Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed

While watching TV with her friend Allison, Lori comes across John’s show, which now features a therapist who receives an unexpected hug from the main character. Lori responds much as the TV character: with confusion. Is she the basis for the TV character? During the next session, she asks John about it, and he denies it vehemently, claiming it is all fiction. He shows her the photo of his family, and then, surprisingly, of Gabe, which makes Lori tear up. John then shows her a review of his show from the New York Times where the critic praises the new depth and introspection of the main character. Even though it is very hard for him to verbalize it, John thanks Lori for helping him. They share an authentically emotional moment.

Rita has turned 70 but has not committed suicide. She reconnected with Myron, after he had time to process her letter, and they are now a couple. She sent similar versions of her letter to her children, and on her birthday she received a reply from her daughter, telling her the she, too, is in therapy, and that she is learning to remember the best of her mother, even though it is still not enough to forgive her. Two of her sons agreed to meet with Rita and Myron, and her first (surprise) birthday party in over 40 years counted over 20 people. Her life has changed in just over a year, and although she still has self-sabotage issues, she uses therapy to course-correct, and to see things from a different perspective. 

Julie has died and Lori receives an invitation to her funeral service. Even though therapists rarely do this (“therapists are expected to compartmentalize their humanity when it comes to their patients’ deaths” (767)), she decides to honor her promise to stay with Julie until the very end. Lori reflects how working with Julie has made her more compassionate. The service is moving and emotional, which shows how many lives Julie has touched. Lori still thinks about Julie, “All these years later” (778).  

John shows incredible progress in self-awareness by asking Lori is she thinks he might be an asshole. Margo told him that he had been one for a long time, and as the whole family shared a happy evening, he began to wonder if what she said was true. Lori tells him that he sometimes acts like one to protect himself. They reflect on the power of the word sometimes, which allows people to “escape from the tyranny of black-or-white thinking” (783). John and Margo will see a couples therapist to try and overcome the obstacles between them.

John reveals he wanted to become a psychiatrist but had no money; now that he is a successful writer, he feels it a revenge on those who did not allow him to pursue his dream. He tells Lori she has a “more complete picture of my total humanity than anyone else in my life” (792), which makes them both tear up. He writes an episode dealing with the death of a son, which moves Lori immensely, while John and Margo manage to find companionship in watching it together. 

Lori reveals to Wendell that she has started writing about her experiences from the past year, and that he figures prominently in her writing. She felt compelled to start shaping her understanding in words, at first for herself, but then for others as well. She wrote, “we have choices about how to live our lives” (797). All this time she was searching for meaning, and now she has begun to find it. She asks Wendell if the offer to dance still stands, and during one session, they both dance to the Beatles’ Let It Be. She now feels ready to talk about the termination of her therapy; she is ready to leave.

Gottlieb muses, “The strangest thing about therapy is that it’s structured around an ending.” (806) Lori prepares for her last session with Wendell, and summarizes the benefits: He has helped her do hard work on herself, and he helped her save herself. She likens the end of therapy to a pause in conversation, and not its conclusion, “Relationships in life don’t really end, even if you never see the person again” (810). As she leaves his office, Lori stops to soak up the sun, because she finally feels she has “plenty of time” (814).