Love's Executioner and Other Tales of Psychotherapy

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Love's Executioner and Other Tales of Psychotherapy

4.16 of 5 stars 4.16 · rating details · 6,013 ratings · 279 reviews

The collection of ten absorbing tales by master psychotherapist Irvin D. Yalom uncovers the mysteries, frustrations, pathos, and humor at the heart of the therapeutic encounter. In recounting his patients' dilemmas, Yalom not only gives us a rare and enthralling glimpse into their personal desires and motivations but also tells us his own story as he struggles to reconcile...more

Paperback, 304 pages

Published September 5th 2000 by Harper Perennial (first published January 1st 1989)

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Mar 24, 2008 April rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: examining-the-heart

The stories of 10 patients' experiences in psychotherapy - but they feel like much more.
The stories offer a surprisingly engaging window to peek into the struggles of patients w/ the very same existential pains and miseries everyone experiences. The author is a practicing therapist, and he based these stories on his patients (suitably amended to ensure anonymity). He reflects much on his own role in the therapeutic relationship, and these reflections are often as interesting as the stories of hi...more

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Jul 21, 2007 Chris Coffman rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

A friend gave me this book a few days ago. My friend is very well-educated, has lived all over the world, and has experienced more than most people. When he gave me the book, he said to me, "This book reflects my vision of the world".

How could I help but be intrigued?

Opening the book, he then read the following passage from the Preface: "Four givens are particularly relevant for psycho-therapy: the inevitability of death for each of us and for those we love; the freedom to make our lives as we w...more A friend gave me this book a few days ago. My friend is very well-educated, has lived all over the world, and has experienced more than most people. When he gave me the book, he said to me, "This book reflects my vision of the world".

How could I help but be intrigued?

Opening the book, he then read the following passage from the Preface: "Four givens are particularly relevant for psycho-therapy: the inevitability of death for each of us and for those we love; the freedom to make our lives as we will; our ultimate aloneness; and, finally, the absence of any obvious meaning or sense to life."

When I recently read the novel LIFE AND FATE, which takes its characters through the massive Battle of Stalingrad and Stalin's Great Terror, I couldn't help thinking how poor in material for great novels is the typical life of a prosperous, well-educated professional living today in the OECD. Compared to the intensity of the experiences described in LIFE AND FATE, even wonderful writers like Ian McEwan are boring.

But, as the Preface accurately foreshadows, there is nothing boring about LOVE'S EXECUTIONER, because my friend is right-- the four issues described in the Preface do indeed define the human condition.

In a sense, LOVE'S EXECUTIONER offers, in the broadest possible sense, the ancient wisdom found in Psalms 90: "Teach us to number our days: that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." Dr. Yalom is quite frank about what he considers the "magical" thinking and "delusion" involved in religious belief, however. Aside from his commitment to unflinchingly acknowledge the truths he describes in his Preface (and therefore, "Teach us to number our days"), Dr. Yalom's faith resides in the healing potential of the relationship between the therapist and the patient. This could be generalised to incorporate the Second Commandment to "Love thy neighbour as thyself" with its emphasis on human relationships and mutual openness, but one senses that Dr. Yalom would acknowledge this point, at best, with a sardonic shrug--"Whatever gets you through the night."

Yalom is his own main character, and LOVE'S EXECUTIONER is a dramatic account of how the "character" Dr. Yalom undergoes dramatic encounters with deeply troubled characters not unlike the way the "character" Dante encounters vividly depicted souls in Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.

Like Dante's DIVINE COMEDY, LOVE'S EXECUTIONER is episodic. The ten tales all vary and will affect individual reader's differently. For some reason, I found the case of the morbidly obsese woman deeply moving, while being most unsettled by the cases of the elderly neurobiologist and the elderly accountant--perhaps because they were the patients most similar to me.

