Review of Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life By Christie Tate

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

What a ride this book was. I'm not typically a fan of nonfiction or memoirs, but sometimes I'm surprised by a story and this story has completely surprised me. I absolutely love the writing style and storytelling of Christie Tate. This was laugh out loud funny and heartbreakingly sad. You'll find yourself screaming at Tate to not make a choice that can only bring her heartbreak, or laughing because you've been where she was. This story is about one woman's experience with group therapy, but it is also about self-discovery, love, friendship, loneliness, bravery, and trust. My favorite part about this was the community that group therapy created for Tate and for everyone else in the circle. This story is raw, freeing, transforming, and it's all-consuming. It cements the idea that you don't have to shatter the flood gates to feel close to the people around you but rather letting a little in at a time. 

Our author and the main character, Christie Tate, has the common problem of letting people close to her. She is a recovering Buleilmic and is struggling all around to connect. After being told about group therapy she decides to give it a chance. And her life is changed, through the help of Dr. Rosen she is guided to allow people in and allow herself to feel everything that she is feeling. Christie is comical and sad all at once. You will find yourself laughing with her, rooting that maybe this relationship will work, proud of her, you'll want to cry with her and you will smile will you say goodbye to her on the last page. I did find Dr. Rosen completely frustrating and got under my skin a lot but also at times I would kill to have someone like him in my life. This story is about the good therapy can do and even if sometimes that therapy might seem unconventional. 

Stand out quote: 

"I released a secret, not caring who in my family might abandon me, because I finally understood that keeping this secret was an act of abandoning myself" p. 30 

Some questions to ponder: 

1. What were your views on group therapy before reading this memoir? 
2. On page 64, Christie discusses being a yes man, and how difficult it is for her to say no. when do you typically say yes when you really want to say no? 
3. Does this therapy or anyone involved cross a line? 
4. Do you think Christie would have found what she was looking for without the help of her group?

Thanks for stopping in!

-MDB