Good Morning, Monster: A Therapist Shares Five Heroic Stories of Emotional Recovery

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Each case presented is quite different and unique. From a woman with recurring herpes outbreaks because of stress, to a Native American man who cannot show emotion. They all have one thing in common, showing that trauma, abuse, neglect can induce destructive triggers but it also shows the indomitable human spirit to overcome adversity. When I asked how I could help her, Laura sat for a long time looking out the window. I waited for her to tell me the problem. I continued to wait in what’s called a therapeutic silence—an uncomfortable quiet that’s supposed to elicit truth from the patient. Finally, she said, “I have herpes.”

Good Morning, Monster: A - Goodreads Readers who enjoyed Good Morning, Monster: A - Goodreads

Last year I listened to and LOVED Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed and although this one definitely has a more serious tone I still found the 5 cases presented fascinating. I loved Gildiner’s three memoirs and was excited to see she had another book coming out. Because I worked as a counselor for several years, reading a Gildiner memoir about her years as a therapist seemed right up my alley. Unfortunately, not only was I disappointed, I actually found a large swath of the book distasteful. 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. One of the cases in particular is pretty detailed with the sexual abuse of a child and it was heartbreaking and gut-wrenching for me and I'm not personally affected by it.The stories of each patient are so insightful that one begins to see parts of themselves in Cathrine Gildiner's analysis'. It is interesting to note that in writing the book there is an "ah-ha" moment in which the book itself lends an element of catharsis for Gildner. She is reminded of her own childhood and the element of strife which in her subconscious helps explain why she chose the patients she did for her book. A therapist's account of five of her most thought-provoking patients, I would have liked to have more information about the process of obtaining consent and/or obscuring personal details enough to maintain the patients' anonymity. 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. One of the patients has since passed away, so I wonder how he was able to consent to sharing his story?

Good Morning, Monster’ Being Catherine Gildiner’s Memoir ‘Good Morning, Monster’ Being

She said she was twenty-six, single, and working in a large securities firm. She’d started out as a secretary but had been promoted to the human resources department. A brand new scripted drama from Dear Media, based on the book by NY Times Bestselling author, Catherine Gildiner. I was intrigued by the title and as a former psychology minor in college, I was excited when my request was approved. These stories are almost mythic in their power... I couldn’t put this book down.” — Antanas Sileika, author of Provisionally YoursBut second of all, Good Morning, Monster is a book that creates hope. In each of these stories, these traumatized people made it. They completed therapy successfully, and they have turned from hurt beings into people who can have a more positive approach to life again. They are real success stories. My streak of outstanding reads continues. Though I have only read 31 books this year, the number of 5 stars books amongst that lot is remarkable. And the streak continues with Good Morning Monster. In this Blink, we’ll cover three of these five patients’ stories. These men and women all experienced enormous hardship in their childhoods, which followed them into their adult lives. You’ll learn about a music prodigy left alone for most of his childhood, a Cree man who was abducted from his family by the Canadian government as a child and put in a residential school, and a highly successful antique dealer whose company began to crumble when her anxiety spiked. COMING ASHORE, her final memoir is coming out this fall. It is about her years at Oxford, The U.S. and finally Canada. This book shares the joy of those few years in your twenties after you leave home and before Adult responsibilities crowd in. Minka Kelly takes readers behind the shiny silver-screen facade and reveals just how good an actress she really is.

Good Morning, Monster: A Therapist Shares Five Heroic S… Good Morning, Monster: A Therapist Shares Five Heroic S…

I highly recommend Good Morning, Monster to anyone who loved Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, or who like me was looking for something similar but someone else. Gildiner chose fascinating people to include in her book. She had the luxury of being able to see her clients for years, something that’s sometimes prohibitive in America due to insurance and HMO restrictions. Of course, wealthier clients can private pay.Although this book centers on the healing of Gildiner’s patients, it is also about her own gifts and growth as a therapist... Hats off to Gildiner for doing a heroic therapeutic job and for writing about it so eloquently." — New York Journal That blasé reaction suggested that Laura was used to selfish and duplicitous behaviour. She’d been referred to me, she said, because the strongest medication wasn’t limiting the constant outbreaks and her doctor thought she needed psychiatric help. But Laura was clear about having no desire to be in therapy. She just wanted to get over the herpes.