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| website = [https://lorigottlieb.com/books/maybe-you-should-talk-to-someone/ lorigottlieb.com]
| website = [https://lorigottlieb.com/books/maybe-you-should-talk-to-someone/ lorigottlieb.com]
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📘 '''''Maybe You Should Talk to Someone''''' is a 2019 memoir by psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. <ref name="OCLC1054264731" /> It follows Gottlieb both as a clinician and a patient, alternating her own therapy with anonymized casework to demystify what happens in the consulting room. <ref name="PWReview2019">{{cite web |title=Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781328662057 |website=Publishers Weekly |publisher=PWxyz, LLC |date=25 March 2019 |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref> The narrative is divided into four parts. <ref name="SchlowTOC2019" /> It comprises 58 brief chapters and uses a candid, conversational register to blend humor with clinical insight. <ref name="WaPo2019Sheehan">{{cite news |last=Sheehan |first=Susan |title=What does your therapist really think of you? One doc bares it all in a new book. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/what-does-your-therapist-really-think-of-you-one-doc-bares-it-all-in-a-new-book/2019/04/19/a7b127dc-50c1-11e9-8d28-f5149e5a2fda_story.html |work=The Washington Post |date=19 April 2019 |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref> Reviewers note its smooth, intimate tone—“entertainingly voyeuristic” yet empathetic. <ref name="Kirkus2019">{{cite web |title=Maybe You Should Talk to Someone |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/lori-gottlieb/maybe-you-should-talk-to-someone/ |website=Kirkus Reviews |publisher=Kirkus Media |date=2 February 2019 |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref> The book debuted at #9 on the Publishers Weekly Hardcover Frontlist Nonfiction list for the week of 15 April 2019, with 9,055 first-week print units. <ref name="PWBestsellers20190415">{{cite web |title=Hardcover Frontlist Nonfiction — April 15, 2019 |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/nielsen/hardcovernonfiction/20190415.html |website=Publishers Weekly |publisher=PWxyz, LLC |date=15 April 2019 |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref> TIME later named it one of the “100 Must-Read Books of 2019,” and the author reports over three million copies sold in 30+ languages. <ref name="Time2019">{{cite web |title=Maybe You Should Talk to Someone |url=https://time.com/collection/must-read-books-2019/5724582/maybe-you-should-talk-to-someone/ |website=Time |publisher=Time USA, LLC |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref><ref name="AuthorBio">{{cite web |title=About Lori Gottlieb |url=https://lorigottlieb.com/about/ |website=LoriGottlieb.com |publisher=Lori Gottlieb |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref>


== Chapter summary ==
== Chapter summary ==
''This outline follows the Thorndike Press large-print edition (2019), reproducing the book’s four-part table of contents.''<ref name="SchlowTOC2019">{{cite web |title=Table of Contents: Maybe you should talk to someone [LP] |url=https://search.schlowlibrary.org/Record/446417/TOC |website=Schlow Centre Region Library |publisher=Schlow Centre Region Library |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref> ''First U.S. hardcover edition: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2 April 2019), xi, 415 pages, ISBN 978-1-328-66205-7.''<ref name="OCLC1054264731">{{cite web |title=Maybe you should talk to someone : a therapist, her therapist, and our lives revealed |url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/Maybe-you-should-talk-to-someone-%3A-a-therapist-her-therapist-and-our-lives-revealed/oclc/1054264731 |website=WorldCat.org |publisher=OCLC |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref><ref name="Harper2019">{{cite web |title=Maybe You Should Talk to Someone |url=https://www.harpercollins.com/products/maybe-you-should-talk-to-someone-lori-gottlieb |website=HarperCollins |publisher=HarperCollins |date=2 April 2019 |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref>
''This outline follows the Thorndike Press large-print edition (2019), reproducing the book’s four-part table of contents.''<ref name="SchlowTOC2019">{{cite web |title=Table of Contents: Maybe you should talk to someone [LP] |url=https://search.schlowlibrary.org/Record/446417/TOC |website=Schlow Centre Region Library |publisher=Schlow Centre Region Library |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref> ''First U.S. hardcover edition: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2 April 2019), xi, 415 pages, ISBN 978-1-328-66205-7.''<ref name="OCLC1054264731">{{cite web |title=Maybe you should talk to someone : a therapist, her therapist, and our lives revealed |url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/Maybe-you-should-talk-to-someone-%3A-a-therapist-her-therapist-and-our-lives-revealed/oclc/1054264731 |website=WorldCat.org |publisher=OCLC |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref><ref name="Harper2019">{{cite web |title=Maybe You Should Talk to Someone |url=https://www.harpercollins.com/products/maybe-you-should-talk-to-someone-lori-gottlieb |website=HarperCollins |publisher=HarperCollins |date=2 April 2019 |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref>



