The Yalom Reader

An invaluable compilation of the key works by eminent psychotherapist Irvin D. Yalom, including personal essays on writing and the art of psychotherapy. 

 

In both his nonfiction and his fiction, Irvin Yalom uses the lens of psychotherapy to explore human nature and shows us that the line between the true and the imagined is not always easy to distinguish. What has driven Dr. Yalom from the beginning of his career is a powerful interest in narrative, a theme that suffuses this anthology of his most influential work. Showcasing Dr. Yalom’s writing in all of its diversity, its contents range from illustrative case studies, to theoretical models, and, of course, to literature. Included are carefully edited selections from Dr. Yalom’s masterful writings on group and existential therapy as well as excerpts from Love’s Executioner, When Nietzsche Wept, and Lying on the Couch. Readers of Dr. Yalom’s clinical texts will be intrigued by the fictional works; general readers will gain a greater understanding of and appreciation for the practice of psychotherapy. All will find the mark of a master.

Irvin D. Yalom, MD, is an emeritus professor of psychiatry at Stanford University. He is the author of numerous books, including Love’s Executioner and Becoming Myself. He lives in Palo Alto, California.

 

Ben Yalom’s fiction, nonfiction, and translations have appeared in many publications, including Wired, Fish Stories, and the San Francisco Bay Guardian.