Good Morning, Monster

A Therapist Shares Five Heroic Stories of Emotional Recovery

By: Catherine Gildiner

Narrated by: Deborah Burgess

Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

"Catherine Gildiner is nothing short of masterful - as both a therapist and writer. In these pages, she has gorgeously captured both the privilege of being given access to the inner chambers of people's lives, and the meaning that comes from watching them grow into the selves they were meant to be." (Lori Gottlieb, New York Times best-selling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone)

In this fascinating narrative, therapist Catherine Gildiner’s presents five of what she calls her most heroic and memorable patients. 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".

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. As in such recent classics as The Glass Castle and Educated, 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 very funny.

Good Morning, Monster offers an almost novelistic, behind-the-scenes look into the therapist's office, illustrating how the process can heal even the most unimaginable wounds.

Amazon.com Best Books of the Year - 2020

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

"Good Morning, Monster allows one the privilege of seeing the therapist-patient relationship as an essentially human interaction." (JM Coetzee, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature)

©2020 Catherine Gildiner (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Fascinating!!!

This was a binge listen for me!! I found it truly fascinating!!! It was difficult to listen to in some parts, because the patients had such brutal, sad, childhoods, but the therapy concepts and background studies and research the author did to help her “hero patients” was remarkable. I LOVED it!! I found myself in tears many times and had to keep listening to learn what happened to the wounded souls. Psychotherapy has always amazed me, though I’ve never spoken to a therapist, nor studied much about mental health. I recommend this book if you want some insight into how the mind works and how people can heal themselves by revisiting their trauma in a safe environment. The narrator was good as well.

Great Listen

I enjoyed listening to this book while driving to visit family. Good life lessons to use.

Good book bad narration

The book itself is not racist but the choices made by the narrator very much are.

Wow!

I thought I was going to take longer listening to this book. But I finished it so quickly. Each persons story was so intriguing and heartbreaking and of course heroic. Spoiler alert. The ending was so interesting to see how the therapist asked Story tied into why these five people she found so heroic highly recommend!

Absolutely Recommend

This book is tough. This touched a lot of the lines where I am broken and therefore it was tough to keep reading at times, but it was also so incredibly comforting and encouraging at times.

GREAT LISTEN

THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING. I loved how thorough and descriptive the sun stories were. Each patient was given an interesting analysis. Gildiner does an amazing job at reflecting not only on her sessions but also how they changed her as a psychologist. Highly recommend.

lots of triggers

really well done book and it's worth hearing but there are ALOT of triggers for those with similar trauma.

In-Depth, Candid, and Moving

The therapist room is laid open and the process used, her mindset during the process, and the in-depth details of each person's story made this one of the best I've heard in the therapy genre. The narrator did a great job and it was always kept interesting and informative. Helpful in its carthartic properties.

Beautiful and Powerful Stories

These stories are beautiful and extraordinarily powerful. I took so much from hearing each story unfold like a mystery. I was absolutely hooked on this book and cried at the end of some of the stories. Listening to this book will make you a better and more insightful person. Cannot recommend it enough.

Inspiring but my heart hurts

This was a great book that I highly recommend. The author did a great job recounting these tough patient stories and her role as a therapist (even admitting when she could have improved her actions for her patients). Fair warning though-some of the stories may be a trigger due to severe trauma, abuse, sexual abuse. For me, Allana (the 4th story) was extremely tough to hear.