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Terapi Odasında: Kapının Ardında Konuşulanlar
Uzmanı olduğu psikoterapi alanında kırk yılı geride bırakan, New York Times tarafından, “Sigmund Freud'dan sonra Britanya'da çalışan en ünlü psikoterapist” olarak gösterilen Susie Orbach'tan…
“Susie Orbach'ın terapi koltuğundan bizlere açıklıkla sunduğu hikayeler sıcacık ve insanı içine çekiyor.”
-Guardian
“Terapist koltuğundan alınmış bu on beşer dakikalık kısa öyküler tuhaf bir bağımlılık yaratıyor… insanı düşünmeye itiyor.”
-Irish News
“Her yeni bölüm, psikodramaya yeni bir anlam getiriyor, insanın dinledikçe dinleyesi geliyor… Programın sürükleyiciliği inkâr edilemez.”
-The Times
“Kitap canlanıyor... kuşkuyla bakılan bu gizemli sürecin perdesini başarıyla aralıyor.”
-Observer
Dünya çapında giderek daha fazla sayıda ve farklı tipte insan terapiye ihtiyaç duyuyor: Geçmişin travmalarıyla yüzleşmek, davranış kalıplarını kırmak, yeme bozukluklarının üstesinden gelmek, ilişkilerimiz hakkında konuşmak veya sadece kendimiz hakkında daha çok şey öğrenmek için.
BBC Radio 4'un aynı isimli programındaki doğaçlama vakaların dökümü olan bu eser, terapi sürecinde olan bitenleri irdeliyor. Genellikle mahremiyet örtüsü altına sokulan bir süreci uzman gözünden dürüstçe anlatan Terapi Odasında, terapiyi merak edenler veya terapi görmeyi düşünenler için eşsiz bir eser.
“Susie Orbach'ın terapi koltuğundan bizlere açıklıkla sunduğu hikayeler sıcacık ve insanı içine çekiyor.”
-Guardian
“Terapist koltuğundan alınmış bu on beşer dakikalık kısa öyküler tuhaf bir bağımlılık yaratıyor… insanı düşünmeye itiyor.”
-Irish News
“Her yeni bölüm, psikodramaya yeni bir anlam getiriyor, insanın dinledikçe dinleyesi geliyor… Programın sürükleyiciliği inkâr edilemez.”
-The Times
“Kitap canlanıyor... kuşkuyla bakılan bu gizemli sürecin perdesini başarıyla aralıyor.”
-Observer
Dünya çapında giderek daha fazla sayıda ve farklı tipte insan terapiye ihtiyaç duyuyor: Geçmişin travmalarıyla yüzleşmek, davranış kalıplarını kırmak, yeme bozukluklarının üstesinden gelmek, ilişkilerimiz hakkında konuşmak veya sadece kendimiz hakkında daha çok şey öğrenmek için.
BBC Radio 4'un aynı isimli programındaki doğaçlama vakaların dökümü olan bu eser, terapi sürecinde olan bitenleri irdeliyor. Genellikle mahremiyet örtüsü altına sokulan bir süreci uzman gözünden dürüstçe anlatan Terapi Odasında, terapiyi merak edenler veya terapi görmeyi düşünenler için eşsiz bir eser.
304 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2018
82 people are currently reading
1972 people want to read
About the author
Susie Orbach
51 books215 followersDr. Susie Orbach - the therapist who treated Diana, Princess of Wales, for her eating disorders; the founder of the Women's Therapy Center of London; a former columnist for The Guardian; a visiting professor at the London School of Economics; and the author of 1978 best-seller Fat is a Feminist Issue - is, aside from Sigmund Freud, probably the most famous psychotherapist to have ever set up couch in Britain.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
June 26, 2017
I didn't anticipate the peaceful effect that Orbach creates with her blend of scripts and analytic commentary. In Therapy is a lovely read, delicate and insightful and poignant and educational all at once.