=== I ===
=== I ===
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⏸️ '''58 – A pause in the conversation.'''
⏸️ '''58 – A pause in the conversation.'''

== Background & reception ==

🖋️ '''Author & writing'''. Gottlieb is a practicing psychotherapist who also writes the Atlantic’s “Dear Therapist” column and co-hosts the iHeart “Dear Therapists” podcast. <ref name="AtlanticDearTherapist">{{cite web |title=Dear Therapist |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/projects/dear-therapist/ |website=The Atlantic |publisher=The Atlantic |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref><ref name="iHeartPodcast">{{cite web |title=Dear Therapists with Lori Gottlieb and Guy Winch |url=https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-dear-therapists-with-lori-68853191/ |website=iHeartRadio |publisher=iHeartMedia |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref> The memoir grew out of her own course of therapy after a breakup and interweaves that experience with patients’ stories to explain core ideas of talk therapy in plain language. <ref name="KCUR2019">{{cite news |title=A Psychotherapist Goes To Therapy — And Gets A Taste Of Her Own Medicine |url=https://www.kcur.org/2019-04-01/a-psychotherapist-goes-to-therapy-and-gets-a-taste-of-her-own-medicine |work=KCUR (NPR) |date=1 April 2019 |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref><ref name="PWReview2019" /> Structurally, she alternates her sessions with “Wendell” and case narratives; the U.S. hardcover is arranged in four parts and 58 concise chapters. <ref name="PWReview2019" /><ref name="SchlowTOC2019" /><ref name="WaPo2019Sheehan" /> In media interviews she emphasized permissions and the altering or combining of identifying details when portraying patients. <ref name="EW2019">{{cite news |last=Canfield |first=David |title=Lori Gottlieb’s ''Maybe You Should Talk to Someone'' will change the way you look at therapy — and life |url=https://ew.com/author-interviews/2019/04/04/lori-gottlieb-maybe-you-should-talk-to-someone/ |work=Entertainment Weekly |date=4 April 2019 |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref> Critics frequently describe the voice as smooth, candid, and humane. <ref name="Kirkus2019" />

📈 '''Commercial reception'''. The book debuted at #9 on Publishers Weekly’s Hardcover Frontlist Nonfiction (week of 15 April 2019), selling 9,055 print units, and remained a presence on later lists (e.g., #13 on 8 July 2019). <ref name="PWBestsellers20190415" /><ref name="PWBestsellers20190708">{{cite web |title=Hardcover Frontlist Nonfiction — July 8, 2019 |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/nielsen/HardcoverNonfiction/20190708.html |website=Publishers Weekly |publisher=PWxyz, LLC |date=8 July 2019 |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref> It also appeared on the American Booksellers Association’s Indie Bestseller lists in April 2019. <ref name="Indie20190417">{{cite web |title=Indie Bestseller Lists: April 17, 2019 |url=https://www.bookweb.org/indie-bestseller-lists/april-17-2019 |website=American Booksellers Association |publisher=ABA |date=17 April 2019 |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref> TIME named it one of the “100 Must-Read Books of 2019.” <ref name="Time2019" /> According to the author’s official bio, it has sold over three million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages. <ref name="AuthorBio" />

