Catherine Gildiner

Five Heroic Journeys to Emotional Recovery

Good Morning, Monster

Aimee Ardonne

I’m conflicted on my feelings about this book. It was well-written and engrossing, but I would feel a lot better about it if it were fiction. I just don’t feel great about the author profiting from recounting five of her clients’ horrifying experiences, even with their permission to share.

An insightful & inspiring book of 5 people in therapy, their story of abuse & how the therapy sessions helped them overcome their past. The book shows how their childhood trauma affects their adult life, and how the therapist (the author) shed light and unknot it, to help them flourish in life today. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Natasha Mok

“You never know what someone is going through.” This highlights, underlines, circles in red this sentiment. In this book Dr. Gildiner recounts the stories of five of her patients and their journeys with therapy. What they’ve been through is unimaginable and how they are able to persevere through it all is astonishing. Really enjoyed it start to finish 

Kaitlyn Wendler

Vivian

I usually enjoy books on real life psychotherapy, but this one missed the mark for me. 

Good Morning, Monster follows five clients whom Gildiner worked with over her 25 years as a psychotherapist. They've all had an extremely harrowing childhood (trauma trigger warning) and somehow managed to survive (and later even thrive after therapy).

I didn't find any of the stories enlightening, relatable, or telling me something new about psychotherapy. As if patients need to go through unimaginable trauma to qualify for therapy? Hailing them as hero also feels wrong. Isn't it kind of shaming people who suffered and didn't overcome their past? The author also feels detached and clinical throughout; I didn't see how she was affected or transformed by these experiences.

Katelyn Broad

This book contains 5 stories of different people from different backgrounds and how they recovered in therapy. This book was so moving, sad, and beautiful, all at the same time. The author does a great job moving you through their stories and their process of recovery.

Ally Perkins

Jem Cab

Suz Corso

A therapist creates moving portraits of five of her most memorable patients, men and women she considers psychological heroes. Catherine Gildiner is a bestselling memoirist, a novelist, and a psychologist who practiced privately for 25 years. This book focuses on five brave men and women who overcame enormous trauma--in her view, heroes who should be celebrated. With a novelist's storytelling gift, Gildiner recounts the details of her patients' struggles and their paths to recovery and weaves in her own tale of her growth as a psychologist. In therapy, patients have to become vulnerable by stripping away their defenses, but so do therapists, who cannot hide behind a title, a desk, or even their specialized knowledge. The five cases described include a successful but lonely musician suffering sexual dysfunction; a young woman who, at the age of eight, had looked after her two siblings after her father, likely a murderer, abandoned them in a rural cottage; a glamorous workaholic whose wealthy, hideously negligent mother had greeted her each morning with "Good Morning, Monster"; an indigenous man who'd suffered greatly at a residential school; and a young woman whose abuse at the hands of her father led to a severe personality disorder. Each patient presents a mystery at first, one that will only be unpacked over years. They arrive, sometimes unwillingly, to try to overcome an immediate challenge in their lives, but discover that the source of their suffering is an entirely different matter. It will take courage to face those realities, and it requires creativity and resourcefulness from their therapist. Each patient embodies the virtues of self-reflection, stoicism, perseverance, and forgiveness as they confront the real source of their problems and work unflinchingly to face the truth. Gildiner's account of her journeys with them is moving and insightful and sometimes humorous. It offers a behind-the-scenes look into the therapist's office and explains how the process can heal even the most unimagineable wounds.

Five Heroic Journeys to Recovery

Ember Skies

A therapist creates moving portraits of five of her most memorable patients, men and women she considers psychological heroes. Catherine Gildiner is a bestselling memoirist, a novelist, and a psychologist in private practice for twenty-five years. In Good Morning, Monster, she focuses on five patients who overcame enormous trauma--people she considers heroes. With a novelist's storytelling gift, Gildiner recounts the details of their struggles, their paths to recovery, and her own tale of growth as a therapist. The five cases include a successful but lonely musician suffering sexual dysfunction; a young woman whose father abandoned her and her siblings in a rural cottage; an Indigenous man who'd endured great trauma at a residential school; a young woman whose abuse at the hands of her father led to a severe personality disorder; and a glamorous workaholic whose negligent mother had greeted her each morning with "Good morning, Monster." Each patient presents a mystery, one that will only be unpacked over years. They seek Gildiner's help to overcome an immediate challenge in their lives, but discover that the source of their suffering has been long buried. It will take courage to face those realities, and creativity and resourcefulness from their therapist. Each patient embodies self-reflection, stoicism, perseverance, and forgiveness as they work unflinchingly to face the truth. Gildiner's account of her journeys with them is moving, insightful, and sometimes humorous. It offers a behind-the-scenes look into the therapist's office and explains how the process can heal even the most unimaginable wounds.

Good Morning, Monster Five Heroic Journeys to Emotional Recovery

Reviews