I feel like I learnt a lot, but that was never 'the' purpose of Orbach's text. Any psychotherapeutic knowledge that I did learn was not forced upon me, but was knowledge that Orbach shared slowly and appropriately with the reader.
Orbach's writing creates a therapy-like dialogue (between author and reader) that is as charming to experience as the content is to read. She creates a situation similar to those that she wishes to exhibit in her psychotherapy scripts.
At times, I wished that Orbach had interrupted the radio plays less with her commentary so I could see more of the dialogue --- but I realise, in retrospect, that the text wouldn't have been as moving if Orbach had organised In Therapy like that.
I feel like I learnt a lot, but that was never 'the' purpose of Orbach's text. Any psychotherapeutic knowledge that I did learn was not forced upon me, but was knowledge that Orbach shared slowly and appropriately with the reader.
Orbach's writing creates a therapy-like dialogue (between author and reader) that is as charming to experience as the content is to read. She creates a situation similar to those that she wishes to exhibit in her psychotherapy scripts.
At times, I wished that Orbach had interrupted the radio plays less with her commentary so I could see more of the dialogue --- but I realise, in retrospect, that the text wouldn't have been as moving if Orbach had organised In Therapy like that.
April 17, 2022
In Therapy: How Conversations With Psychotherapists Really Work is brief enough to read on a workday lunchbreak, as I did. It's basically a radio play script with commentary, based on a rather ingenious radio programme about psychotherapy. As it would break confidentiality to broadcast actual therapy sessions and sound unnatural to fully script fake ones, Orbach gave short therapy sessions to actors who improvised a patient based on a brief outline. Thus the sessions in this book are artificial, but have a naturalistic tone. Orbach interjects her thoughts and discusses her overall conclusions at the end. As a result, the book gives more of a therapist's experience of therapy than a patient's. There are five sessions, each of which goes quite differently. It's interesting to observe at what points Orbach interjects and where she stays quiet. The actors convey mental anguish convincingly, without seeming melodramatic.
The commentaries place each session in a wider context of psychoanalytic theory and practise, which I found thought-provoking:
The afterword then summarises the aim of this project: to demystify psychotherapy. Orbach writes with impressive lucidity, so I found this my favourite part of the book.
I also appreciated her acknowledgement that nonetheless it is not suited to everyone and cannot undo systemic social injustices, a strong conclusion to a thoughtful little book.
The commentaries place each session in a wider context of psychoanalytic theory and practise, which I found thought-provoking:
Psychoanalysis and psychological theories of development see the capacity to hold complexity in mind - which is to say when thinking is not arranged in banishing binaries - as a hallmark of psychological selfhood.
This is not to say that right and wrong and not useful categories but they are not uniformly useful categories. They pertain to certain situations, ethics, morality, and so on, but in the realms of emotions, and often politics, over-simplification is a detriment. It diminishes our capacity to hear another. It dilutes the richness of our inner life and opinions. It weakens our resilience and it flattens public discourse.
The afterword then summarises the aim of this project: to demystify psychotherapy. Orbach writes with impressive lucidity, so I found this my favourite part of the book.
Therapy takes so very long because the structures of mind we develop in infancy, childhood, and adolescence are quasi-material structures. They are who we are and although the human mind and brain have great plasticity, desired change can be very difficult. Psychoanalytic therapy, with its emphasis on looking behind our defence structures to the beliefs and feelings that can appear dangerous and unknown, involves the therapist serving as an external anchor (hence the caricature of being overly dependent on the analyst) while the work of deconstructing and reconstructing follows. In therapy you don't just learn a new language to add to your repertoire, you relinquish unhelpful parts of the mother tongue and weave them together with the knowledge of a new grammar. The curiosity a therapist has towards the analysand's structures designate us as anthropologists of the mind. Each individual mind embodies complex understandings of social relationships - the interplay between self - what is allowed and what is sequestered and what to do with what isn't allowed. To know an individual is to know some of their time in history, in place, in class, gender, class, race, and society and family constellation they have emerged from. An individual is the outcome of her engagement with others from birth (and some would argue, the womb) onwards.
