True Confessions from Both Sides of the Therapy Couch,” Sherry Amatenstein says she wants to illuminate both the “shrinks” and the “shrunks.” She succeeds with the 34 essays collected here, written by patients, therapists and people who have been both. “I’m not supposed to have any feelings for you,” writes psychotherapist Nina Gaby, addressing an imaginary composite of a career’s worth of patients. But then she relates how he led her to insights that rescued her troubled relationship with her family. “I pretty much thought the same thing.”“I grew up believing blacks buried our emotions and held secrets close,” writes Jenine Holmes. But her friendship with a woman who happened to be a psychoanalyst led her to seek help.

Source: Washington Post September 04, 2016 12:00 UTC