Irvin D. Yalom – författare

Ett av Yaloms mest älskade verk – bästsäljare på New York Times lista.

Den erkände och populäre psykoterapeuten Irvin D. Yalom berättar med djup insikt och inlevelse om tio patienter. Berättelserna är skrivna som skönlitteratur men bygger på verkliga terapiförlopp. Patienterna sökte hjälp för vanliga problem som ensamhet, självförakt, impotens, migrän, sexuella tvångstankar, övervikt, högt blodtryck, sorg, kärleksbesatthet, humörsvängningar och depression.

Yalom visar i dessa fallstudier att specifika psykiska problem ofta har sin grund i existentiella kval. Han kopplar dem till fyra grundläggande villkor: “Dödens oundviklighet för oss själva och våra kära; friheten att forma våra liv som vi vill; den ensamhet som i slutändan är varje människas lott; och slutligen avsaknaden av någon förutbestämd mening med livet.”

Helandet sker genom insikten att psykiska problem uppstår när vi försöker förtränga dessa existentiella villkor. Yalom menar att även om dessa villkor kan verka skrämmande, bär de också fröet till visdom och befrielse. Hans hopp är att dessa tio berättelser ska visa att det är möjligt att möta dessa sanningar och använda dem som drivkraft för personlig utveckling.

Kärlekens bödel var Yaloms första skönlitterära verk som kompletterade hans facklitterära författarskap. I sin självbiografi Becoming Myself (2017) berättar han hur han brukade krydda sina akademiska texter med små berättelser till glädje för studenterna. Efter ett krävande år med revidering av sin bok om gruppterapi och ett års akademisk tjänstledighet 1987, bestämde han sig för att pröva sina skönlitterära förmågor Resultatet blev dessa tio berättelser, som blev starten på en lång rad populära verk om psykoterapi och filosofer som Nietzsche, Schopenhauer och Spinoza.

“Dr Yalom visar återigen att terapi, i rätt händer, har samma fängslande kraft som den rikaste och mest uppfinningsrika skönlitteraturen.” – New York Times

“Dr. Yalom ger en värdefull inblick i den känsliga terapiprocessen.” – Sunday Telegraph

“Kärlekens bödel är en av de sällsynta böcker som fångar både mysteriet och poesin i den psykoterapeutiska processen.” – Erica Jong

“Yalom skriver som en ängel om de demoner som hemsöker oss. Dessa vackert formulerade sanna berättelser är mer än terapi – de är gripande livsberättelser.” – Rollo MayIrvin D. Yalom (född 1931) är en amerikansk psykiater, författare och professor emeritus i psykiatri vid Stanford University. Yaloms kritikerrosade författarskap omfattar både facklitteratur och skönlitteratur. Hans böcker har översatts till över 25 språk. Hans klassiska facklitterära verk inkluderar The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy (1970) och Existential Psychotherapy (1980). 

Love's Executioner offers us the humane and extraordinary insight of renowned psychiatrist Irvin D. Yalom into the lives of ten of his patients - and through them into the minds of us allWhy was Saul tormented by three unopened letters from Stockholm? What made Thelma spend her whole life raking over a long-past love affair? How did Carlos's macho fantasies help him deal with terminal cancer?In this engrossing book, Irvin Yalom gives detailed and deeply affecting accounts of his work with these and seven other patients. Deep down, all of them were suffering from the basic human anxieties - isolation, fear of death or freedom, a sense of the meaninglessness of life - that none of us can escape completely. And yet, as the case histories make touchingly clear, it is only by facing such anxieties head on that we can hope to come to terms with them and develop. Throughout, Dr Jalom remains refreshingly frank about his own errors and prejudices; his book provides a rare glimpse into the consulting room of a master therapist.'Dr Yalom demonstrates once again that in the right hands, the stuff of therapy has the interest of the richest and most inventive fiction' Eva Hoffman, New York Times'These remarkably moving and instructive tales of the psychiatric encounter bring the reader into novel territories of the mind - and the landscape is truly unforgettable' Maggie Scarf'Love's Executioner is one of those rare books that suggests both the mystery and the poetry of the psychotherapeutic process. The best therapists are at least partly poets. With this riveting and beautifully written book, Irvin Yalom has joined their ranks' Erica Jong'Dr Yalom offers a valuable insight into the delicate process of therapy' Sunday Telegraph'Dr Yalom is unusually honest, both with his patients and about himself' Anthony Storr'Yalom is a gifted storyteller, and from the sound of these tales, a no-less-gifted psychotherapist' Los Angeles Times

Terapins gåva är ett öppet brev till en ny generation terapeuter och deras patienter. Med en djup och varm humanism sammanfattar Irvin D Yalom sin långa och mycket framgångsrika karriär som terapeut.

Läsaren kan följa en terapis förlopp i fallvinjetter som är ögonblicksbilder ur Yaloms egna kliniska verksamhet och samtidigt möta frågeställningar som alltid måste dyka upp i kontakten mellan människor.

Författaren ger många goda råd, men för samtidigt en diskussion med läsaren om olika sätt att möta den terapeutiska vardagen. Yalom vill undvika dogmatiska låsningar och söker hela tiden avmystifiera både den psykoterapeutiska verksamheten och terapins språk.   