I also appreciated her acknowledgement that nonetheless it is not suited to everyone and cannot undo systemic social injustices, a strong conclusion to a thoughtful little book.
But I haven't answered the question of whether therapy is for everyone. For me the answer is no. Therapy is one vector into that wonderful adventure, an examined life. It is an intimate and delicate route but makes little sense unless one is in psychological trouble. Yes, we can all benefit from becoming emotionally literate, and social programmes which help expectant parents, educators, doctors, nurses, and so on expand their own emotional knowledge are effective ways to enable us to know ourselves, to connect well with other(s) and to be alright in our own skin.
For others, art, literature, bonding through sport, political or spiritual creativity, satisfying enough work and so on, will provide meaning. But it is an arduous struggle in a time of political cruelty which wreaks extreme economic and social division, while despoiling our environment and creating divisions inside of us.
November 4, 2021
2.75/5 stars.
Susie Orbach offers a look into her thought processes when leading therapy sessions through some dramatised case studies of different types of patients.
As these were dramatised, they didn't feel very authentic to me. Even with background given to these characters as to why they were going to therapy, I still struggled to see their point of view or connect with their words. I also wasn't fond of the way Orbach approached these hypothetical patients - I know my knowledge about therapy is limited to my own experience and the bits I've learnt at university and work, but the type of therapy shown in this book felt like it was imposing too much of her own thoughts into patients.
Many of the things Orbach posed also wasn't new information to myself, and I'm sure other people who have a basic knowledge of therapy would also relate. For example, the imposition that a woman who had a father who neglected her would then look for approval from older colleagues isn't a foreign concept to anyone.
I appreciate being able to see what a therapist thinks in a session, but unfortunately with a over dramatised version it did not feel very real.
Susie Orbach offers a look into her thought processes when leading therapy sessions through some dramatised case studies of different types of patients.
As these were dramatised, they didn't feel very authentic to me. Even with background given to these characters as to why they were going to therapy, I still struggled to see their point of view or connect with their words. I also wasn't fond of the way Orbach approached these hypothetical patients - I know my knowledge about therapy is limited to my own experience and the bits I've learnt at university and work, but the type of therapy shown in this book felt like it was imposing too much of her own thoughts into patients.
Many of the things Orbach posed also wasn't new information to myself, and I'm sure other people who have a basic knowledge of therapy would also relate. For example, the imposition that a woman who had a father who neglected her would then look for approval from older colleagues isn't a foreign concept to anyone.
I appreciate being able to see what a therapist thinks in a session, but unfortunately with a over dramatised version it did not feel very real.
November 25, 2016
These five vignettes – of individuals and one couple on the brink of becoming parents – are poignant portrayals of people in distress, and of people trying to hold that distress at bay. The therapist’s responses explode some of the myths about therapy: some readers might be surprised how little Susie speaks; at the plain language and absence of jargon; at how much, while maintaining the boundaries, she’s moved by her clients
Full review http://annegoodwin.weebly.com/1/post/...
Full review http://annegoodwin.weebly.com/1/post/...
August 18, 2019
Yıl içinde ders kitaplarında bulamadığım ve aklıma takılan bazı sorular vardı. Bu kitap onlara tamamen olmasa da bir cevap niteliğinde oldu. Ancak cevapladığı sorular yerine yenilerini ve bazı çelişkiler bıraktı. TPD’ye göre etik ikilem sayılabilecek birkaç yer fark ettim mesela.
Ayrıca Orbach’in konuşmalar sırasında araya girip açıkladığı yerler bana mesleğimin ne kadar zor ve güzel olduğunu hatırlattı. Terapist gözünden okumanın yanı sıra danışanların hikayelerine odaklanmak, her biri ne kadar özgün olsa da aslında hislerin ortak olduğunu görmek ve kendi yaşadıklarınızı başka kelimelerle orada okumak da çok aydınlatıcı oluyor sanırım. Bu kadar olmasını tahmin etmiyordum ama benim için oldukça yoğun, düşündürücü ve zorlayıcı bir okuma oldu.