👍 '''Praise'''. Kirkus gave a starred review, calling it “an irresistibly addictive tour of the human condition” and “a vivacious portrait of a therapist from both sides of the couch.” <ref name="Kirkus2019" /> Publishers Weekly praised its “sparkling and sometimes moving” account and noted its usefulness for both prospective clients and experienced therapists. <ref name="PWReview2019" /> The Washington Post highlighted the book’s momentum and the “joy” of watching patients’ and therapist’s emotions evolve over time. <ref name="WaPo2019Sheehan" /> The ''New Statesman'' described it as an “accessible, informal and very personal” therapy memoir. <ref name="NewStatesman2019">{{cite news |title=Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is a warm, engaging therapy memoir |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2019/06/maybe-you-should-talk-to-someone-lori-gottlieb-review |work=New Statesman |date=26 June 2019 |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref>

👎 '''Criticism'''. In the Washington Post, Susan Sheehan faulted passages for “psychobabble,” jargon, and overuse of expletives while acknowledging the book’s narrative pull. <ref name="WaPo2019Sheehan" /> Kirkus’s description of the reading experience as “entertainingly voyeuristic” underscored concerns some readers may have about boundaries when real clinical material is rendered for a general audience. <ref name="Kirkus2019" /> Entertainment Weekly raised ethical questions about confidentiality; Gottlieb responded that patient permissions were obtained and details altered or combined—an exchange that reflects ongoing debates about therapist memoirs. <ref name="EW2019" />

🌍 '''Impact & adoption'''. ABC put a scripted TV drama based on the book into development with Eva Longoria and Maggie Friedman, a project the author continues to note on her site. <ref name="Deadline2018">{{cite news |last=Andreeva |first=Nellie |title=ABC Nabs 'Maybe You Should Talk To Someone' Therapist Drama From Maggie Friedman & Eva Longoria Based On Book |url=https://deadline.com/2018/10/abc-maybe-you-should-talk-to-someone-drama-maggie-friedman-eva-longoria-lori-gottlieb-1202493162/ |work=Deadline |date=31 October 2018 |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref><ref name="AuthorSiteTV">{{cite web |title=Maybe You Should Talk to Someone |url=https://lorigottlieb.com/books/maybe-you-should-talk-to-someone/ |website=LoriGottlieb.com |publisher=Lori Gottlieb |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref> Public-facing programs and media have featured the book and its themes, including a PBS “A Word on Words” segment (2020) and library author-talk events. <ref name="PBS2020">{{cite web |title=Maybe You Should Talk to Someone |url=https://www.pbs.org/video/maybe-you-should-talk-to-someone-lori-gottlieb-npt-92ofcg/ |website=NPT / PBS |publisher=Nashville Public Television |date=10 June 2020 |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref><ref name="SalinasLibrary2024">{{cite web |title=Maybe You Should Talk To Someone: Examining the Truths and Fictions We Tell Ourselves — Author Talk with Lori Gottlieb |url=https://libraryc.org/salinaspubliclibrary/58216 |website=Salinas Public Library |publisher=City of Salinas |date=22 October 2024 |access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref>


== Related content & more ==
== Related content & more ==

Revision as of 15:14, 27 October 2025

"There’s only one person in this entire world who benefits from you not being able to enjoy anything good in your life."

