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asked:
Reading this book at the moment. Did anyone else find the first few chapters off-putting, where she tried not to laugh when a man mispronounced "penis" (I mean, he obviously speaks two languages so he's doing better than most of us), and felt "disgusted" by the masturbation machine he made? I did not know people in her line of work were so judgemental. Hoping it improves as I was really impressed by Anna on podcasts.
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Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence,
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Ryan Ruffaner
I was a little put off by it, but psychiatrists are still human, and humans judge. What mattered more to me was that she was able to overcome her judgment to help her patient, which is what you want in a psychiatrist, speaking as someone who's gone to one before.
Marta
I've just finished this book (audible) and I had the exact same impression at first - the bad accents especially annoyed me. And I really didn't like how judgy she sounded, especially when she led with the proclamation that 'most readers will be shocked by the extreme examples'. I was ready to stop listening once she got to the romance novels and I only persevered because I liked her on the Rich Roll podcast. In my opinion the book does get a bit better later on (fortunately for the listeners, most of her other patients are not foreigners), but overall it did not live up to my expectations.
Elizabeth
As a practitioner of bdsm and a clinician I considered the first few chapters as proof of her incompetence. But I did finish reading the book. I think she is competent for dealing with most obsessive compulsive disorders and real addiction (drugs/nicotine). Her understanding of sex and fantasy is somewhere between ignorant and stuck in a past century.
Dan Shaffer
Like she mentioned in the book, I'm glad that she was honest about how she personally felt rather than lying and developing an aura of perfection around herself (which would be easy to do). Obviously it's wrong to judge people, but we all do it to some extent and no one is perfect.
Bon Tom
Absolutely. That's the only problem I have with this book. Author's own personal prejudice and close mindedness that seems pretty obvious, and not only between the lines. I had small problem with kneel down and pray psychological intervention of the same client as well. It's something I expect to hear from priest, so it's especially glaring coming from therapist. I'm really surprised she didn't try to work with him on accepting himself and finding some moderation with his little "hobby" that he and possibly even his partner would be ok with.
Rebecca
Right! I was really impressed with his ingenuity. Why the heck would we be "shocked"? projection much?
drowningmermaid
She had no problem underlining his accent, and urged a person struggling with misplaced Catholic guilt to “pray for help.” I don’t think she was a good therapist for this person.
I often wonder with therapist-book success stories, how much ‘success’ lasts?
I often wonder with therapist-book success stories, how much ‘success’ lasts?
Ashley
I just listened to the beginning of this book and had the same thought. She came off incredibly judgemental and negative. Then apparently after being a romance reader for a year it was buttplugs in 50 Shades of Grey that made her realize she had a problem? It may not be your thing but to start a book about the intersection of pleasure and pain with kinkshaming and judgement is not the way to go.
Ruby J
I listened to this with little idea of where the author would go. I made no judgement about the way she decided to tell the story, I just listened. The more I listened, the more she drew me in, and the better I began to understand the message she was sharing. I was not put off by her storytelling style.
Denise Mills
This is the audible version by the way. I'm listening to this book, complete with bad accent impersonations.
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