Eğer bu konularda pek bir fikriniz yoksa da “terapi nedir, tam olarak ne işe yarar”ı görmek ve terapinin bir sihirli değenek gibi çalışmadığını anlamak için okunabilir.
Ayrıca Orbach’in konuşmalar sırasında araya girip açıkladığı yerler bana mesleğimin ne kadar zor ve güzel olduğunu hatırlattı. Terapist gözünden okumanın yanı sıra danışanların hikayelerine odaklanmak, her biri ne kadar özgün olsa da aslında hislerin ortak olduğunu görmek ve kendi yaşadıklarınızı başka kelimelerle orada okumak da çok aydınlatıcı oluyor sanırım. Bu kadar olmasını tahmin etmiyordum ama benim için oldukça yoğun, düşündürücü ve zorlayıcı bir okuma oldu.
Eğer bu konularda pek bir fikriniz yoksa da “terapi nedir, tam olarak ne işe yarar”ı görmek ve terapinin bir sihirli değenek gibi çalışmadığını anlamak için okunabilir.
October 13, 2022
Reflections and lessons learned:
“Each story tells us about the individual or the couple while it tells us about ourselves. We want to know about others' struggles because we want to know more deeply about ourselves and the project of being human”
Only short, but an example based insight into therapy and psychoanalysis. A book for those with any interest in psychology, or those tempted by too afraid by the need for psychiatric study. An author that I hadn’t been tempted by before, but interested to read more from as an necessary education
“Each story tells us about the individual or the couple while it tells us about ourselves. We want to know about others' struggles because we want to know more deeply about ourselves and the project of being human”
Only short, but an example based insight into therapy and psychoanalysis. A book for those with any interest in psychology, or those tempted by too afraid by the need for psychiatric study. An author that I hadn’t been tempted by before, but interested to read more from as an necessary education
August 11, 2025
Very insightful and an easy to comprehend read
March 1, 2025
Touching and I felt her warmth in my soul.
August 22, 2020
This is a series of transcripts, with some post hoc commentary, of four or five simulated therapy sessions made for broadcast by BBC Radio 4. Actors were briefed with a scenario and then presented to Ms Orback for as realistic a therapy session as was possible. (Obviously real sessions couldn’t be used for reasons of confidentially.) By all accounts the radio series worked and it's clear that the actors played their roles exceptionally well.
However, for me as a book it really didn’t work. I think there are two main reason for this: Firstly, actual is rather different to scripted fictionalised speech and without the clues from intonation and body-language, surprisingly, much of it is virtually incomprehensible. Second, the language of therapy is quite complicated and often words used that context have a quite different meaning to their usual everyday one. ‘Projection’ is an example – I do understand that one- but there are many others that I struggled with.
It a great concept and I’m disappointed that I missed the radio series as I’m sure that would be the better medium for this work.
However, for me as a book it really didn’t work. I think there are two main reason for this: Firstly, actual is rather different to scripted fictionalised speech and without the clues from intonation and body-language, surprisingly, much of it is virtually incomprehensible. Second, the language of therapy is quite complicated and often words used that context have a quite different meaning to their usual everyday one. ‘Projection’ is an example – I do understand that one- but there are many others that I struggled with.
It a great concept and I’m disappointed that I missed the radio series as I’m sure that would be the better medium for this work.
December 14, 2021
My mum was showing off her signed copy, and so I started reading. I agreed with her on pretty much everything, but still it was hard to read at times. Rather than speak abstractly about therapy, she selects very particular sessions/clients for an entire chapter. Many of the chapters went over my head as I zoned out. I could only relate to the existential mid-20s lawyer and the 60 y/o who declared his love for Susie. I really liked the conclusion and her reflections on what is and what isn't therapy including whether everyone needs therapy.
