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

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 & essential guidebook that illustrates through real case studies how patients & therapists alike can get the most out of therapy. The bestselling author of Love’s Executioner shares his uniquely fresh approach & the valuable insights he has gained—presented as eighty-five personal & 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 & counselors, Yalom’s Gift of Therapy is an entertaining, informative, & insightful read for anyone with an interest in the subject.

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Irvin D. Yalom, M.D., is the author of Love's Executioner, Momma & the Meaning of Life, Lying on the Couch, The Schopenhauer Cure, When Nietzsche Wept, as well as several classic textbooks on psychotherapy, including The Theory & Practice of Group Psychotherapy, considered the foremost work on group therapy. The Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford University, he divides his practice between Palo Alto, where he lives, & San Francisco, California.