Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
"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 title | Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed |
| Author | Lori Gottlieb |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Psychotherapy; Therapist and patient; Memoir |
| Genre | Nonfiction; Memoir |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |
Publication date | 2 April 2019 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardcover, paperback); e-book; audiobook |
| Pages | 415 |
| ISBN | 978-1-328-66205-7 |
| Website | lorigottlieb.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]
Related content & more
YouTube videos
CapSach articles
References
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 2.0 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.
- ↑ 3.0 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.
- ↑ 4.0 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.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone". Kirkus Reviews. Kirkus Media. 2 February 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Hardcover Frontlist Nonfiction — April 15, 2019". Publishers Weekly. PWxyz, LLC. 15 April 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone". Time. Time USA, LLC. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "About Lori Gottlieb". LoriGottlieb.com. Lori Gottlieb. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ↑ "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone". HarperCollins. HarperCollins. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ↑ "Dear Therapist". The Atlantic. The Atlantic. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ↑ "Dear Therapists with Lori Gottlieb and Guy Winch". iHeartRadio. iHeartMedia. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ↑ "A Psychotherapist Goes To Therapy — And Gets A Taste Of Her Own Medicine". KCUR (NPR). 1 April 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "Hardcover Frontlist Nonfiction — July 8, 2019". Publishers Weekly. PWxyz, LLC. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ↑ "Indie Bestseller Lists: April 17, 2019". American Booksellers Association. ABA. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ↑ "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is a warm, engaging therapy memoir". New Statesman. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone". LoriGottlieb.com. Lori Gottlieb. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ↑ "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone". NPT / PBS. Nashville Public Television. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
- ↑ "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.