September 13, 2023
Me ha gustado el tener la perspectiva del paciente y del psicoanalista, me he sentido con un observador en sus sesiones; sobre todo me ha gustado la honestidad de sus reflexiones finales.
I have liked having the perspective of the patient and the psychoanalyst, I have felt like an observer in their sessions; Above all, I liked the honesty of his final reflections.
I have liked having the perspective of the patient and the psychoanalyst, I have felt like an observer in their sessions; Above all, I liked the honesty of his final reflections.
January 6, 2018
My favorite thing about this book: the dedication. "For Jeanette Winterson, who has always wanted to know what goes on in the consulting room." I just love Jeanette Winterson.
About the book though, very interesting concept, to give actors/actresses a backstory and have them improv as therapy clients with a real therapist. I want to say that this does not capture the nature of therapy in an authentic way... but, I actually think there is something really inauthentic about therapy, generally. It's all just contrived even though therapists would love to believe that it is this wonderful, delightful, totally spontaneous thing that is co-created in the moments between client and therapist. But, I mean, really... there is only so much room for creation of something unique and awesome when the therapist holds onto his/her skills, theories, and morals/ethics. A lot of the responses that therapists fall back on just feel like scripted cliches.
I promise I don't think therapy is bad. That's probably what you're getting from this review. I only say all of the above to say that maybe scripted therapy would have been a more accurate portrayal of "real" therapy than Orbach seems to think. What ends up in the book, a semi-scripted, not really scripted version of therapy is just okay. The reflection bits were better than the "therapy" bits. I wish I could have heard the actual presentation, that may have made a difference. I think I missed a lot with just reading this as a book.
About the book though, very interesting concept, to give actors/actresses a backstory and have them improv as therapy clients with a real therapist. I want to say that this does not capture the nature of therapy in an authentic way... but, I actually think there is something really inauthentic about therapy, generally. It's all just contrived even though therapists would love to believe that it is this wonderful, delightful, totally spontaneous thing that is co-created in the moments between client and therapist. But, I mean, really... there is only so much room for creation of something unique and awesome when the therapist holds onto his/her skills, theories, and morals/ethics. A lot of the responses that therapists fall back on just feel like scripted cliches.
I promise I don't think therapy is bad. That's probably what you're getting from this review. I only say all of the above to say that maybe scripted therapy would have been a more accurate portrayal of "real" therapy than Orbach seems to think. What ends up in the book, a semi-scripted, not really scripted version of therapy is just okay. The reflection bits were better than the "therapy" bits. I wish I could have heard the actual presentation, that may have made a difference. I think I missed a lot with just reading this as a book.
November 25, 2018
I found something of myself in each of the chapters. I could relate to the characters' fears and found new ways of expressing and thinking about some of my own feelings which i struggle to put into words. I definitely found the analysis more compelling than the "patients" character dialogues - I couldn't tell one character from the next from the way they spoke (excepting perhaps Louise, John and Maureen) and depended on reading the circumstances to distinguish between the them (I think this is perhaps due to the repeated use of "ums" by different characters, to show hesitation - it made it seem to me like multiple characters had the same voice).
Really enjoyed this book; would recommend to anyone interested in exploring how, through therapy, new connections can be made between seemingly seperate experiences to reshape an individual's thoughts and feelings. I would like to revisit this book myself at a later date to unpick some of the nuances I didn't quite understand on first reading.
Really enjoyed this book; would recommend to anyone interested in exploring how, through therapy, new connections can be made between seemingly seperate experiences to reshape an individual's thoughts and feelings. I would like to revisit this book myself at a later date to unpick some of the nuances I didn't quite understand on first reading.
November 5, 2017
I really didn't like this book.
And quite frankly I don´t see the point of this or how this would be helpful
to anyone since it is fictional and based on improv.
I have never been to therapy and don´t know much about
it but to me Susie seemed very suggestive and almost put
words / explanations into the patients mouth.
