What Your Therapist Is Really Thinking by Mirel Goldstein, MS, MA, LPC

Though the title may not suggest it, What Your Therapist Is Really Thinking is a work of fiction that aims to answer questions patients may have when entering into therapy.

Shira, a single mom, begins therapy with Dr. G. after the breakup of her marriage to an abuser. The doctor observes Shira’s different moods and aspects – sometimes open and affable, at other times silent, hostile, or frozen. Shira’s parents, with whom she lives, are overbearing, immediately seeing the negative “what-ifs” in every situation. Dr. G helps her see that she is accustomed to feeling guilty and inferior, and Shira finally moves out on her own. Gradually, Dr. G has seen her progress and regress, but feels that at last, that Shira is going to take charge of her life.

Mirel Goldstein, a licensed counselor, writes from her own career experience, which should help those reticent about therapy to see therapy as a human relationship, and not one that is overly cold or clinical. Others may find this approach less professional, but then Goldstein is trying to reach those patients who may not be reachable otherwise.

The doctor’s musings and her conversations with her patient are all plausibly presented, interspersed with short passages highlighting Shira’s feelings before each session. This provides a lively point/counterpoint between therapist and patient. The reader may wish, however, for more down-to-earth thoughts on the part of the doctor, as what comes through is mostly professional detachment rather than the “real thinking” implied by the book’s title. Still, What Your Therapist Is Really Thinking uses an intriguing fictional format to convey its message with more immediacy and clarity than can be found in equivalent works of non-fiction.