'I was born in Washington, DC, June 13, 1931, of parents who immigrated from Russia shortly after the first world war. Home was the inner city of Washington - a small apartment atop my parents' grocery store on First and Seaton Street. During my childhood, Washington was a segregated city, and I lived in the midst of a poor, black neighborhood. Life on the streets was often perilous. Indoor reading was my refuge and, twice a week, I made the hazardous bicycle trek to the central library at Seventh and K streets to stock up on supplies'. Irvin Yalom is a gifted and lyrical writer whose memoir traces his life, from the apartment above his parents' grocery store to a world stage via the intimacy of his consulting room. The memoir includes his self-analysis and is interwoven with vignettes from patients whose stories have played such a central role in his life. For his legion of fans, and anyone interested in the human psyche, this book is not to be missed.

The collection of ten absorbing tales by master psychotherapist Irvin D. Yalom uncovers the mysteries, frustrations, pathos, and humour 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 his all-too human responses with his sensibility as a psychiatrist. Not since Freud has an author done so much to clarify what goes on between a psychotherapist and a patient.

In this stunning collection of stories, renowned psychiatrist Irvin D. Yalom describes his patients' struggles--as well as his own--to come to terms with the two great challenges of existence: how to have a meaningful life yet reckon with its inevitable end. We meet a nurse who must stifle the pain of losing her son in order to comfort her patients' pains, a newly minted psychologist whose studies damage her treasured memories of a lost friend, and a man whose rejection of psychological inquiry forces even Yalom himself into a crisis of confidence. Creatures of a Day is a radically honest statement about the difficulties of human life, but also a celebration of some of the finest fruits--love, family, friendship--it can offer. Marcus Aurelius has written that "we are all creatures of a day." With Yalom as our guide, we will find the means to make our own day not only bearable, but also meaningful and joyful.

Written in Irv Yalom's inimitable story-telling style, Staring at the Sun is a profoundly encouraging approach to the universal issue of mortality. In this magisterial opus, capping a lifetime of work and personal experience, Dr. Yalom helps us recognize that the fear of death is at the heart of much of our anxiety. Such recognition is often catalyzed by an "awakening experience"—a dream, or loss (the death of a loved one, divorce, loss of a job or home), illness, trauma, or aging. Once we confront our own mortality, Dr. Yalom writes, we are inspired to rearrange our priorities, communicate more deeply with those we love, appreciate more keenly the beauty of life, and increase our willingness to take the risks necessary for personal fulfillment.

Treatments for Developmental Issues and Problems A Volume in the Jossey-Bass Library of Current ClinicalTechnique This book presents effective and efficient interventions forchildren who are just beginning school through the years of earlypuberty. The expert contributors offer the knowledge and tools forassessing and treating the problems that are unique to this agegroup. Encouraging both creativity and flexibility, they presentspecific recommAndations for the treatment of developmental issuesand problems such as hyperactivity, depression, obsession,compulsions, phobias, and trauma-related problems. Helps clinicians to be the best that they can be.?--John E.Schowalter, M.D., Albert J. Solnit Professor of Child Psychiatryand Pediatrics, Child Study Center, Yale University

A year-long journey by the renowned psychiatrist and his writer wife after her terminal diagnosis, as they reflect on how to love and live without regret.Internationally acclaimed psychiatrist and author Irvin Yalom devoted his career to counseling those suffering from anxiety and grief. But never had he faced the need to counsel himself until his wife, esteemed feminist author Marilyn Yalom, was diagnosed with cancer. In A Matter of Death and Life, Marilyn and Irv share how they took on profound new struggles: Marilyn to die a good death, Irv to live on without her.In alternating accounts of their last months together and Irv's first months alone, they offer us a rare window into facing mortality and coping with the loss of one's beloved. The Yaloms had numerous blessings—a loving family, a Palo Alto home under a magnificent valley oak, a large circle of friends, avid readers around the world, and a long, fulfilling marriage—but they faced death as we all do. With the wisdom of those who have thought deeply, and the familiar warmth of teenage sweethearts who've grown up together, they investigate universal questions of intimacy, love, and grief.Informed by two lifetimes of experience, A Matter of Death and Life is an openhearted offering to anyone seeking support, solace, and a meaningful life.

A year-long journey by the renowned psychiatrist and his writer wife after her terminal diagnosis, as they reflect on how to love and live without regret.Internationally acclaimed psychiatrist and author Irvin Yalom devoted his career to counseling those suffering from anxiety and grief. But never had he faced the need to counsel himself until his wife, esteemed feminist author Marilyn Yalom, was diagnosed with cancer. In A Matter of Death and Life, Marilyn and Irv share how they took on profound new struggles: Marilyn to die a good death, Irv to live on without her.In alternating accounts of their last months together and Irv's first months alone, they offer us a rare window into facing mortality and coping with the loss of one's beloved. The Yaloms had numerous blessings—a loving family, a Palo Alto home under a magnificent valley oak, a large circle of friends, avid readers around the world, and a long, fulfilling marriage—but they faced death as we all do. With the wisdom of those who have thought deeply, and the familiar warmth of teenage sweethearts who've grown up together, they investigate universal questions of intimacy, love, and grief.Informed by two lifetimes of experience, A Matter of Death and Life is an openhearted offering to anyone seeking support, solace, and a meaningful life.