Like I said I don´t know anything about therapy but I was always under
the impression that you were supposed to figure things out yourself
and not have someone else tell you what´s wrong with you straight up
or what you are feeling and why.
She just didn't seem very helpful to me and in the case of Jo actually
quite damaging.
And quite frankly I don´t see the point of this or how this would be helpful
to anyone since it is fictional and based on improv.
I have never been to therapy and don´t know much about
it but to me Susie seemed very suggestive and almost put
words / explanations into the patients mouth.
Like I said I don´t know anything about therapy but I was always under
the impression that you were supposed to figure things out yourself
and not have someone else tell you what´s wrong with you straight up
or what you are feeling and why.
She just didn't seem very helpful to me and in the case of Jo actually
quite damaging.
December 16, 2021
The book compromises of several transcripts between the author and clients in therapy sessions. The author gives her in put in between as to what she interprets is going on or why she herself has said certain things within the session itself.
I wasn't aware until the end that the clients are in fact actors (which makes sense given confidentiality). Overall a good read which can give insight into the typical conversation that can occur in therapy sessions.
I wasn't aware until the end that the clients are in fact actors (which makes sense given confidentiality). Overall a good read which can give insight into the typical conversation that can occur in therapy sessions.
June 15, 2017
Mildly interesting. I didn't get much out of this book. Seemed a little lightweight in its contents. Skip it.
Read
August 31, 2020This is a short read - a set of conversations between therapist and client. For some reason, I am very curious about the fact that these conversations are dramatised. I can understand that there is performance involved in daily life, but the aim of performances can be varied. An actor performing to be a client who interacts with the therapist seems like an issue to me - I wonder if my questions of authenticity of experience are what give more power to Orbach's words that the False self and the authentic self are different. Maybe it doesn't make a difference at all as long as we still see the nature of the conversations between the therapist and the client because in any case, it is a matter of imagination of a client in the mind of the therapist and then to respond to particular interpretations.
I thought Helen's case was the most interesting. (Actually, it would be possible to read case by case in this book).
I did think the book satiates some of my curiosities about therapy and "knowing oneself", and reveals to me certain patterns of thinking that I get caught up in. I particularly thought it was interesting that Orbach advocates for the use of therapeutic ideas to have place in policymaking - I am yet to fully understand what that even means but I am trying.
I thought Helen's case was the most interesting. (Actually, it would be possible to read case by case in this book).
I did think the book satiates some of my curiosities about therapy and "knowing oneself", and reveals to me certain patterns of thinking that I get caught up in. I particularly thought it was interesting that Orbach advocates for the use of therapeutic ideas to have place in policymaking - I am yet to fully understand what that even means but I am trying.
January 15, 2025
Originally a Radio 4 drama series, this book is kind of fiction and non-fiction at the same time. It takes 5 "case studies" with actors and makes psychodrama: a couple about to have their first child; a woman who has struggled to conceive; a woman coming to her first ever session; a young woman who seems to have everything but still feels like she can't connect with her life; and finally a man struggling with transference.
It's worth noting for me that Susie's reaction to and way of dealing with transference in therapy was probably the best way anyone could deal with it. She epitomised compassionate boundaries in that session and I was floored by it.
In between the dialogue are Susie's thoughts about the process, what she is thinking about their problems, how she intervenes (or not), and how sessions end.
There is an incredibly informative and helpful afterword full of genuinely lovely insight. I am giving this 4 rather than 5 stars purely because the dealing with the first couple was honestly appalling to me! I cannot imagine giving a pregnant woman less focus than her anxious partner when she is the one about to give birth!!
It's worth noting for me that Susie's reaction to and way of dealing with transference in therapy was probably the best way anyone could deal with it. She epitomised compassionate boundaries in that session and I was floored by it.
In between the dialogue are Susie's thoughts about the process, what she is thinking about their problems, how she intervenes (or not), and how sessions end.
There is an incredibly informative and helpful afterword full of genuinely lovely insight. I am giving this 4 rather than 5 stars purely because the dealing with the first couple was honestly appalling to me! I cannot imagine giving a pregnant woman less focus than her anxious partner when she is the one about to give birth!!