(REVIEW CONT'D as COMMENT #1)

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Chris Coffman REVIEW CONT'D

Others will relate to other patients, but what Yalom consistently does in each of these stories is to bring out the fascinating richness...more
Jul 21, 2007 11:40pm

Liz I highlighted that same sentence in the Prologue and from henceforth, could not tear myself from reading the rest of the book. I've read some of Yalom...more
Mar 06, 2013 02:33pm

Oct 11, 2012 Maxime rated it 4 of 5 stars

Love's Executioner. God that's a good title. Vaguely profound statements are the best. (Fortune cookies anyone?) In this book, Yalom gives accounts of patients he has had. I am not sure what criteria were used in picking the case studies he did for the book; I imagine he has rich history of intriguing patients and these are no exception. In Love's Executioner you will read about interesting characters and their neuroses and watch from behind the scenes as Yalom applies his psychological scalpel...more

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Jun 07, 2007 stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: psychology, therapists-on-therapy, contemporaryfiction, would-rec

this is a series of essays, based on yalom's private practice. yalom is a freakin' massive genius is the world of psychology - he basically founded existential psychotherapy, and also was the first person to effectively use the group model in any productive way. (he uses the process group method, dbt uses a more classroom style approach.)

"the fat lady" is maybe the most famous story from here - what i love about yalom is you know he's the biggest pompous asshole, but at the same time, he's tota...more

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Jan 29, 2009 Jasmine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: american

I read this book for a second time sometime last week and have been too busy to write anything about it. Currently I really need to be asleep and am not, so this will be slightly confused, short, and likely unnecessary, deal.

The first time that I read this book I appreciated the fact that Yalom's therapy is relationship based. It is really about the people and caring about those people. Instead of diagnosis and being crazy. Not to say that this can't be completely misinterpreted as I saw in my...more

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Mar 20, 2008 Carrie rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone in therapy, has been in therapy, needs therapy, wants to be a therapist

Five stars for now. I might take it down a notch later, but I really did enjoy this book a whole lot. It was really readable, and there were all kinds of personal insights I gained, from the characters I wouldn't have expected.

The book is basically this: each chapter is a somewhat fictionalized/generalized account of a patient in Yalom's therapy. It starts with their problem, and goes through the whole course of their therapy, and how that problem was "solved." Some are a little simplistic (it d...more

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Apr 05, 2009 Moira rated it 4 of 5 stars

Fascinating book about the relationship between therapist and patient, but with the analyst revealing the very human reactions that he has to his patients. These ten tales are wise, instructive, and some riveting in their twists and turns, especially the title story. It took me a little while to get into the book -- it demands more from you, but is ultimately very rewarding.

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Mar 20, 2008 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Kate by: Sarah Berkowitz

Shelves: psychology

An essential and intimate look into the world of psychotherapy for those who are either in the field, aspire to be in the field, or simply desire a peak into the world of an armchair and a sofa. Each tale is heartbreaking, uplifting, and sprinkled throughout with bits of wisdom. It remains an amazing experience to witness the struggles of those on a path to personal growth and fulfillment. There is no more difficult battle in life than facing one's self, seeing and accepting one's self, and then...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction-biography-memoir

This book was a fascinating glimpse into the sometimes bizarre relationship between psychotherapist and patient. While I appreciated Yalom's candor about his own feelings and reactions to his patients and what they divulged, I was frankly taken aback at the transferrance he described as sometimes flowing both ways. It seemed at first highly unprofessional, yet after reflection, it would be unrealistic to think even the most dedicated professional could empathetically listen to his patients' comp...more

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Jun 17, 2012 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

In "Love's Executioner", Yalom describes the presentation and treatment of 10 patients of his real-life from his psychotherapy practice. This is a book I selected on my own free will, but it ended up feeling more like a school assignment as I trudged to the ending. I chose the book for the play-by-play of the therapy hour, for Yalom's well-documented experience in psychotherapy and for my intimate knowledge of my own inexperience here at the beginning of my career. The motivation to read the boo...more In "Love's Executioner", Yalom describes the presentation and treatment of 10 patients of his real-life from his psychotherapy practice. This is a book I selected on my own free will, but it ended up feeling more like a school assignment as I trudged to the ending. I chose the book for the play-by-play of the therapy hour, for Yalom's well-documented experience in psychotherapy and for my intimate knowledge of my own inexperience here at the beginning of my career. The motivation to read the book was more or less to voyeuristically (but legally) violate HIPAA and be a fly on the wall during Yalom's work, all to placate the hateful little troll inside screaming at the top of her lungs, "HELP I AM GRADUATING I DONT WHAT THE HELL IM DOING". For these purposes, this book had a lot of good stuff. For example, this is what he said about theoretical perspectives:

