The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients

Acclaimed author and renowned psychiatrist Irvin D. Yalom distills thirty-five years of psychotherapy wisdom into one brilliant volume.

The culmination of master psychiatrist Dr. Irvin D. Yalom’s more than thirty-five years in clinical practice, The Gift of Therapy is a remarkable and essential guidebook that illustrates through real case studies how patients and therapists alike can get the most out of therapy. The bestselling author of Love’s Executioner shares his uniquely fresh approach and the valuable insights he has gained—presented as eighty-five personal and provocative “tips for beginner therapists,” including:

•Let the patient matter to you

•Acknowledge your errors

•Create a new therapy for each patient

•Do home visits

•(Almost) never make decisions for the patient

•Freud was not always wrong

A book aimed at enriching the therapeutic process for a new generation of patients and counselors, Yalom’s Gift of Therapy is an entertaining, informative, and insightful read for anyone with an interest in the subject.

Anyone interested in psychotherapy or personal growth will rejoice at the publication of The Gift of Therapy, a masterwork from one of today's most accomplished psychological thinkers.

From his thirty-five years as a practicing psychiatrist and as an award-winning author of nonfiction and fiction, Irvin D. Yalom imparts his unique wisdom in The Gift of Therapy. This remarkable guidebook for successful therapy is, as Yalom remarks, "an idiosyncratic mélange of ideas and techniques that I have found useful in my work. These ideas are so personal, opinionated, and occasionally original that the reader is unlikely to encounter them elsewhere. I selected the eighty-five categories in this volume randomly guided by my passion for the task rather than any particular order or system."

At once startlingly profound and irresistibly practical, Yalom's insights will help enrich the therapeutic process for a new generation of patients and counselors.

“Yalom writes with the narrative wit of O. Henry and the earthy humor of Isaac Bashevis Singer.” - San Francisco Chronicle

“An absorbing guide” - Boston Globe

“[Yalom’s] wise ideas are perfectly accessible.” - Publishers Weekly

“Certainly helpful to therapists and patients, may also help any thoughtful person seeking to improve relationships with others and self-understanding.” - Booklist

“For both the professional and the lay reader....In 85 short chapters, [Yalom] presents little pearls of ideas shaped from 35 years in practice....Yalom’s latest is essential.” - Library Journal

“I admired especially the humanity and humility which shine through this book....I would recommend this book to anyone but especially to those open to learning with the heart as well as the head.” - E. Thomas Dowd, The Counseling Psychology Quarterly

“Very much forward looking—a call to arms for the couch. . . . I’m struck by the man’s unerring sense of humanity. . . . [Yalom is] a wizard, for whom no curtain is left drawn.” - Metro Times (Detroit)