Love's Executioner: & Other Tales of Psychotherapy (Perennial Classics)

"This is truly a brilliant book--a classic, if one can use that term. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the human mind, psychology, medicine, and/or literature. Beautifully and compellingly written, this is also a tremendously moving book. It is right up there with the great classic case studies by Freud, the works of Sacks, and of A.R. Luria. It is that good."
~ Written on 2008-08-06

"I am a true fan of Yalom, so I can't help but love his books. However, this is an excellent semi-fictional (to protect confidentiality) book of case studies. Yalom's writing style makes one feel he is talking to you directly. His personal thoughts about the cases are interesting, insightful and often tinted with humor. An enjoyable, yet teachable read."
~ Written on 2008-06-15

"Along with a mountain of other texts, this book was required reading my first psychotherapy course. I was enrolled in a PhD program in clinical psychology, with a relatively strict orientation towards cognitive behavioral therapy. One of my concerns was that I would have to assume a persona, a guy in a labcoat with a clipboard. The most powerful impact Yalom's book had on me as a young therapy student was the understanding that who I am as a person both would and should impact who I am as a therapist. I felt liberated. Yes, I needed to have a philosophical/theoretical foundation to the work I would do with clients, but who I was would influence the work that I did.

I experienced the "narcissism" that so appalled some reviewers as breathtaking honesty. We are all of us human. Any therapist who reports being free of all unacceptable responses to clients, of never having a thought or engaging in an exchange that was more a function of one's own history and struggles is either deluded or a liar. Should doing therapy with clients be a substitute for addressing all of one's own foibles? Absolutely not, nor does Yalom suggest as much. However, a therapist who experiences clients as "less than," people from whom we can learn nothing, fills me with far more dread than a therapist who acknowledges an ignoble response to a client or the fact that s/he is also imperfect and capable of prejudice. None of us who is honest can say that we have each and every one of these reactions and prejudices perfectly catelogued or perfectly conquered. Life is about growth. I don't think we're supposed to stop doing that until we enter the Great Dirt Nap.

As for those upset by some of his revelations, (e.g., to the "fat lady," his internal sexual response to female clients) I have two questions: 1) Prior to achieving sublime self-actualization wherein I no longer have such inappropriate responses, just what *should* I do about them? Pretend they aren't there? Engage in self-flagellation like a medieval monk? Well, a wise person knows where these approaches lead; 2) Do you really think that the 20 or so pages of each vignette actually encompasses every important aspect of the therapy, or is Yalom attempting to address some very limited themes and issues?

It has been about 18 years since I first read Yalom's book and let me say that I do not conduct therapy as Dr. Yalom does. First, I am not Irvin Yalom, nor have I ever tried to be Irvin Yalom. Secondly, the ugly reality of the field of psychotherapy today is that unless one exclusively services the very wealthy (something I am not willing to do--behold one of my own unconquered prejudices), we are very limited as to the time we can spend with our clients. I still consider myself to be a cognitive-behavioral therapist, an orientation of which Yalom is not a big fan. I also have some disagreements with Yalom regarding the value of diagnosis and other matters. But in addition to the early liberation I described above, Yalom's wonderful book has helped me to be less doctrinaire, more flexible, willing to embrace alternate approaches and more client-focused, more accepting of my own imperfections and understanding the absolute necessity of addressing them. I think I'm a damned good therapist, and I thank Yalom and this book for setting me on the road.

When starting work with an intern, I typically give them a copy of this book. As a goodbye, I give a copy of Yalom's The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients. The latter is an excellent selection of brief lessons in conducting psychotherapy and is also highly recommended. I can't guarantee that every psychotherapist-in-training or practicing psychotherapist who reads them will have a transforming experience, but I would hope that at minimum one would pick up an idea or two that will positively impact your practice in the future."
~ Written on 2008-04-24

"I am really unclear as to how this book might have received anything less than 5 stars... It was recommended to me by my psychotherapy supervisor, at my request to read something a little more digestible than our textbook on said subject. I began reading and was immediately immersed in a magical, mysterious field of psychoanalysis that had been previously hidden from me! As promised, I not only learned, but enjoyed the learning, and hardly realized that I did learn throughout the journey that was this novel of short stories. I literally could not put the book down, and so apparently thought the others who read this book from my public library; the book itself has been read so many times that it has literally fallen apart into three separate sections. I am now a better therapist, and a happier person for having read this book- Thank you, Dr. Yalom!"
~ Written on 2008-03-16

"As an insight into the psychotherapeutic process, from the therapist's perspective (and a highly regarded therapist, at that), this was a moderately interesting read. That's about all I got out of it. A friend had recommended it to me because of its unique perspective on love...and I just didn't find that in the book! And while I've had a few problems in my life, and seen a therapist or two along the way, most of the characters on this couch were a bit too far over the edge for me to relate to."
~ Written on 2008-03-01