"How I long at such junctures for the certainty that orthodoxy offers. Psychoanalysis, to take the most catholic of the psychotherapy ideological schools, always posits such strong convictions about the necessary technical procedures- indeed, analysts seem more certain of everything that I am of anything. How comforting it would be to feel, just once, taht I know exactly what I'm doing in my psychotherapeutic work- for example that I am dutifully traversing, in proper sequence, the precise stages of the therapeutic process. But of course, it is all illusion. If they are helpful to patients at all, ideological schools with their complex metaphysical edifices succeed because they assuage the therapist’s, not the patient’s, anxiety (and thus permit the therapist to face the anxiety of the therapeutic process). The more the therapist is able to tolerate the anxiety of not knowing, the less need there is for the therapist to embrace orthodoxy. The creative members of an orthodoxy, any orthodoxy, ultimately outgrow their disciplines.
Though there is something reassuring about an omniscient therapist who is always in control of every situation, there can be something powerfully engaging about a fumbling therapist, a therapist willing to flounder with the patient until they, together, stumble upon an enabling discovery."

This wonderful to me and quieted and comforted that anxious troll inside. I said, "see? Yalom is a fumbling therapist too. It's right here in this book you made me buy. He admitted it RIGHT THERE."

There are several other good examples of practice techniques as he is really good to reflect on both content and process as he tells the story of the patient. Professionally, this was a beneficial read; Personally, I struggled with his tone and some other nuances of the writing. I did an independent study last semester with a male professor, who loved Yalom, and 8 female students. I'm pretty sure we shocked him one day when all eight of us basically point-blank told him: "We think Yalom is kind of a dick." I can't put my finger what it is exactly, but his writing just feels like is laced with something like misogyny or arrogance or narcissism. This does not make the reading unbearable, but it also does not go unnoticed. I experienced whatever it is in this book more strongly than in his others. I sort of forgot about the book at one point but picked it back up on principle (that being the "I finish books" principle, and the "my mama didn't raise no quitter" principle). So this was basically a labor of love for me, or maybe a labor of duty and of knowledge of my own inexperience. I'm glad it read it. I'm glad it's done.
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Nov 11, 2011 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Some interesting insights that I think I can apply to my own job as a Coach. I didn't like the author's presentation at times, but with a muddy subject like transcendental psychology, I understand this is a very subjective view.

I appreciated the author's desire to get across the point that nobody's ever "sure" about diagnosis or treatment.

Some valuable points:

"One of the axioms of psychotherapy is that the important feelings one has for another always get communicated through one channel or anot...more

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Apr 30, 2009 Brad rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a book I keep returning to. It's lasted on my shelf for five years now- and when I am feeling displaced, uncertain- I take a certain comfort in Yalom's well-told stories of the theraputic process.

Each of the stories is revelatory- after a few years of theraputic work myself- it's fascinating to see the other side- Yalom clearly explains transferance and countertransferance- explains his own prejudices and misgivings- and openly discusses his mistakes and missteps.

The actual human drama i...more This is a book I keep returning to. It's lasted on my shelf for five years now- and when I am feeling displaced, uncertain- I take a certain comfort in Yalom's well-told stories of the theraputic process.

Each of the stories is revelatory- after a few years of theraputic work myself- it's fascinating to see the other side- Yalom clearly explains transferance and countertransferance- explains his own prejudices and misgivings- and openly discusses his mistakes and missteps.

The actual human drama in these is amazing- from a morbidly overweight woman who emerges from her fat- a man too paralyzed with fear to open three letters- to the title story- a woman in her mid-60's who is passionately, madly in love with a former therapist.

As a writer- I marvelled at Yalom's conversational style-my initial ironic, 'oh, c'mon' melted away as he described the patient, her suffering- and his own struggle to deal with a case that moves from simplicity to complexity with the same pace as a real relationship: an initial exploration seems superficial- clearly the woman is unable to let go, due to her own need for external definition- she seems needy, desperate, sick. Pitiable.

Shalom builds this out by introducing facts from the patient's life- we see her as a former dancer- a sexually powerful woman, with a long trail of seductions in her youth- then as a dying woman- frail, sick- as someone unable to communicate with her husband. She is potentially a victim- issues of theraputic integrity and case management are raised.

It deepens, it twists: The former lover enters the scene- and he's far from a machiavellian villan- but rather confused, lost, anxious to resolve his earlier mistake, unsure how to proceed.

