Dr. Irvin D. Yalom's "Love's Executioner: & Other Tales of Psychotherapy"

Luke Mohnasky: This book was amazing. It was crucial to the therapy field to see raw and genuine thoughts of a counselor towards patients. While it is good, its not the most culturally appropriate.

United States on Nov 16, 2023

Evie: Very informative therapy sessions and gave me an idea of what being a therapist is like. I appreciate how the author brings his own biases to light

United States on Sep 01, 2023

Sarda: This book is like painfull therapy. Made me cry the whole time.
5 stars because of the author’s amazing writing abilities.

Italy on Jan 20, 2023

Emily: This book is absolutely amazing! And a must read for psychology lovers, therapist in the making, or current therapist! It is interesting, knowledgeable, and a great story. There is so much heart and also humor in this book! I started to read it and then couldn’t put it down! Definitely a keeper for multiple reads to be done! Keeps you on your toes and wanting more throughout the book and definitely can relate to both the author and his patients when reading about their stories going through therapy.

It will be worth your time to read this extraordinary book!

United States on Aug 07, 2022

John Karrys: Irvin Yalom is an incredible writer, and any book that he has written is a masterpiece. Before Jordan Peterson, he connected to millions, and many people probably changed their majors in University to serve and heal people because of him.
For me, I see teaching, and coaching, in a much better way because of his work. He mixes philosophy, psychology, psychotherapy and other concepts through a gentle narrative that is hypnotic. It's impossible to say which of his books are better but I started with this one. Post-Coronavirus... the world is going to need a lot of contrasting points of view to intersect and maybe need some Irvin Yalom therapy to heal the existing toxicity inherent in our workplaces, institutions, and communities.

Canada on May 18, 2020

tchama: Ein tolles Buch für alle die an Menschen und ihre Psyche interessiert sind. Als ich das Buch bis zum Ende gelesen habe, war es für mich sehr Schade, dass es "nur" 312 Seiten gibt...

Germany on Feb 04, 2020

Mala Bali: A must for Yalom lovers and those who wAnt to read a case based approach to therapy. Love his style

India on Oct 19, 2019

Maria del Rayo: Es exactamente como lo esperaba, de la calidad que se espera por el precio. Pasta blanda, y la lectura super recomendable!!

Mexico on Jan 18, 2019

Chris N. C.: I first read Love's Executioner a few years ago and was so taken with it, I've recommended it dozens of times. Recently, I listened to the audio version  Love's Executioner: & Other Tales of Psychotherapy , which was great (it also includes an interesting interview with Irvin Yalom) and I heard some things I hadn't picked up when reading it. In fact, I realized this work has such depth, it is worth revisiting again and again. What makes it so good? It contains the wisdom of a master existential therapist, who is also a gifted storyteller (Love's Executioner is non-fiction, based on real case histories, but it reads like fine fiction).

And what is existential psychotherapy? It begins with the idea that our fundamental psychological dis-ease results from difficulties baked into human existence, such as our fear of death and our ultimate aloneness. Or as Yalom writes in Love's Executioner prologue: There are "four givens that are particularly relevant to psychotherapy: 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....

United States on Apr 25, 2013

miksat: Along with a mountain of other texts, this book was required reading in my first psychotherapy course. I was enrolled in a PhD program in clinical psychology, with a relatively strict orientation towards cognitive behavioral therapy. One of my concerns was that I would have to assume a persona, a guy in a labcoat with a clipboard. The most powerful impact Yalom's book had on me as a young therapy student was the understanding that who I am as a person both would and should impact who I am as a therapist. I felt liberated. Yes, I needed to have a philosophical/theoretical foundation to the work I would do with clients, but who I was would influence the work that I did.

I experienced the "narcissism" that so appalled some reviewers as breathtaking honesty. We are all of us human. Any therapist who reports being free of all unacceptable responses to clients, of never having a thought or engaging in an exchange that was more a function of one's own history and struggles is either deluded or a liar. Should doing therapy with clients be a substitute for addressing all of one's own foibles? Absolutely not, nor does Yalom suggest as much. However, a therapist who experiences...

United States on Apr 24, 2008