I read this book over time, picking it up and reading a chapter here and there. That's because although the main concept is interesting, that there are 12 fundamental desires that we seek to fulfil, and that they often conflict, the stories didn't really grab me. The patients described felt like portraits of 'typical' patients rather than real people.

Now I know that most books about psychotherapy show portraits like this that are a combination of people, to illustrate a point and protect real people's privacy, but in this case it made the book feel 'wrong', somehow. Oversimplified, dummied down. Overall, I didn't get the sense of real heart - or deep interest in the human condition - that I have got in reading other similar books, such as those by Irvin Yalom, Dr Rebecca Myers, Dr John Sarno and many others. I might as well have read a report or a slide presentation outlining the supposed 12 things humans want.

They say that the best therapy is relational, and you have to bond with your therapist. I just wasn't feelin' it.

An informative read that I find myself regularly recommending. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

The author is a psychotherapist and in What We Want she takes us on a journey of 12 wants and desires that she believes are universal to her clients- and all of us. These include love, power and sex. The author encourages the reader to know and accept our desires as a way out of feeling stuck, to connect with our internal world and fully participate in our lives. It's a very important premise that I wholly agree with and yet I didn't feel that I got a real sense of how to do this from reading this book. However, I did really enjoy it. I love books written by therapists that immerse the reader in case studies and the author does this well. It's well written and gave me a good glimpse into the therapy room.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

Bit of a mixed bag for me, this book, Lots of really great moments of wisdom and case studies of clients. The idea of identifying 12 wants (deadly sins?) was an excellent idea but sometimes the execution didn't quite work for me, in that there wasn't a strong enough case study or too much general thoughts that were too non-specific to be helpful. I was a bit confused sometimes who this was aimed at, potential clients or therapists.
The strength of this book is when she writes about her work with clients, especially as she works with individuals and couples, it's quite rare to see both presentations in a book like this. I liked her honesty about her process and her mistakes, her risk-taking, and how these can help clients and the therapeutic relationship.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another book to add to canon of books by medical professionals in which they regale the stories of patients through which they are able to draw on and discuss wider life lessons and conclusions -- think Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed, Love's Executioner and Other Tales of Psychotherapy, The Skeleton Cupboard: Stories From a Clinical Psychologist, This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor and Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery. I've read a fair few books of this type now (they're not always my thing but sometimes the mood takes me!) and this one was engaging whilst not really bringing anything new to the table.

The most enjoyable parts for me were where Charlotte Fox Weber focuses on specific patients (clients?) and their different problems - like you were a fly on the wall during their psychotherapy session. The more general sections which prefaced these parts felt way too general and like they didn't add much to the narrative. I didn't really buy in to the made up words (many of these related to the twelve "desires" of the title), which just felt a bit cringe-y - but I guess this is just down to my personal opinion/preference.