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

By Christie Tate

A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK

'Every page of this incredible memoir by Christie Tate had me thinking, “I wish I had read this book when I was 25. It would have helped me so much!”'
Reese Witherspoon

‘This unrestrained memoir is a transporting experience and one of the most startlingly hopeful books I have ever read. It will make you want to get better, whatever better means for you.’
Lisa Taddeo, New York Times bestselling author of Three Women 
 
For fans of Three Women and Everything I Know About Love comes a refreshingly original memoir about self-discovery, loneliness and love. A guarded young lawyer reluctantly joins a psychotherapy group where she has to share her innermost thoughts with six complete strangers. In turn she finds human connection, and herself.
 
“What’s going to happen to me when I start group?”
“All of your secrets are going to come out.”
 
Christie Tate has just been named the top student in her law school class and seems to finally have got her eating disorder under control. So why is she driving through Chicago fantasising about her own death?
 
Desperate, she joins Dr Rosen’s psychotherapy group, and through his unconventional methods, he challenges everything she thought she knew, about herself and others. In group, secrets are not allowed. This means telling a group of strangers everything – about her struggle with bulimia, her failed sex life, her overwhelming sense of loneliness and acute longing for a relationship. And as she keeps sharing her thoughts and feelings and listens to the others doing the same, her life slowly begins to change.
 
This is a deliciously compelling read, and an intimate journey through the daring, exhilarating, painful, and hilarious journey that is group therapy – a process that breaks you down, and then reassembles you so that all the pieces finally fit.
 
 
Praise for Group
‘This book will remind you how to come back to yourself even when you want to give up, make you laugh, make you cry, help you breathe. This book will save lives’ Lidia Yuknavitch
 
‘Real transformation is not for the faint of heart, and in these pages Christie Tate captures her evolution in all its misery and hilarity, along with the beauty of bearing witness to one another as we grow.’ Sarah Hepola 
 
‘Christie Tate takes us on a journey that's heartbreaking and hilarious, surprising and redemptive – and, ultimately, a testament to the power of connection.’ Lori Gottlie

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Oct 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781471197895

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.

Reviews for Group

[carolfoisset · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book has been on my TBR list for a long time, and sometimes I expect too much and am disappointed when I finally read a book from the list. I am a supporter of therapy and understand how valuable it can be, I just didn't find listening to someone retelling their whole group therapy story all that interesting. However, I can see how it would be helpful to others (I did a lot of reading about grief when I experienced a big loss). I listened to the audio version of this book.

[bobbieharv · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book despite having severe reservations about the methods of this therapist. It seemed to work for Tate, whose goal, unfortunately, seemed to be finding a good husband. I hope her marriage lasts - I came to like and empathize with her despite her willingness to go along with the crazy radical honesty policy of the therapist.I was horrified, however, first that the therapist agreed to have himself and his groups revealed to the world in this book; second, that his policies insist that experiences between members of different (or the same) groups be shared with with the respective groups; and third, that he seemed to be quite controlling of Tate's life, and most likely others' as well.Boundaries. In my experience one goes to therapy to learn about them. not how to violate them.

[janepat-619237 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The amount of self-disclosure was its best and worst characteristic. She bared all. So I read all about her journey. I'm a discerning reader and don't finish books that aren't compelling. Something about her story and honesty kept me reading to the very last page. Even though sometimes there was too much information and it felt like she was STUCK !!!

[alanna1122 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Well, I got to the end of this. I wasn't sure I would. I did have a morbid curiosity over where it was headed. I like the idea of this book. I have never heard about what group therapy is like. I found that really interesting and informative. However, I found the author's voice really unrelatable so that effected my reading experience a lot.

[rumuse · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I read this because my husband enjoyed it and recommended it. For me it was a long boring slog. Took me over 3 weeks to finish because I simply didn't feel engaged. I found the main character irritating as hell.