December 28, 2024
I read this book for a class, and it embodies a very different worldview and view of what it means to help people who are, in the words of the author, "stuck." The value of the book is several-fold for me as a biblical counselor. First, it helps me to understand what secular psychotherapists might aim to do ("re-integrating" is a term that comes to mind in Orbach's case). Second, it helps to see the practical outworking of a decidedly naturalistic worldview, in terms of moral judgments made, advice given and priorities set. Thirdly, it helps me to understand people who may come to me after having been "analysands" in a secular therapist's office. Fourth, it helps me to see where my path and my aims differ, where my convictions would lead me to point people to the absolute truth of Scripture, and the goal of seeing people walk with Christ for His glory as my purpose. This was, at times a very tough read, but I appreciated the author's skill as an observer and her ability to see differing strands of a person's life and the potential relationships among them.
February 16, 2025
a bit torn in between 3 or 4 stars because when i find out that the interactions were dramatised/ scripted, it made me feel cheated a bit?? obviously at the end of the book, orbach explained why real life therapy sessions just simply aren’t feasible but ugh idk? and it was scripted for the patient/ client but not for her so she’s still approaching the session like how she normally would.
my mixed feelings towards that aside, the contents themselves are very invaluable. you can tell orbach is a very critical and careful and sensitive and while she didn’t mention it outrightly in her book, you can see that she adapts her approach according to that person’s needs and their differences.
SPOILERS:
i would’ve probably approached the couple issues very differently in the sense that i would’ve recommend that the guy seek individual therapy because it seems awfully heavy and the wife just doesn’t seem to have the headspace for that (understandably so). it just seems to me that the husband has issues that run deeper than the marriage and a couples therapy wont be able to fully explore that i feel.
my mixed feelings towards that aside, the contents themselves are very invaluable. you can tell orbach is a very critical and careful and sensitive and while she didn’t mention it outrightly in her book, you can see that she adapts her approach according to that person’s needs and their differences.
SPOILERS:
i would’ve probably approached the couple issues very differently in the sense that i would’ve recommend that the guy seek individual therapy because it seems awfully heavy and the wife just doesn’t seem to have the headspace for that (understandably so). it just seems to me that the husband has issues that run deeper than the marriage and a couples therapy wont be able to fully explore that i feel.
September 29, 2018
This book comprises of a set of vignettes, being snippets of conversations between a counselor and different patients, followed by a short analysis of the counselor's opinions on what she thought each patient was going through, and how she sought to help. The result is intriguing and voyeuristic. You are a fly on the wall, listening to angst, secrets and personal problems of various (fictitious) strangers. You gain an insider's view of what it's like to be a counselor, and witness what one might typically say to foster trust, tease out a story, encourage self-reflection, and provide constructive advice. Only draw back is that some of the conversations were tedious at times, and the responses by the counselor a little hackneyed and thin.
March 29, 2018
I really enjoyed this. Psychotherapy is sometimes portrayed as mysterious or opaque, but its distinguishing feature seems to be to try to enable someone to examine their own life to help them identify why they are having problems. Of course, psychotherapy is predicated on the assumption that we bury a lot of our issues within our sub-conscious, and that the patterns we follow in life often mirror those we experienced in childhood. You may argue endlessly about that, but there’s no doubt that in trying to help people to bring self-awareness to their lives, she is a kind and humane presence.
March 21, 2024
I’ve been in a real reading rut recently and surprisingly it was this non-fic recommendation from my auntie that pulled me out.
Susie demystifies the process of therapy through dramatised case studies which span across a broad range of ages, cultural backgrounds and individual/couple/parent-child dynamics.
I really took my time with this one and picked at the parts that particularly resonated with me. I loved Susie’s bespoke approaches with her clients, and was envious of how she was able to pull and dissect all these hidden threads that she noticed throughout her sessions.
