Rose Winer is having panic attacks about a man climbing in the window and raping her.
Returning to New York from Berkeley, where free love is rampant, she hopes that sleeping in her parents' house will make her feel safe. When that doesn't work, she begins psychoanalysis.
Through her turbulent relationship with her analyst, Joan Wiseman, Rose’s life is changed forever. She is transformed from a wounded, angry, and insecure girl to a happily married psychoanalyst and university professor. But when her critical mother has a stroke and Joan gets cancer, all of Rose's progress is put to the test.
Part fiction, part memory, this book is an intimate look at psychoanalysis through the eyes of a patient and an analyst, based on Roberta Satow’s experience as both.
While there are many books about transference and countertransference in psychoanalysis, this book illustrates the depth of the connection between the patient and analyst, their experience of each other, and the curative effects of that relationship for both of them.
Listen to Abby Pogrebin interview Roberta Satow about “Our Time Is Up”
“On and Off the Couch” Podcast Description:
We begin discussing Roberta’s first career as a sociologist. She pursued psychoanalytic training after receiving her PhD in sociology. She also continued as a writer of both fiction and non-fiction. Both genres represented her personal as well as other-oriented reflections. Her book Our Time is Up is likewise a combined memoir and novel – she both is and isn’t the young woman ‘Rose’ whose analysis with ‘Joan’ forms the essence of this work. She reads sections from the book that describe her first meeting with her analyst as well as when the analyst’s illness is introduced into their treatment.
Listen to the Prologue- read by the author
Reviews for Our Time Is Up
“This book is a treasure: a memoir-like novel that captures an era, an ethos, and a sociopolitical sensibility through the eyes of a young woman struggling with autonomy, guilt, sexuality, and grief in the late 1960s. Both patients and therapists will recognize their own struggles in this depiction of Rose’s gradual blossoming in the sunlight of her analyst’s honesty, integrity, and devotion. I know of no other work that conveys analytic treatment, training, and passion so intimately and in such a pitch-perfect voice. ”
“Our Time is Up is a profoundly moving dive into the nuance and beauty of the psychoanalytic relationship. Written with humor, compassion and an intimate understanding of the analytic process, the book shows love and loss and the true boundaries of time. I loved it!”
“I just finished reading Our Time Is Up, a wonderful combination of novel and memoir authored by the talented psychoanalyst and writer, Roberta Satow. Dr. Satow has created the most vivid description I’ve ever read of what real psychotherapy actually feels like — from the very different perspectives of the patient, the therapist, the supervisor, and the trainee. Most books on psychotherapy either miss its elusive magic or overplay its drama — this one has perfect pitch and puts you right there in the room.”