The case is transformed by a meeting- guided to the extent such things can be.

It would be a gripping bit of fiction; as fact, it approaches the transformative. Why do we love who we love? How do we hold on to them? Why? What is the role of delusion in love?

Every reading leaves me filled with questions, which is some of the highest praise I can muster today.

Every story is equally well-done; Which ones you are drawn to, and which ones trigger averrsion... well, it's an interesting exercise.(less)

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Feb 10, 2013 Annabeth Leong rated it 5 of 5 stars

Love's Executioner contains ten tales of the author's psychotherapy patients, and I initially picked it up out of voyeuristic interest. The title made me think they were stories of sex and death (a strong attraction for me), and that turned out to be true.

What I did not expect was how much of a pageturner the book turned out to be. Nonfiction is hard to write because life typically doesn't follow the "beats" of a good plot the way fiction does. In my past life as a journalist, I learned a nonfic...more Love's Executioner contains ten tales of the author's psychotherapy patients, and I initially picked it up out of voyeuristic interest. The title made me think they were stories of sex and death (a strong attraction for me), and that turned out to be true.

What I did not expect was how much of a pageturner the book turned out to be. Nonfiction is hard to write because life typically doesn't follow the "beats" of a good plot the way fiction does. In my past life as a journalist, I learned a nonfiction writer has to make sense of facts by seeking out and imposing some type of arc on a mess of information. Yalom, however, is a master plotter. Every one of these stories grabbed me from the first couple paragraphs and propelled me through to the end on the raw strength of "I wonder what happened next?" "Love's Executioner" starts out with a woman declaring she's had an affair with an old therapist, and the author is her last hope. "If Rape Were Legal..." starts out with a graduate student storming into the author's office and declaring she's called his patient a dumb s#$@. "Three Unopened Letters" leads with the title mystery.

A lot of fiction writers could learn from Yalom's masterful openings, and the way he builds tension. Story construction aside, the voyeuristic interest that drew me to the book is very much fulfilled. Yalom tells not only his patients' stories but his own. I am not easily shocked, and yet I found his emotional honesty shocking. He admits affection for people others would be repulsed by, admits being motivated by curiosity or ego when he could have claimed kindness, and, in one story, "Fat Lady," admits to prejudices I've rarely seen voiced and owned to the fullest extent. Along the way, he gets in a lot of philosophical discussion about the purpose of life, the imminence of death, and so on.

I am not sure I would want him as a therapist (he seems humane, yet deeply flawed -- perhaps I am left with this impression simply because of his faithful description of inner thoughts that a therapist would hide in the moment). However, he's an excellent writer and student of the human condition.

I loved this book, but I should note it's not for the faint of heart. If you haven't figured out from the titles I mentioned, I'll state explicitly that it contains a lot of controversial and painful material, often not from a politically correct standpoint. "If Rape Were Legal..." is a sympathetic portrait of a man who claims he would rape women if he could get away with it. He eventually redeems himself, but I certainly found the initial portrait of him (and the author's accepting attitude towards him) rather offputting. "Fat Lady," which is about Yalom's efforts to overcome his prejudices toward an obese patient, made me cringe many times. The disgust he felt for his patient was vividly described, and painful to read.

These things don't dock any points from the book, though -- I've always believed painful or difficult material is worth experiencing if it's presented in a certain way. I got a lot from these stories, including the difficult ones, and Yalom deals with difficult subjects with courage and sensitivity.

As a reader, I settled into an interesting combination of prurient interest and philosophical stimulation. I would love to read more by this author. (less)

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Mar 07, 2013 Liz rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book contains Yalom's record and intimate commentary on ten of his clients, woven with love and care in the form of stories. It would be all too easy to forget as you read these tales that they are not fictional short stories, stories that happened to be crafted with skillful writing, but in fact real life accounts . Yalom gives the rest of us a munificent gift by revealing the troubles of others so that we are less fearful of our own troubled minds and therefore more willing to face our ai...more

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Apr 19, 2009 Chloé rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone with an interest in psychology

Recommended to Chloé by: a graduate student studying to become a clinical psychologist

