And How Does That Make You Feel?

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I just finished listening to And How Does That Make You Feel? by Joshua Fletcher, an interesting book that looks at therapy from the perspective of the therapist. It's a reminder that therapists are people, with all the insecurities, fears, and hopes that the rest of us have. They've just been trained how to work with those feelings so they are able to focus on their client's issues.

It's easy to forget how new of a science psychology is. It's also amazing that simply talking to an impartial, attentive listener who wants to help you does so much in the way of healing. I love that this book shows the internal world of a therapist during therapy. I never really thought about the therapist's perspective before. The therapy sessions are supposed to be about you, so it's not entirely surprising I hadn't thought of that before.

It's difficult to listen with your entire attention on the speaker. It takes a lot to not think about your turn to speak, to anticipate what you want to say. But, with effort and with training we can all learn to be listeners in a therapeutic sort of way. This book makes you understand that even with training, even with experience and education, therapists aren't perfect. Fletcher has thoughts and feelings just like anyone else. He's got his snarky internal comments as well as sage advice. He develops feelings for a patient and has to work out the best, most ethical, way to handle it. He makes mistakes. He makes therapists that much more reachable and relatable.

It was a fun listen, narrated by the author, which is always nice. At 7ish hours, it's a fairly quick listen. It's written in a conversational, almost script-like manner. It's virtually devoid of jargon, so you don't have to worry about having any prior knowledge about psychology. It's a light exploration into the thoughts of a therapist, and I find that fascinating.