Really enjoyable read that gave me a similar vibe to the ‘couples therapy’ series that I was in love with.
Susie demystifies the process of therapy through dramatised case studies which span across a broad range of ages, cultural backgrounds and individual/couple/parent-child dynamics.
I really took my time with this one and picked at the parts that particularly resonated with me. I loved Susie’s bespoke approaches with her clients, and was envious of how she was able to pull and dissect all these hidden threads that she noticed throughout her sessions.
Really enjoyable read that gave me a similar vibe to the ‘couples therapy’ series that I was in love with.
January 31, 2024
2024’te ilk okuduğum kitaplardan biriydi ama okumak için zaman yaratmaya çalı��tığım, sırada bekleyen bu kadar kitap varken açıkçası okumasam da olurmuş. Psikolojiyle ilgili kitapları çok sevmeme ve terapi seanslarından örnekler içermesine rağmen okurken neredeyse hiç sürüklemedi, merak uyandırmadı. Birkaç noktada bağlantı kurabildiğim vakalar olsa da tatmin edici geri dönüşler bulamadım. Hele ki sondaki toparlayıcı olarak yazılmış kısmı çok baştansavma buldum. Terapi nedir ne değildir, hissiyatı nasıldır diye merak edenlere ve terapistlere belki faydası olabilir.
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November 4, 2016Fascinating idea to have actors coming to therapy after giving them a bit of a back-story and analysing them. For me this was the most interesting part of the book, reading the actual conversations and reminding myself it's fiction (?). It's intended as an introduction to talk therapy and I don't think anyone who knows a bit already would get something new out of it. But it's a slim volume and as I said, a fascinating idea so well worth your time.
December 3, 2020
It's arguable whether, until Esther Perel's podcasts came along, there was anything like this. This stands alone as an excellent introductory text offering not only amazing insight into the process, the therapist's thoughts, some very basic theory, but most importantly the benefits. However, I thought that some of the artificial case studies, characters, and interactions seemed rather stilted, or just cut short.
February 26, 2021
My favorite part was the afterword, poetic, whimsical, loving.
The ‘sessions’ were done with actors. Although the process was painstakingly explained, I felt they were too thin, full of ‘uh-hus’ that are impossible to interpret in the written form, and interrupted too often by the writer’s analysis.
There are many books written by therapists about their work that feel more robust, deeper - Irvin Yalom’s, Mary Pipher’s and Lori Goldstein’s are great examples
The ‘sessions’ were done with actors. Although the process was painstakingly explained, I felt they were too thin, full of ‘uh-hus’ that are impossible to interpret in the written form, and interrupted too often by the writer’s analysis.
There are many books written by therapists about their work that feel more robust, deeper - Irvin Yalom’s, Mary Pipher’s and Lori Goldstein’s are great examples
September 10, 2025
Psikanaliz çerçevesinde terapi işleyişini görmek adına güzel bir kitap. Kolay akıyor. Farklı kişiler ve olaylar üzerinden varoluşçu psikoterapi ışığında ilerliyor süreç. Terapi ile ilgili aydınlatmalar yaşattı, bazı konularda da üstüne düşündürdü (ikilikleri aşabilmek, karmaşıklığı taşıyabilmek gibi) Farklı ülkelerde ayrı kültürlere ve yaşam şartlarına sahip olsak da temelde insanlığın yaşadığı problemleri görmek ve ona karşı doğru yaklaşımları okuyabilmek faydalı oldu.
December 15, 2017
A very interesting insight to how psychotherapy works by using actors to portray certain characters needing therapy. None of it was scripted. It was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as a psychodrama in 2016. Orbach is an eloquent and intelligent writer- I look forward to reading more of her books in due course.
March 21, 2024
Gives you a very authentic feeling of what the psychoanalytic work in therapy. Strongly recommended for people unsure if psychoanalyses could be a way of healing and/or are anxious about what's going on in the therapist's office as the book very preciously shows how therapy is taking place on both sides of the couch.
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