This book is written by a psychotherapist, who has mainly existential views though he is flexible enough to adjust his practice to meet the needs of individuals. Each chapter follows an intriguing story of one of his patients - an overweight woman who loses almost 100 pounds, a terminally ill cancer patient, a widow, a mother grieving over the loss of her favorite daughter, etc. The cases shed light on the true practice of psychotherapy. It illustrates successful exchanges and frustrations alike...more

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Jul 11, 2009 Khaya rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Therapists; lay-people interested in the therapeutic process

Shelves: professionallit, readablenonfiction

Love’s Executioner is a collection of ten true stories (identifying details have been changed to protect anonymity, of course) of patients in psychotherapy with Irvin Yalom and how his work with them progressed. Yalom’s tone manages to be both enjoyable on a literary level and enlightening on a professional level. He shares his personal and professional struggles in working with these patients and is honest about the mistakes he makes, including those born of arrogance or poor judgment. At the s...more Love’s Executioner is a collection of ten true stories (identifying details have been changed to protect anonymity, of course) of patients in psychotherapy with Irvin Yalom and how his work with them progressed. Yalom’s tone manages to be both enjoyable on a literary level and enlightening on a professional level. He shares his personal and professional struggles in working with these patients and is honest about the mistakes he makes, including those born of arrogance or poor judgment. At the same time, each story documents some remarkably incisive interpretations and effective interventions which proved to be life-altering in some way for the patients, whether or not therapy proved successful in the final analysis. What was nice, though, was that I felt that Yalom tried and often succeeded in showing the reader his process in arriving at his interpretations and interventions rather than simply painting himself as a brilliant therapist with a lot of spontaneous well-timed “aha!” moments.

Some stories were definitely better and more memorable than others. I think my favorite was "Fat Lady," not so much for Yalom's description of his countertransference reaction of repulsion at Betty's obesity as for Yalom's description of how Betty bored him with her superficial and pseudo-entertaining chatter, and how he addressed that as a therapist. Sometimes clients do bore you, and "Fat Lady" offered some brilliant insights both into understanding what may be behind this phenomenon and into dealing with it as a therapist. In general, many of the stories included themes of clients resisting the therapeutic relationship and using various means to keep it superficial and/or distant (cynicism, denial of problems, refusal to engage with exploratory questions or comments, etc.) and how Yalom penetrated that resistance. This may be one of the most important skills a therapist needs to learn in order to lay the necessary groundwork.

A few of the stories were less meaningful to me and more forgettable. I didn't feel I got much from "Three Unopened Letters," the story of a client who was afraid to open three letters which he fears bear bad news, didn't appear to be helped by Yalom's therapy (where Yalom admits to making the mistake of pushing him to open the letters), and ultimately ended up opening the letters when he inadvertently learned that his fears about the contents of the letters were unfounded. The change that took place there seemed largely independent of the therapy, and it seemed more like some kind of ironic O'Henry story, if anything. I also didn't find "Two Smiles" particularly enlightening, other than the fact that a therapist can easily misconstrue a client's reaction; something I already knew and didn't find particularly earthshattering in this story.

Overall, though, beginning therapists like myself who may be struggling with doubts about our own abilities and possibly about the field as a whole can take inspiration and encouragement from these true stories, especially as we watch Yalom’s relationship with each patient start out complicated and murky only to deepen and increase in clarity. But I would be willing to bet that even non-therapists might enjoy these stories. Anyone interested in the human condition might appreciate stories of people who feel “stuck” in a situation and then manage to make a shift, and how that process develops. Much great fiction follows similar themes. Just like my non-therapist friends enjoy hearing about the work I do, I imagine non-therapist readers can appreciate these very human and relatable stories.
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Jul 31, 2011 Sally McRogerson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

I'm impressed with the guys honesty in recording his thoughts about his clients I have to say. He does seem to focus on the fanciableness or otherwise of his female clients which is something of a distraction for me as I don't tend to go down that road in thinking about my clients. Not that some of em aren't quite fanciable, just that that isn't the subject of my focus and doesn't enter my head whilst we're actually talking, either in group or private counselling sessions. Am a simple soul who c...more

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May 07, 2010 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: psychologists-to-be

