NEW BOOK

Rethink the Couch: Into the Bedrooms and Boardrooms of Asia with an Expat Therapist

by Allison Heiliczer
Published by Penguin Random House SEA in December 2023

Part East-meets-West expat journey, part self-help deliberation, this collection of personal narratives explores the influence cultural backgrounds have on work and relationships and sheds light on stigmas still surrounding divorce, therapy, mental health, and more in Asia. Asia may lag the West in this regard – for now – but there is a quiet revolution afoot and Heiliczer is at the vanguard, helping to transform the mental health landscape.

SYNOPSIS

In more than a decade as a psychotherapist to some of Asia’s most powerful couples and businesspeople, expat New Yorker Allison Heiliczer has seen it all.

Heiliczer brings readers into her therapy room and engagements with such clients: the Singaporean maneater with a portfolio comparing the endowments—physical and financial—of her expat lovers; the wealthy Chinese litigator in thrall to a feng shui master; the entrepreneur trying to treat his own ADHD; the Indonesian-Chinese businessman who faced a reckoning when his multiple unzipperings were exposed, and many others.

From toxic offices and complex relationships, boardroom power and bedroom failure, doomed marriages and ill-advised affairs, workaholism, loneliness, lies; these are struggles more common than many of us care to admit. Heiliczer lays them all bare through the prism of culture and is expert in understanding what makes those embroiled in them tick.  

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Advanced Praise

  • “A highly engaging, insightful read from the first certified Relational Life Therapist (RLT) in Asia.  Allison provides a rare window into the unique challenges couples grapple with in Asia, highlighting intricate cultural layers, while also exploring the universal themes present in so many relationships.”

    — TERRENCE (Terry) REAL
    New York Times Bestselling Author of Us: Getting Past You and Me to Build a More Loving Relationship

  • “In this page-turning debut, Allison Heiliczer invites us into her psychotherapy office, where her clients’ stories provide the scaffolding for a riveting exploration of modern Asian marriage, sex, work, parenting, and everything in between. Not shying away from difficult realities, like the couples who end up divorcing when their marriage can’t heal, Heiliczer teaches us there’s always hope, especially when we care about and believe in each other. She is the master weaver, threading her intimate knowledge of East and West into a stunning exploration of life in the modern world.”

    — ANNA LEMBEKE, MD
    New York Times Bestselling Author of Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence

  • “A ground-breaking book that transports you immediately to Asia. This book offers remarkable perspective on culture, relationships, and work including neurodiversity issues. You won't be able to put this book down, and it'll inspire you to transform.”

    — PETER SHANKMAN
    Bestselling author of Faster Than Normal: Turbocharge Your Focus, Productivity, and Success with the Secrets of the ADHD Brain

  • “Allison’s book is a real page turner and powerfully explores all the complexities of Asian cultural influences in relationships and at work in Asia. This is an important resource for people looking for insights into and help for universal issues like toxic offices, workaholism, neurodiversity and more along with those wanting to learn about the unshakable connection that work in Asia has with relationships. It’s also a profound call to end the stigma of mental health challenges in Asia.”

    — CELINA LEE
    Executive and Career Coach and award-winning author of Live Your Dream, 꿈을 이뤄드립니다”

  • “Allison’s work with our teams has been invaluable. When the pandemic hit, we realized immediately the toll it would take on our employees' mental health and jumped into action. Our employees' well-being is our number one priority and Allison has been a vital partner in supporting that aim.”

    — KEN COOPER
    Global Head of Human Resources at Bloomberg

  • “In this ground-breaking book, Allison Heiliczer illuminates the hidden lives of people living in Asia…written with a candid honesty and an endearing sense of humour…”

    — DANIELLE LIM
    Award-winning author of And Softly Go the Crossings

  • “This book is a profound call to action to change the mental health landscape in Asia. Allison has been a champion in the region for wellbeing, supporting AXA in our efforts to democratize and make mind health accessible to all.”

    — GORDON WATSON
    Chairman of AXA Asia