Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life | Christie Tate

A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK AND INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“Often hilarious and ultimately very touching.” —People

“Have you ever read a book that made you want to hug the author?” —Reese Witherspoon

“This unrestrained memoir is a transporting experience and one of the most startlingly hopeful books I have ever read.” —Lisa Taddeo, New York Times bestselling author of Three Women

The refreshingly original debut memoir of a guarded, over-achieving, self-lacerating young lawyer who reluctantly agrees to get psychologically and emotionally naked in a room of six complete strangers—her psychotherapy group—and in turn finds human connection, and herself.

Christie Tate had just been named the top student in her law school class and finally had her eating disorder under control. Why then was she driving through Chicago fantasizing about her own death? Why was she envisioning putting an end to the isolation and sadness that still plagued her despite her achievements?

Enter Dr. Rosen, a therapist who calmly assures her that if she joins one of his psychotherapy groups, he can transform her life. All she has to do is show up and be honest. About everything—her eating habits, childhood, sexual history, etc. Christie is skeptical, insisting that that she is defective, beyond cure. But Dr. Rosen issues a nine-word prescription that will change everything: “You don’t need a cure. You need a witness.”

So begins her entry into the strange, terrifying, and ultimately life-changing world of group therapy. Christie is initially put off by Dr. Rosen’s outlandish directives, but as her defenses break down and she comes to trust Dr. Rosen and to depend on the sessions and the prescribed nightly phone calls with various group members, she begins to understand what it means to connect.

Group is a deliciously addictive read, and with Christie as our guide—skeptical of her own capacity for connection and intimacy, but hopeful in spite of herself—we are given a front row seat to the daring, exhilarating, painful, and hilarious journey that is group therapy—an under-explored process that breaks you down, and then reassembles you so that all the pieces finally fit.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of October 2020: Christie Tate is a summer intern at a law firm, the top of her class, and headed for great things—and her memoir opens with her sitting in her car alone, wishing someone would shoot her in the head. This moment sends her in search of therapy, and she lands in an untraditional group led by a charismatic therapist who doesn’t allow secrets. It feels clichéd to write “you’ll laugh, you’ll cry,” but I promise you’ll do both, as well as examine your own life and happiness… even if you don’t want to. Written with the gift of hindsight, Group is an honest, heart-breaking and hilarious look at reaching rock bottom and climbing your way back to life. —Sarah Gelman, Amazon Book Review

Review

"Every page of this incredible memoir, Group by Christie Tate, had me thinking 'I wish I had read this book when I was 25. It would have helped me so much!'... We need each other through the good times and the bad. Please read this book with a group of friends you cherish." —Reese Witherspoon

"Tate’s hard-won willingness to become loving and to be loved ultimately shapes a story that has a lot of heart—one that goes straight to the messy center of what it means to interrogate our own limitations and deepest desires, wherever that journey may take us." —Dani Shapiro, The New York Times

"Tate's candid path to healing is often hilarious and ultimately very touching." —People

“Tate's writing positions the reader as her witness, watching and cheering as she works her way to psychological health...[Her] commitment to detail serves Group well. So does her plain determination to present herself not as a victorious therapy graduate — she's a group ‘lifer,’ and proud of it — but as an ordinary woman who has been lucky enough to beat some extraordinary demons. Group is consistently determined and grateful, with an appealing strand of self-deprecation and a deep affection for [Tate’s groupmates].” —NPR

"Over-achieving young lawyer Christie Tate gives readers an inside peek into the highs and lows of group therapy. Recovering from an eating disorder and battling depression, Tate reluctantly turns to this communal form of psychotherapy. Funny, emotional, and insightful, Group is sure to be a breakout hit." —Good Morning America

"Group is an honest, addictive memoir about a woman’s experience in group therapy. She held nothing back with them, and she holds nothing back with us." —HelloGiggles 

“Fearless candor and vulnerability.” —Time

"A wild ride...It gets pretty raw." —The Boston Globe

"It takes courage to bare your soul in front of a therapist, but when you add six strangers to the mix, it becomes an act of faith. In Group, Christie Tate takes us on a journey that's heartbreaking and hilarious, surprising and redemptive—and, ultimately, a testament to the power of connection. Perhaps the greatest act of bravery is that Tate shared her story with us, and how lucky we are that she did." —Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

“Eugene Onegin made me want to move to Russia and Little Women made me want to have sisters. Group made me want to rewind a decade, sit with a number of strangers and one shamanic doctor, strip down and survive. This unrestrained memoir is a transporting experience and one of the most startlingly hopeful books I have ever read. It will make you want to get better, whatever better means for you." —Lisa Taddeo, New York Times bestselling author of Three Women

"Group sucked me in and never let go. Real transformation is not for the faint of heart, and in these pages Christie Tate captures her evolution in all its misery and hilarity, along with the beauty of bearing witness to one another as we grow. Group reminds us that we are hurt by other people, but we can be healed by them too. Damn, I want to join a group now." —Sarah Hepola, New York Times bestselling author of Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget 

"In breathtaking bursts of beauty and vulnerability, Christie Tate's Group dares to tell the story of a body from the inside out. There is a place between pain and joy and her body is the word for it. This book will remind you how to come back to yourself even when you want to give up, make you laugh, make you cry, help you breathe. This book will save lives." —Lidia Yuknavitch, author of Verge and The Misfit's Manifesto 

"[A] dazzling debut memoir...Readers will be irresistibly drawn into Tate’s earnest and witty search for authentic and lasting love." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"What actually helps when we despair? In this therapeutic page-turner, a boon especially to women struggling with loss, loneliness, or imposter syndrome, Christie Tate tells the story of how she overcame trauma and found love. Her hard-won strategy is as simple to say as it is tough to do: keep showing up.” —Ada Calhoun, New York Times bestselling author of Why We Can’t Sleep

"Christie Tate's...writing displays a wonderful combination of clear and simple with sparkle and intelligence...[Group is] a compelling narrative that empowers readers to better understand their own lives." —Booklist (starred review)

“Tate takes readers on a journey through her life-changing road to recovery and in turn finds hope, human connection and a new take on life.” —CNN (Best Books of October 2020)

"A moving, raw account of healing, and one you'll definitely want to talk about in the group chat." —The Skimm 

About the Author

Christie Tate is the author of the New York Times bestseller Group, which was a Reese’s Book Club selection. She has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and elsewhere, and she lives in Chicago with her family.