The idea behind "The Kitchen Shrink" is very interesting - telling clients'/patients' stories, utilising the angle of food, its meaning for an individual and a point of (dis)connection. I generally love stories and experiences from the therapy room, being a practicing mental health professional myself. However here I felt that there was almost too much emphasis on food, too much meaning ascribed to it that it was necessary for the therapeutic process. Also, some stories were ongoing or presented quite vaguely, so as a reader I rarely got a summary of what happened after the aspect of food was explored. How has this exploration actually helped the client get more insight, better their life? I got the feeling that food stories were used more to serve the author's agenda than to serve the overall process. I also found the recipes at the end of each chapter quite random and unnecessary.

I'm not really sure what I expected from this book but certainly got a lot more than I had expected. I really had not thought of food and relationships in this way before and it was absolutely fascinating.

received this book in November 2024 for review and it was hands down the best book I have read all year!

What this book isn’t:
This book is not so much a cookbook, although there are recipes at the end of most chapters, and it's also not a book about eating disorders and the therapy associated with overcoming them.

What this book is:
A therapist writes this book and visits a different patient's session for each chapter. The food elements are either experiences a patient had with someone close to them that revolved around food, or the observations the writer had about food as a metaphor for something happening in the patient’s life.

What made this book fantastic:
This book was emotionally powerful. It is packed full of all the feels, the emotions of love, loss, friendship, compassion and isolation. It was on page 27 I had a realisation about the importance of food on my relationship with my husband, which gave me an early taste of what I would be in for in reading the following chapters. The descriptions are visceral, the flavours and scents of a food environment come off the page and linger in the memory of your senses. The sessions are at times, crushing, but the empathy you feel for the patients is real. She also shares some of her own experiences, not just food but love and life. It takes therapy away from the brazen 'are you shrinking me? comments to the reality which is tactile and empathic, like a real relationship.

Who would enjoy this book:
This book should be a bestseller. I hope it makes it, it deserves it. If you have read and enjoyed Air and Love by Or Rosenboim, you will relate to the vivid storytelling and the recipes that punctuate the end chapters. If you loved Toast by Nigel Slater, you will be touched by the experience and development of each patient session. If you love cooking and want to hear about Nigella and Delia, then these maternal figures will have a hot plate at their table waiting for you.

Indulge in this book. It’s food for the soul.

The Kitchen Shrink is a combination of two important and beloved topics: food and mental well-being.
Andrea Oskis is a trained psychologist, who uses anecdotes and case studies to discuss what food tells us about our relationships.
Coupled with amazing Cypriot/Greek cuisine recipes, Oskis' book is fun to read.
I must admit, I am more inclined towards psychiatry, and do not believe in all theories of psychology, some of which Oskis mentions in this book. Yet, this did not undermine my experience with the book. Had the food element not been there, this would have still been an interesting book, however Oskis' linking of attachment, safety and feelings with food and food rituals makes this book all the more interesting.