I have the impression that many books on therapy in the self-help section are full of watered-down insight and oft-repeated platitudes,like clever pats on the back repackaged a thousand times before---but this book is nothing like that. Yalom is widely considered a contemporary genius in the field when it comes to group therapy (which he is often credited with formulating for contemporary contexts), and this book, despite his occasional self-indulgences, is a testament to his brilliant self-effa...

I was primarily acquainted with Irvin Yalom: "the group psychotherapy guru." However, he is equally strong as an individual psychodynamic psychotherapist and well-known author of several other books on the therapy process, most notable "Love's Executioner." This book is a slim volume he has written late in his career to advise primarily new therapists, drawing from 45 years of experience. It consists of 5 sections with short chapters, some only one page. Each chapter is succinct and direct. The

When I started this book I was working on my master's and absolute loved the book and all the helpful advice that is given by Yalom. It took me a while to finish it and now I'm working in the field and I'm a little more cynical of the book. While I definitely think there are some universal lessons that apply to all counselors no matter where you're working there were a lot that I don't think apply to a beginning counselor. Most beginner counselors are not working in a private practice and their

It was quite a journey! I savoured every word Irv wrote and what he wrote is so touching that one can hardly explain the feelings he elicits in oneself, especially in the young generations of Psychology field.I love to read from experienced and elderly people. There's a different kind of weight regarding what they write; their writing speaks of experiences, their mistakes, their new discoveries and inspirations. Reading what Dr. Yalom wrote was like listening from a grandfather sitting at his fe...

If Yalom's goal here was to make new therapists feel better about not being perfect, I think he more or less got it. I took away a star because he has a thing for dream interpretation and because there were a few chapters I didn't connect to. Otherwise, really helpful!

I enjoyed this book when I started. However, as with all non fiction books I started loosing focus by the end of it. Not the books fault, I just have a short attention span when it comes to non-fiction.Therapy from Yalom's point of view, is exactly how I always dreamed it should be. Humane and non-commercial. He really cares about reaching out to his clients and exploring his relationship with them, rather than the cold and aloof manner therapists seem to adopt with their patients. Dissecting th...

This book took me a while to read because it's 85 different snippets of advice. I would read a chapter or two a day and then sit it down. The flow was alright, as Yalom grouped these by similar topics. A lot of these tidbits were very common sense. I wonder if it might have done better had it been written in an actual letter format.

My fourth Yalom book, this text was the perfect supplement to my Masters course in Psychology (actually sometimes the uni course felt like a supplement to the book!). In an age of “don’t touch your clients” and “don’t let your clients into your life”, comes such advice as “Let your patients matter to you”, “Be transparent” and “Make home visits”. While I wouldn’t agree with everything in this book, it is nonetheless a much-needed antidote to the rigid and restrictive formal training young therap...

A professor recommended How Can I Help? to budding social workers, and I'm recommending The Gift of Therapy. It's quite possible that no one in the world can really understand why we do what we do except for others in the profession, and this "open letter" is an excellent resource to remind us to keep on keeping on with a sense of humor and open hearts and minds.I give it two very solid thumbs up.

I didn't understand that asking patients to be your therapist, analyzing their dreams, trying to be their friend, insisting that the patient-therapist relationship resembles all the rest of the patient's relationships, insisting that there's always an interpersonal conflict with a subconscious nature that is at the roots of one's emotional disturbance, using your own feelings about the client as a compass, etc. could serve a therapeutic purpose.DING! It doesn't.Spare yourself a few bucks by not

A joy to read. If I could sum up his therapist's wisdom in one phrase it would be: be human. Though he's writing to fellow therapists, this book's subtitle could simply be "how to be a good friend/person".

Pushes the boundaries of modern therapy. The man touches his clients! Physically! OMG! Not only that, but he recommends that therapists should allow space between clients to digest and record and not fill every available therapeutic minute chasing another $! How wonderful, that we can still behave like humans in a field where that is what is so often needed. Validation. If therapists can't connect with clients how the hell is therapy supposed to work? Be where the client is. I think that's the m...

God, I love this book. It's 3 a.m. and I have 5 patients tomorrow, so I need to sleep instead of write right now. But I really really love this book. So much of it resonates with my beliefs about what therapy should be, which too often is not what we're taught or how many of us behave. In many ways reading it was an experience of validation for the way I work and my complex feelings about all of it. I'm usually a library reader, but I'm glad I bought this one, because I'll be reading it again an...

I started this book in an independent study in the last semester of a my MSSW. This was an exciting and wholly overwhelming time as season of school was ending and the season of getting a job and actually "doing the damn thing" was starting. I felt like I had a precious handful things I that I knew and a bathtub full of knowing of what I don't know. I had (and still sort of have) an urgency to get more, know more and "cram" in anything to quiet the panic of "doing the damn thing" with so much le...

I'd like Irv Yalom as my therapist.In Gift of Therapy – and all of his books – Yalom is compassionate, wise, and literate. He is an emotional risk-taker, ethical, thoughtful, honest, and sometimes even funny. He is well-read and, even in the very short chapters that characterize this book (often two pages or less), Yalom may refer to Schopenhauer, Hesse, and Rilke, the way that I refer to my best friends and my children. Yalom is very human with his clients, even in the places where many of us w...

I'm not a therapist but this book was full of so much wisdom about communicating with others that a lot the material is applicable to both my personal life and in my work as a teacher. There are so many useful tips here, and so this book merits rereads—and I will make sure to dip back in to fish out some morsel of wisdom from time to time.

So many relevant insights! Yalom's words about the therapeutic process perfectly describes my sentiment about the privilege of walking with clients in their journey of change. "Sometimes I feel like a guide escorting patients through the rooms of their own house. What a treat it is to watch them open doors to rooms never before entered, discover new wings of their house containing parts in exile- wise, beautiful, and creative pieces of identity."

When in doubt - just read Yalom.

A fabulous book I would recommend to any aspiring or current therapist. Irvin Yalom writes concise and easy-to-read chapters that span several pertinent psychological topics, such as how to exude empathy and when to self-disclose. He hits on unique subjects like the relationship between sex and therapy, as well as the role of research in a therapeutic setting. His advice to focus on the present and to engage with clients in a way that transcends typical boundaries shows his expertise and insight...

One of the best “Start Here” resources for new therapists. In preparation for seeing my first clients, I revisited this classic. Previously, I was unaware of the deeper nuances behind each pithy chapter header - obviously, I thought, being supportive and engaging the patient are key to therapy… what else can I do? Sit there in silence for 50 minutes? Now, with a fresh pair of eyes and a bit more experience in the realm of theory, I get it a tiny bit more. I look forward to reading this book agai...