— Lori Gottlieb, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone (2019)

Introduction

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
Full titleMaybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
AuthorLori Gottlieb
LanguageEnglish
SubjectPsychotherapy; Therapist and patient; Memoir
GenreNonfiction; Memoir
PublisherHoughton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date
2 April 2019
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover, paperback); e-book; audiobook
Pages415
ISBN978-1-328-66205-7
Websitelorigottlieb.com

📘 Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is a 2019 memoir by psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. [1] It follows Gottlieb both as a clinician and a patient, alternating her own therapy with anonymized casework to demystify what happens in the consulting room. [2] The narrative is divided into four parts. [3] It comprises 58 brief chapters and uses a candid, conversational register to blend humor with clinical insight. [4] Reviewers note its smooth, intimate tone—“entertainingly voyeuristic” yet empathetic. [5] The book debuted at #9 on the Publishers Weekly Hardcover Frontlist Nonfiction list for the week of 15 April 2019, with 9,055 first-week print units. [6] TIME later named it one of the “100 Must-Read Books of 2019,” and the author reports over three million copies sold in 30+ languages. [7][8]

Chapter summary

This outline follows the Thorndike Press large-print edition (2019), reproducing the book’s four-part table of contents.[3] First U.S. hardcover edition: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2 April 2019), xi, 415 pages, ISBN 978-1-328-66205-7.[1][9]


I

🙄 1 – Idiots.

👑 2 – If the Queen had balls.

👣 3 – The space of a step.

🧠 4 – The smart one or the hot one.

🛌 5 – Namast'ay in bed.

🧭 6 – Finding Wendell.

🌅 7 – The beginning of knowing.

🌹 8 – Rosie.

📸 9 – Snapshots of ourselves.

⏳ 10 – The future is also the present.

🎬 11 – Goodbye, Hollywood.

🇳🇱 12 – Welcome to Holland.

🧒 13 – How kids deal with grief.

🎞️ 14 – Harold and Maude.

🥪 15 – Hold the mayo.

🎁 16 – The whole package.

🗂️ 17 – Without memory or desire.

II

⏰ 18 – Fridays at four.

💭 19 – What we dream of.

🗝️ 20 – The first confession.

🛡️ 21 – Therapy with a condom on.

🚓 22 – Jail.

🛒 23 – Trader Joe's.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 24 – Hello, family.

📦 25 – The UPS guy.

😳 26 – Embarrassing public encounters.

👵 27 – Wendell's mother.

⚠️ 28 – Addicted.

🚫 29 – The rapist.

🕒 30 – On the clock.

III

♀️ 31 – My wandering uterus.

🚑 32 – Emergency session.

🔄 33 – Karma.

🧘 34 – Just be.

❓ 35 – Would you rather?.

🏎️ 36 – The speed of want.

🕯️ 37 – Ultimate concerns.

🧱 38 – Legoland.

🦋 39 – How humans change.

👨 40 – Fathers.

⚖️ 41 – Integrity versus despair.

🕊️ 42 – My neshama.

🤐 43 – What not to say to a dying person.

📧 44 – Boyfriend's email.

🧔 45 – Wendell's beard.

IV

🐝 46 – The bees.

🇰🇪 47 – Kenya.

🩺 48 – Psychological immune system.

💬 49 – Counseling versus therapy.

🦖 50 – Deathzilla.

💌 51 – Dear Myron.

👩‍👧 52 – Mothers.

🤗 53 – The hug.

💥 54 – Don't blow it.

🎉 55 – It's my party and you'll cry if you want to.

🙂 56 – Happiness is sometimes.

🛋️ 57 – Wendell.

⏸️ 58 – A pause in the conversation.

Background & reception

🖋️ Author & writing. Gottlieb is a practicing psychotherapist who also writes the Atlantic’s “Dear Therapist” column and co-hosts the iHeart “Dear Therapists” podcast. [10][11] The memoir grew out of her own course of therapy after a breakup and interweaves that experience with patients’ stories to explain core ideas of talk therapy in plain language. [12][2] Structurally, she alternates her sessions with “Wendell” and case narratives; the U.S. hardcover is arranged in four parts and 58 concise chapters. [2][3][4] In media interviews she emphasized permissions and the altering or combining of identifying details when portraying patients. [13] Critics frequently describe the voice as smooth, candid, and humane. [5]

