Quick Advice in a Shrink Rap
Godfather Freud aside, the advent of psychotherapy has many Jews to thank. The invention of the therapy party (think speed dating, but with advice-giving gurus) also finds a Jew at the helm.
“I always say my shrink is my rabbi,” said author and teacher Susan Shapiro, who, when throwing a party for her debut novel, “Speed Shrinking,” decided to make talk therapy its focus.
In the book, a recovering addict turned addictions specialist discovers that her only habit left to kick is a $200/hour shrink. She sees eight therapists in eight days (at a paltry $25 a piece under new insurance) while hankering for a match.
A bevy of guests — mostly media and publishing folks, and former students — descended on the Knickerbocker Bar and Grill in Manhattan on August 3 for three-minute shrinking sessions, with sounding boards that included authors, relationship experts and even a Jungian astrologist. All the female gurus, including Shapiro, gave women hoping to marry the same advice: “Keep your clothes on for three months.”
Shapiro will host more shrinking parties in August and September.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
