I LOVED this book! I’ve recommended it several times since I read it. Lori wrote an outstanding article for The Atlantic a few years back called “How to Land Your Kid in Therapy.” I’ve remembered her ever since and when I saw this book I knew I had to have it. It’s essentially a memoir, but it absolutely soars. Lori introduces us, in Chapter 1, to John. According to John everyone around him is an idiot. They’re all idiots. He is arrogant, self-obsessed, and rude. And yet Lori helps us to love him and want to help him. Her obvious compassion and love for her clients is illustrated with warmth as she introduces us to a cancer patient who wants help facing her death, a lonely elderly woman trying to understand why no one loves her, and others. In spite of his obvious weaknesses John (whose language is frequently coarse and it becomes a stain on the book) became my favourite character and each chapter that contained more of his story delighted me more and more. Lori also describes her own therapy as she crashes through a relationship breakup that she didn’t see coming. I laughed out loud. I cried big wet tears. I loved this.
— JUSTIN