The stories of each patient are so insightful that one begins to see parts of themselves in Cathrine Gildiner's analysis'. e., not asking - and in one case, not even informing, because the patient had died) and hiding their identities. The only thing I do know is that when your mother labels you negatively, you believe her—for who else forms your self-image? What first struck me was Gildiner seemed woefully unprepared to be a therapist, through no fault of her own. The author, a psychologist, shares the backstories and therapeutical journey of five of her patients who had to work extremely hard over a long period of time to deal with and overcome what happened to them in their childhood.

Intimacy is when you’re familiar with your emotions, then share your feelings, your fears, your shame, your hopes and joys with another person.I also objected to her belittling patients she’d had with less traumatic pasts and saying they should take note from these people and get over insignificant things. Her first patient, Laura, came to Gildiner hoping for a one-session cure for stress at 26 years of age and, instead, ended up staying in therapy for several years.

Madeline’s father, Duncan, is very wealthy and provides the means for Gildiner to travel from Toronto to Manhattan for weekly in-person sessions.I never knew the Canadian government implemented a systematic eradication of Native American culture in the 1960s.

when the economic and cultural layers were peeled away, their unconscious needs were strikingly similar. If you're going to choose to read this book, realize that it has many things discussed in detail that could be triggering and traumatic. Consent is touched on in the author's note, but when the author mentions talking about the book with her patients throughout the text, the exchange sounds more like Catherine Gildiner telling the patients they will be included rather than asking permission. We tend to forget that we create defense mechanisms in childhood to cope with certain things, but then retain these long after they become unnecessary.Among them: a successful, first generation Chinese immigrant musician suffering sexual dysfunction; a young woman whose father abandoned her at age nine with her younger siblings in an isolated cottage in the depth of winter; and a glamorous workaholic whose narcissistic, negligent mother greeted her each morning of her childhood with Good morning, Monster. First of all, Good Morning, Monster is heart-breaking, because the book tells the stories of real people and the horrors they had to endure over long periods of time. If the child doesn’t experience attachment, that child can’t move forward to step two—trusting and emotionally attaching to others and, eventually, sexually attaching to others. Had it not been for a friends recommendation I never would have thought to try another book on psychology.

I’m in awe of the five patients and of Gildiner’s exceptional creativity as she guides each one toward emotional freedom. As anyone who has sat through a Zoom therapy session knows, there's really no substitute for the real thing. It offers a behind-the-scenes look into the therapist's office and explains how the process can heal even the most unimaginable wounds.Each one comes into therapy armed with complicated coping mechanisms and defensive strategies that prevent them from getting to the core of their issues.