Momma And The Meaning Of Life : Tales From Psychotherapy

As the public grows disillusioned with therapeutic quick fixes, people are looking for a deeper psychotherapeutic experience to make life more meaningful and satisfying. What really happens in therapy? What promises and perils does it hold for them? No one writes about therapy - or indeed the dilemmas of the human condition - with more acuity, style, and heart than Irvin Yalom. Here he combines the storytelling skills so widely praised in Love's Executioner with the wisdom of the compassionate and fully engaged psychotherapist. In these six compelling tales of therapy, Yalom introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters: Paula, who faces death and stares it down; Magnolia, into whose ample lap Yalom longs to pour his own sorrows; Irene, who learns to seek out anger and plunge into it. And there's Momma, old-fashioned, ill-tempered, who drifts into Yalom's dreams and tramples through his thoughts. At once wildly entertaining and deeply thoughtful, Momma and the Meaning of Life is a work of rare insight and imagination. "It is the "twilight of the shrinks." Disciples of Freud and Jung sandbag against the rising tide of new age therapies and wring their hands over the unreliable narratives of patients who "lie" on the couch. Managed health care threatens the very future of practice. The contemporary therapist has much to worry about: patients who seduce their therapists with money, sex, fanatical devotion - and all the other deadly sins in a game of musical chairs around the seat of power in the therapeutic session." "In a daring spin on his lifelong devotion to chart the inner lives of patients in his intimate case histories, Dr. Yalom now turns the tables on the other half of the therapeutic relationship - the therapist from an age of secrets, who "interprets" the boundaries of sexual propriety. Or Marshal, haunted by his own obsessive-compulsive behaviors, uncertain of the role of money in his relationship with patients. And finally, there is Ernest Lash, who, saved ultimately by his sincere desire to help people, risks a totally open, authentic relationship with a patient and assumes that to be healing in and of itself. Their stories are rendered here with great affection and ruthless recognition."--Jacket Bestselling author of Love's Executioner and The Gift of Therapy, psychotherapist Irvin D. Yalom probes further into the mysteries of the therapeutic encounter in this entertaining and thoughtful collection. In six enthralling stories drawn from his own clinical experience, Irvin D. Yalom once again proves himself an intrepid explorer of the human psyche as he guides his patients--and himself--toward transformation. With eloquent detail and sharp-eyed observation Yalom introduces us to a memorable cast of characters. Drifting through his dreams and trampling through his thoughts are Paula, Yalom's "courtesan of death"; Myrna, whose eavesdropping gives new meaning to patient confidentiality; Magnolia, into whose ample lap Yalom longs to pour his own sorrows, even as he strives to ease hers; and Momma--ill-tempered, overpowering, and suffocating her son with both love and disapproval. A richly rewarding, almost illicit glimpse into the therapist's heart and mind, Momma and the Meaning of Life illuminates the unique potential of every human relationship. In 19th-century Vienna, a drama of love, fate, and will is played out amid the intellectual ferment that defined the era. Josef Breuer, one of the founding fathers of psychoanalysis, is at the height of his career. Friedrich Nietzsche, Europe's greatest philosopher, is on the brink of suicidal despair, unable to find a cure for the headaches and other ailments that plague him. When he agrees to treat Nietzsche with his experimental "talking cure", Breuer never expects that he, too, will find solace in their sessions. Only through facing his own inner demons can the gifted healer begin to help his patient. In When Nietzsche Wept, Irvin Yalom blends fact and fiction, atmosphere and suspense to unfold an unforgettable story about the redemptive power of friendship. This 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 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 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 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. Asked to treat Friedrich Nietzsche for his suicidal despair following a broken love affair, eminent Viennese physician Josef Breuer devises an ingenius approach that would force Nietzsche to apply his own theories to cure himself Love's executioner "If rape were legal..." Fat lady "The wrong one died" "I never thought it would happen to me" "Do not go gentle" Two smiles Three unopened letters Therapeutic monogamy In search of the dreamer. An exploration of therapy from a master psychotherapist examines six cases and their painful and enlightening progression, giving the reader a deep and meaningful look at the lives and problems of normal people. A novel of psychiatry, featuring the trials of the men who practice it. One ends up before an ethics panel because he used sex to cure a woman's problem, another is being seduced by a woman seeking his fall In this long-awaited follow-up to the bestselling Love's Executioner, master psycho-therapist Irvin Yalom once again probes the mysteries and marvels at the heart of the therapeutic encounter This Collection Of Ten Absorbing Tales By A Master Psychotherapist Uncovers The Mysteries, Frustrations, Pathos, And Humor At The Heart Of The Therapeutic Encounter. Three times a week for the past five years, Justin Astrid had started his day with a visit to Dr. Ernest Lash. The chimes of San Salvatore broke into Josef Breuer's reverie. I do not like to work with patients who are in love.