I started to declutter my library when I stumbled across this book. (Yes I know it sounds sacrilegious. But you have to understand, a good chunk of books I got in my early twenties. So I truly would prefer stepping on a Lego repeatedly over reading some of my collection. Hence the cleaning. I scattered the books I didn't want across my city's free little libraries.) Before placing Maybe You Should Talk To Someone on my donate pile, I impulsively flipped it open and read the first few pages. I wanted to know if I actually would read it or just thought I should read it. Needless to say, I didn't end up donating it. In fact, I got so distracted from my spring clean that I had to move this book into another room to regain focus. In case you wondered, I consider that a high compliment for a book.

If you've never been in therapy but are curious what it is like, this book will answer that question. In fact I can attest this book feels like being in therapy. Because of that, I split it into about a hundred page chunks and let it marinate. Marinate is the polite way of saying: I wanted to binge it, but couldn't go past a hundred pages without needing a break and some time to process.

I do want to be clear the therapist in this book got permission from her clients when she wrote this and before publishing it. She also advised she used alternate names and mixed stories together so nobody was identifiable or revealed which relieved me. Privacy is an integral element for therapy to be successful. I worried initially how this book would work if you lost that fundamental component. It made me concerned other people might not go see someone if they wondered about betrayed confidentiality. That would contribute to mental health stigma vs letting people get help. So seeing her immediantely address that concern was reassuring. Due to this author's voice, this book does not feel like a sensational gossip magazine spilling peoples' dirty secrets. Rather it presents a measured, kind perspective of how therapists view their clients and themselves as well as how and why therapy works.

The book centers around a few specific patients — a terminally ill woman, a younger woman struggling with alcoholism, an older woman isolated by her mistakes, and a successful TV show director. It also shows Lori herself as a patient to a therapist named Wendell. It was really fascinating to see someone trained in mental health end up in therapy herself for an unexpected breakup. You kind of assume therapists have their lives together. It's easy to forget they're people just like us. Nutrionalists can eat poorly. Nurses can smoke. Doctors can have high blood pressure and be diabetic. Of course, therapists can have mental health issues like anybody else.

I loved the contrast between her patients and herself. It really enforced how all of us are just people trying to exist. There's a certain comfort in remembering therapists are doing their job too. They're there to help you. They care. They listen. They support. But at the end of the day it is up to you to do the work. To figure yourself out while someone offers reflection and insight.

Lori didn't walk into therapy and feel better. She struggled to connect to Wendell. She went in repeated circles about her breakup. She shied away from other issues she was avoiding like her struggle finding a diagnosis for her unknown physical illness, writing a book, facing her own morality. It felt strangely raw and real because many of us do that. We start for one reason but have other things we actually want to face. We were just waiting for the right time and place. It also translated into how she saw her patients. Throughout the book, you see her pulling things she's learned or felt to connect to someone else which is what good therapy does. It lets you unlock yourself. Being okay and safe in your own mind, having a place to be, can let us show up for coworkers or clients, friends or family, husbands or wives, in ways we couldn't beforehand.

I loved this book. I plan to reread it. I felt like there were so many insightful meaningful quotes I want to remember and found so beautiful. I will say the one place I disagree with Lori is: therapists may not talk themselves out of a job. People with lifelong mental health issues like depression, bipolar, OCD, etc., may continue to see a therapist even if stable and okay to maintain and manage that balance. It may be less often. But from a personal viewpoint I've needed that regularity along with medication. So I want to offer that in case you read this and go oh shit do I need to get myself out of therapy someday? No. It's okay if you do. It's also okay if you don't. There's no right or wrong way to do this, I promise. But like Lori did kindly add, it can be a pause not an end if needed. This was a lovely moving book and I am so glad I read it.

Did I understand anything about the train system? No, no, I did not. Once I remembered oh yeah I would've died on the first floor, it made me feel a lot better for going yup I'd be so dead early on that of course this level is beyond my comprehension. How could I understand it when level one took me out? So I let myself settle back to watch the train wreck. Choo choo, everyone climb aboard and prepare to exit at your correct station.

As you can guess this floor involves trains. A lot of them. The basic goal is each floor is to figure out what the hell is going on and survive. So hopping from train to train of horror is about as fun as it sounds. I had a great albeit baffled time. Carl assumed I was a lot smarter than I am and went into detail about the puzzles and lines. I just booped along. I loved the addition of Katia. She added a new element and was an interesting character to me. The propoganda element and getting to see the larger back world was so cool too. Basically these books work for me. I am having a blast and will need to reread them once I finish the series to see if I can catch or grasp things I missed the first time.

Also getting to see Donut and Carl's relationship evolve has been really fascinating and I am enthused. So don't mind me continuing to binge these. I wish I knew what achievement I am unlocking as I read them. Alas.