Books

Dear Edward

By Elisabeth LaMotte / April 30, 2024

A few months ago, my college age daughter, (an English major) suggested that I read Dear Edward. Then, while we were traveling together for spring break, she noticed me reading the book as recommended and expressed surprised concern that I would pick a book about a plane crash while navigating various legs of air travel.…

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Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow

By Elisabeth LaMotte / October 29, 2023

Tomorrow and, Tomorrow and, Tomorrow’s book jacket describes a “love story you haven’t heard before”. This provocative welcome offers a fitting invitation to enter the page turning journey of Sadie, Sam and Marx – three super smart college students at MIT and Harvard, making their way in the gaming industry. The love story is new…

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Lessons in Chemistry

By Elisabeth LaMotte / June 15, 2023

Chemistry, cooking, and a compelling cast of characters animate Bonnie Garmus’ engaging novel Lessons in Chemistry. Heroine Elizabeth Zott offers explosive lessons surpassing chemistry as she spearheads a fight for women’s respect and equal workplace rights. From a psychological perspective, the book is also a memorable lesson in the Freudian concept of sublimation—an intriguing psychological…

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Being Mortal

By Elisabeth LaMotte / March 1, 2023

“Be where the client is at.” This phrase – despite and because of its grammatical flaw – was written and spoken and repeated by several social work professors in my early graduate training. A willingness to refrain from my own agenda in order to respect and deeply probe the psychological space and experience of my…

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Diary of a Mad Housewife

By Elisabeth LaMotte / January 17, 2023

The book jacket for Diary of a Mad Housewife describes the novel as “a classic of urban women’s fiction that gave a wry voice to the nascent feminist stirrings of the 1960s.” I’m not sure how I missed it on my mother’s bookshelf while growing up in the 70s, but she confirms that it was…

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The Midnight Library

By Elisabeth LaMotte / September 6, 2022

Engaging in therapy, it is quite common to look back on past choices and scan for patterns. Reflecting on past decisions often illuminates insights about the present and the future. Honest examination in this mode is a template for therapeutic change. Let’s say a therapy client is working on a pattern of choosing unhealthy relationships.…

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Room

By Elisabeth LaMotte / August 9, 2022

When my book club selected Emma Donoghue’s bestselling novel, Room, for our monthly read, I was not too psyched about revisiting this memorable, haunting tale. I saw the 2015 film in theaters and sat riveted through Brie Larson’s masterful performance which won her academy award for best actress in a lead role. Given the emotional…

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Run Towards the Danger

By Elisabeth LaMotte / May 26, 2022

Practically speaking, preparing for foot surgery feels surprisingly like preparing to have a baby. I stopped taking new therapy clients two months prior to my surgery date in an attempt to mold my work/life balance into the most manageable place during the 3 to 6 month recovery period. Not since giving birth two decades ago…

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Oh William!

By Elisabeth LaMotte / February 21, 2022

Lucy Barton, a relatable and compelling underdog admired by readers everywhere, is back for a third round in Elizabeth Strout’s magnificent continuation of a journey that began in a small New York City hospital room. Fans fell in love with Lucy reading the novel showcasing her name. My Name is Lucy Barton (2016) and the…

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Empire of Pain

By Elisabeth LaMotte / August 6, 2021

Therapists are taught to screen for substance abuse in the first session. Conventional training teaches that traditional psychotherapy will not be helpful if a client is actively abusing a substance and encourages clinicians to refer addicts to a substance abuse treatment program. Some therapists use a tough love approach and refuse to move beyond a…

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