Real Life of an MSW

Listen to the Marriage: A Novel by John Jay Osborn (2018, 246 pages). Reading this book, one of my first thoughts is that this should be required reading for graduate students pursuing degrees in marriage counseling. This is a wonderful, albeit fictional, case study of character. The book follows the marriage counseling sessions of two successful-on-paper adults as they navigate marriage and love post-betrayal. Reading this you will be emotionally drained and exhausted, and you’ll pretty much hate every character at least once. As the reader, I felt like the fourth person in the therapist’s office — a fly on the wall. It was intense — grief and anger flare. It was frustrating — the back and forth of their feelings and emotions. It was emotional and heartbreaking, they laid their hearts on the line.

What I loved about this book was that it was all told from the marriage counselor’s perspective, who has placed a green chair in the room. This is where “the marriage” sits so it can be acknowledged.  “Looks at the chair. Try to see the marriage, feel how it’s feeling, even how it’s looking,” (155). A simple concept, yet so extremely effective. The green chair reminded me of my plants that continue to flourish and grow, or are speckled with the occasional yellow leaf, the plants that are not rotated enough and grow unevenly are a representation of life. Overall, this was an entertaining and unique read. I enjoyed spending time with these characters and the book raised some thought-provoking questions: What can a marriage withstand? When do you throw in the towel? How do you fix what is broken? How do you get to the place where it is safe to start over? I highly recommend this read, and if you don’t have the time to read check out the NPR interview.