Shelves: non-fiction, psychology, read-2010

This is not the book to read while you are actually in therapy. Although I think Love's Executioner Other Tales of Psychotherapy was meant to show people the "behind the scenes" of psychology, Dr. Yalom will make you question the motives of any practitioner, no matter how saintly. That's not to say that the book isn't intriguing, informative, or balanced; it is all of those things. It's just that Yalom comes across as unbearably arrogant in many of the case studies, which belies the work he's tr...more This is not the book to read while you are actually in therapy. Although I think Love's Executioner Other Tales of Psychotherapy was meant to show people the "behind the scenes" of psychology, Dr. Yalom will make you question the motives of any practitioner, no matter how saintly. That's not to say that the book isn't intriguing, informative, or balanced; it is all of those things. It's just that Yalom comes across as unbearably arrogant in many of the case studies, which belies the work he's trying to do. According to him, he hides his feelings well, to which I say, I hope so, because if I knew a therapist was looking at me with the same sort of misogyny, boredom, and disgust, I'd certainly never be back.

The book is a compilation of ten case studies of ten patients, although some patients do pop up in more than one place. Each has a unique problem, ranging from the insufferable Carlos, dying of cancer but hoping to nail every woman he sees, to Thelma, with her obsession with a month-long fling she had eight years prior, to the obese Betty (here the disgust is palpable). Their stories are all compelling, in the same way that true crime books are compelling: we can relate to the victims - they're just normal people - but it's still the kind of thing that we love to read about but never live through.

Ultimately, I think my problems with the book stem from the fact that Dr. Yalom expresses feelings that are just so very human (he even fantasizes about a patient at one point - the only beautiful one, of course), and I'm not used to thinking of psychologists as anything other than their professional fronts. It's like finding out that your grade school teacher doesn't actually live in the classroom. Of course not, but it's strange nonetheless. Admirably, he admits to having these faults, so kudos to him for that. Still, you get the feeling that he's descended from his alabaster tower to bestow this book on the reading populace.

First lines:

"I do not like to work with patients who are in love. Perhaps it is because of envy - I, too, crave enchantment. Perhaps it is because love and psychotherapy are fundamentally incompatible. The good therapist fights darkness and seeks illumination, while romantic love is sustained by mystery and crumbles upon inspection. I hate to be love's executioner."

Other lines:
"Every one of my notes of these early sessions contains phrases such as: 'Another boring session'; 'Looked at the clock about every three minutes today'; 'The most boring patient I have ever seen'; 'Almost fell asleep today - had to sit up in my chair to stay awake'; 'Almost fell off my chair today.'"

"My quarry when I was a novitiate was the truth of the past, to trace all of a life's coordinates and, thereby, to locate and to explain a person's current life, pathology, motivation, and actions. I used to be so sure. What arrogance!...[now:] my quarry is illusion. I war against magic. I believe that, though illusion often cheers and comforts, it ultimately and invariably weakens and constricts the spirit."

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Oct 15, 2011 Alex Templeton rated it 5 of 5 stars

Are you like me in that you sometimes resist reading books or watching movies because, they're, you know, OLD? Like published before 1990? I am SO glad that I read this book, which was first published in 1989. In it, Irvin Yalom narrates ten case studies of patients whom he has worked with in psychotherapy. The studies are Fascinating with a capital F, and have so many things to say about the human condition that it is impossible to summarize them easily. Also adding to the book is Yalom's abili...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Susan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: about-the-mind

Wow, this book was fascinating. I couldn't put it down. Being new to therapy myself, i am very interested in the process behind it. Highly recommended for anyone with interest in real life stories of human nature.

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Jul 19, 2011 Austin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

This is an interesting collection of case studies from the private practice of one of psychotherapy's big shots. Irvin Yalom has written several ubiquitous textbooks on the subject, but Love's Executioner is aimed at the layperson and reads like a collection of short stories. His goal in writing is not only to demystify psychotherapy, but specifically to shed light on the nature of transference and counter-transference that takes place in the relationship between therapist and patient. It is def...more

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Jun 12, 2011 Shelley rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have always enjoyed reading Yalom's books as his style of therapy always inspired me to be a better therapist. It's been a few years since I've actually engaged in psychotherapy, focusing instead on assessment, and this collection of writings and case studies reminded me of how much I enjoy (and miss) the art of psychotherapy and all that you can learn and gain from each individual you work with clinically. Yalom truly put himself on the stage in his writings, explicitly talking about his thou...more

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Mar 05, 2011 Sean Brower rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Sean by: Sarah Jane

Shelves: psychology, all-time-awesome, non-fiction

I started reading this book with the expectation that I would find an interesting but nonetheless mechanical look into the brass tacks of psychiatry... and found something far more dangerous and intriguing: Dr. Yalom is a creative writer. And he's utterly brilliant.

