narrative – John: Grief Behind Anger
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Client Narrative – Julie: The Wisdom in Facing Mortality
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Client Narrative – Rita: The Possibility of Change Late in Life
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Client Narrative – Charlotte: The Search for Self-Worth Amid Trauma
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Therapist as Patient: Parallels and Revelations
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Exploration of the Therapeutic Process: What Actually Heals
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Intersections of Personal and Professional Insight: Learning from Each Side of the Couch
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Themes of Connection and Transformation: Talking as the Bridge
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All Chapters in Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
About the Author
Lori Gottlieb
Lori Gottlieb is an American psychotherapist, author, and columnist. She writes the 'Dear Therapist' column for The Atlantic and is a frequent speaker on mental health and emotional well-being. Her work blends clinical insight with narrative storytelling to make psychological concepts accessible to a broad audience.
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In this deeply personal and insightful memoir, psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb explores the human condition through her dual role as therapist and patient. When a crisis sends her to seek therapy herself, she discovers that both sides of the couch share the same struggles—love, loss, meaning, and change. Through vivid storytelling and humor, Gottlieb reveals how therapy helps people uncover truths about themselves and transform their lives.
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