The following version of the book was used to create this study guide: Gildiner, Catherine. Good Morning, Monster. St. Martin’s Press, September 22, 2020. Kindle.

In the non-fiction book Good Morning, Monster, the author Catherine Gildiner recalls some of her most memorable cases as a practicing psychologist. She describes to her reader the goals of therapy, the lasting impact of childhood experiences, and her reasons for referring to these particular patients as heroes. Gildiner includes the stories of five patients who suffered physical, sexual, and emotional abuse during their childhoods. Those patients did not succumb to serious mental illness or suicide.

Laura Wilkes, the first patient Gildiner treated as a psychologist, came to Gildiner hoping to better understand and control the stress in her life because it worsened her herpes outbreaks. Gildiner learned that when Laura was nine, her father abandoned her and her two siblings for seven months. Laura took over as a parent, stealing to ensure her brother and sister had food to eat.

Peter Chang, the second hero described in this book, came to Gildiner because he was suffering with impotence. He would detach from himself when he tried to be intimate with a woman. Gildiner learned that Peter’s mother had locked him in the attic above the restaurant the family-owned while she worked all day. This happened from the time Peter was two until he was five. Peter missed out on the bonding experiences he needed so that he could build other healthy relationships.

Danny Morrison was a Cree Indian who was sent to a residential school for Indigenous people when he was five. These schools were intended to wipe out the Indigenous culture. Danny was beaten for speaking his native language. He was sexually abused by priests who ran the school. Danny admitted to Gildiner that he had closed off his feelings because he believed it was better for him not to feel. He did not identify with either Whites or the Indigenous as a result of his experiences.

Gildiner describes Alana, the next patient she features in her book, as being the most abused person with whom she had ever worked. Alana’s father, whom she called Art, raped her and forced her to take drugs from the time she was four until she was 14. At 14, Alana went to live with her grandmother, who mutilated Alana’s genitals, claiming that Alana was dirty and she had to cut the filth from her. Gildiner diagnoses Alana as having a form of dissociative identity disorder, meaning that she has created separate aspects of herself to deal with issues that Alana cannot face.

In the story of the final patient Gildiner treated, Gildiner describes how she allowed herself to be manipulated by Duncan Arlington, a patient’s father, onto whom she had transferred her affection for her own late father. Gildiner believes that it was because of this transference that she agreed to treat Madeline Arlington in Madeline’s place of business instead of Gildiner’s office. Gildiner’s treatment of Madeline was ultimately successful as she helped Madeline understand the cause of her anxiety about allowing her employees to fly was the result of the love that Madeline felt for Anton. Madeline was unable to acknowledge her love because other people who were supposed to love her, like her mother, had abused her and demanded perfection from her. Gildiner helped Madeline overcome her fear of being rejected and hurt, which in turn relieved her anxiety.