Starting with the prologue, this work is filled with deep and genuine originality, taste, and introspection. Dr. Yalom's prose is sagaciously crafted, and a pleasure to read and reread.

The entirety of the collection is used as an abs...more

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May 05, 2011 David rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: psychology

I didnt enjoy this book as much as i hoped i would, for me Dr Yalom's prose was a bit too repetative and the points he was making were sledge hammered home at times. His style of setting up each tale from a defined outlook until arriving at the denoument with a change of perspective was a bit of an easy device to fall back on, but i understand why he did this as its an easy to follow plot narrative. I did however enjoy 3 of the tales The Wrong One Died, Three Unopened Letters and In Search of Dr...more

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Jun 11, 2011 Ana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: me-likey-a-lot, library-books, brainy-psychological, non-fiction

It was a very interesting book, what can I say? The book is divided in 10 stories, each of a different type of man/woman with it's problems about life, about others and so on. Yalom makes a story of how he treated them and what he discovered about human minds and about humans in general from these sessions with those patients. Some of the stories are really sad, but others are of people with problems about their life, their soul mate, they have financial or sentimental problems, and they came to...more

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Feb 07, 2010 Jack rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm just going to go ahead and write about this book, even though I'm not quite done. I'm going to write about this book even though I'm not quite done partly out of sheer need to be distracted from the hours of grading I have yet to do. And partly because I wish I could talk about this book with someone.

Yalom's honesty is so troubling at times that I find myself reacting to him personally. Sexist, fatphobic, weirdly condescending and afraid of his own power, he's at heart just absolutely fasci...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Sarah Evan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: psychology, therapy, the-mind-the-behaviors

the 10 stories that were either loosely based or made up (unclear to me, even though I re-read the prologue) were engaging. however, only a few cases/chapters were really interesting/insightful. I am interested in reading his "existential psychotherapy" theroetical book, as he alludes to those concepts in his work, and will perhaps shed light on some of his practices that seem odd to me (the big one being his thought that shorter term work can make changes when his follow-up doesn't allow for th...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Cathalina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Like an endearing professor, Irv Yalom has a way of turning (what can be) drab, academic content (how to do psychotherapy) into an intriguing memoir of steps and mis-steps in his practice of psychiatry. Each chapter covers a real client Yalom encountered in his tenure. I never thought I'd use "required reading" and "page-turner" in the same sentence, but Yalom delivers just that in this book.

If you're getting into the field of mental health, this book is a must read. Not only will you learn gre...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Lyndon Walker rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned

Probably one of the most profoundly useful books for anybody engaged in the practice of Counselling or Therapy, of whatever brand. This marvellous memoir of a flawed hum being in the helping professions discovering his own quirks and idiosyncracies and how they emerge or are reflected in his work with others and his endless ongoing work with himself is the most honest and directly useful account I have read in contemporary practice history. It is probably, in my view, only matched by the best in...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Nicholas Dicarlo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Poignant and literary. Yalom reveals himself i be a deeply empathetic and self-reflexive practitioner. His mastery of the craft, reliance on intuition, and respect for the client are inspirational. As a beginning practitioner (social worker) I am just starting to learn about psychotherapy. However I did feel like there wasn't much of a look into how oppression plays a role in mental health ("Fat Lady"); and I believe re-examining the cases with attachment theory would be useful. Overall this was...more

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About Irvin D. Yalom

Irvin David Yalom, M.D., is an author of fiction and nonfiction, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University, an existentialist, and accomplished psychotherapist.

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Books by Irvin D. Yalom

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

The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy

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“Some day soon, perhaps in forty years, there will be no one alive who has eve known me. That's when I will be truly dead - when I exist in no one's memory. I thought a lot about how someone very old is the last living individual to have known some person or cluster of people. When that person dies, the whole cluster dies,too, vanishes from the living memory. I wonder who that person will be for me. Whose death will make me truly dead?” — 60 people liked it

“I think my quarry is illusion. I war against magic. I believe that, though illusion often cheers and comforts, it ultimately and invariably weakens and constricts the spirit.” — 12 people liked it

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