📈 Commercial reception. The book debuted at #9 on Publishers Weekly’s Hardcover Frontlist Nonfiction (week of 15 April 2019), selling 9,055 print units, and remained a presence on later lists (e.g., #13 on 8 July 2019). [6][14] It also appeared on the American Booksellers Association’s Indie Bestseller lists in April 2019. [15] TIME named it one of the “100 Must-Read Books of 2019.” [7] According to the author’s official bio, it has sold over three million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages. [8]

👍 Praise. Kirkus gave a starred review, calling it “an irresistibly addictive tour of the human condition” and “a vivacious portrait of a therapist from both sides of the couch.” [5] Publishers Weekly praised its “sparkling and sometimes moving” account and noted its usefulness for both prospective clients and experienced therapists. [2] The Washington Post highlighted the book’s momentum and the “joy” of watching patients’ and therapist’s emotions evolve over time. [4] The New Statesman described it as an “accessible, informal and very personal” therapy memoir. [16]

👎 Criticism. In the Washington Post, Susan Sheehan faulted passages for “psychobabble,” jargon, and overuse of expletives while acknowledging the book’s narrative pull. [4] Kirkus’s description of the reading experience as “entertainingly voyeuristic” underscored concerns some readers may have about boundaries when real clinical material is rendered for a general audience. [5] Entertainment Weekly raised ethical questions about confidentiality; Gottlieb responded that patient permissions were obtained and details altered or combined—an exchange that reflects ongoing debates about therapist memoirs. [13]

🌍 Impact & adoption. ABC put a scripted TV drama based on the book into development with Eva Longoria and Maggie Friedman, a project the author continues to note on her site. [17][18] Public-facing programs and media have featured the book and its themes, including a PBS “A Word on Words” segment (2020) and library author-talk events. [19][20]

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References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Maybe you should talk to someone : a therapist, her therapist, and our lives revealed". WorldCat.org. OCLC. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed". Publishers Weekly. PWxyz, LLC. 25 March 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Table of Contents: Maybe you should talk to someone [LP]". Schlow Centre Region Library. Schlow Centre Region Library. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Sheehan, Susan (19 April 2019). "What does your therapist really think of you? One doc bares it all in a new book". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone". Kirkus Reviews. Kirkus Media. 2 February 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Hardcover Frontlist Nonfiction — April 15, 2019". Publishers Weekly. PWxyz, LLC. 15 April 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone". Time. Time USA, LLC. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "About Lori Gottlieb". LoriGottlieb.com. Lori Gottlieb. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  9. ↑ "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone". HarperCollins. HarperCollins. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  10. ↑ "Dear Therapist". The Atlantic. The Atlantic. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  11. ↑ "Dear Therapists with Lori Gottlieb and Guy Winch". iHeartRadio. iHeartMedia. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  12. ↑ "A Psychotherapist Goes To Therapy — And Gets A Taste Of Her Own Medicine". KCUR (NPR). 1 April 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Canfield, David (4 April 2019). "Lori Gottlieb's Maybe You Should Talk to Someone will change the way you look at therapy — and life". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  14. ↑ "Hardcover Frontlist Nonfiction — July 8, 2019". Publishers Weekly. PWxyz, LLC. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  15. ↑ "Indie Bestseller Lists: April 17, 2019". American Booksellers Association. ABA. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  16. ↑ "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is a warm, engaging therapy memoir". New Statesman. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  17. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (31 October 2018). "ABC Nabs 'Maybe You Should Talk To Someone' Therapist Drama From Maggie Friedman & Eva Longoria Based On Book". Deadline. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  18. ↑ "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone". LoriGottlieb.com. Lori Gottlieb. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  19. ↑ "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone". NPT / PBS. Nashville Public Television. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  20. ↑ "Maybe You Should Talk To Someone: Examining the Truths and Fictions We Tell Ourselves — Author Talk with Lori Gottlieb". Salinas Public Library. City of Salinas. 22 October 2024. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
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