Rating: 
Summary: A Gift from a Therapist
Review: As a practicing psychotherapist myself, I have always wanted to know what goes on exactly in the therapy sessions of this field's great practitioners. There is no doubt to all in the field, that Irv Yalom IS one of those great therapists, (as evidenced by the volume of works he has produced and their indisupted impact on the field of therapy on subjects as diverse as Existential Psychotherapy, Group Therapy, the relationships between therapist and patient, treating cancer patients, and Nietzsche). Here at last, it is laid out for me fascinatingly and with great clarity. The humanity and wisdom of this therapist are combined to illustrate how an abundance of life's problems are explored and treated. THis is an excellent guide to therapists and I think would be equally compelling reading to patients as well, in their quest to discover what goes on in the minds of their therapists.
Rating:
Summary: Very insightful
Review: As a therapist I got a lot out of this book. I am not sure it will speak to patients as profoundly but if you are a therapist all Dr.Yalom's books are must reads.
Rating:
Summary: A revelation for the young therapist
Review: Dr. Yalom's new book is reflective of the author's gift as a teacher as well as his vast experience as a practioner. He is refreshingly articulate. His ability to express an idea with clarity and precision should make this book compulsory reading for students of liturature as well as the neophite therapist. Dr.
Yalom gets down to basics and creates a road map for the reader, leading him to the path of sound therapy. It was most fortunate that Dr. Yalom is able to communicate in this book with the patient as well as the therapist. This should lead to more effective psychotherapy and a healthier patient.
Rating: 
Summary: 35 years of practice and they put you on the day shift
Review: I liked Yalom's Love's Executioner a lot, but was disappointed in this platitudious book. It read like a professional therapist's version of Tuesdays with Morrie, only Morrie was a lot more interesting even though he didn't have much to say either. I'm not quite sure why Yalom chose to fill this book with some pretty obvious things like a therapist should be himself or herself or "stay in the moment" or "no 'school' of therapy is as important as the therapist." This is what he's figured out after 35 years as a psychiatrist? My mother told me commensurate things about treating people in everyday life, she never graduated from college. Maybe we have such a telephialiac that we've lost common sense and need to be reminded of basic human dignity, but it's pretty sad if professionals in the mental health field have to have explained to them things I'd think were part of the basic equation of encountering others. The other problem I have with this book is the title. What part of therapy is the gift? The skills and intuition of the therapist? The providing of care for the needy? In the U.S. at least, you pay for therapy. I don't consider something a gift if it costs money. That's not to say mental health professionals shouldn't earn a decent living. They should, considering the nature of the work, but it seems Yalom was getting his literary proclivities confused with his professional ones. The only trouble is that getting a licence to practice therapy isn't a poetic license. James Baldwin once said, "the price of love is the price of love." That says it all.
Rating:
Summary: Gift for the therapy patient
Review: I read this book at the 3-year point of my therapy for anxiety and depression. It was very helpful to me to read this book as it gives us patients the therapist's perspective. It has been immediately useful as I have been able to freely address a barrier between myself and my therapist which I had only been aware of as a vague discomfort.It has also helped me understand what is going on in therapy. It also helps me to be less fearful. I had a clinical psychologist for a stepdad who was pretty mean to me, and Dr Yalom's book (similarly to books by Scott Peck, MD) have been very helpful to me. These doctors remind me that their main mission is to help patients.
Rating:
Summary: Somewhat disappointing
Review: I've read all of Yalom's books, and recommended them to doctoral students. This one I will not be recommending. It lacks Yalom's usual eloquence and creativity; worse, it is a poorly-organized summary of basic counseling approaches that folks learn in master's counseling programs. Each "chapter" is a mini-essay in which Yalom's stance is tossed out with little of the flair and wisdom we have come to expect. His suggestions for interventions supply nothing beyond his endorsement--no theory and no understanding of which kinds of clients are receptive to which techniques. I know Yalom still has a lot to offer, but it will not be found in this book.
Rating:
Summary: For both patients/clients and therapists.
Review: If all of my psychotherapy patients read this book at the start of therapy, I think that treatment would progress faster and go deeper. This is a perfect book for therapists to give to their patients, friends, and families, to promote understanding of just what goes on in the consulting room. One caveat (which Irv acknowledges himself): this book is about patients who are very high functioning. Serious mental illness, suicide, etc. are mentioned only in passing. Young clinicians who unthinkingly apply Dr. Yalom's advice not to use psychiatric diagnoses could find themselves in a lot of trouble when working with a less fortunate patient population.
Rating: 
Summary: Commonsense and Wisdom
Review: It is rare to have so much commonsense written in one book about psychotherapy. While much psychotherapy literature is obscure, dogmatic and jargon ridden, Yalom has distilled out many thoughtful, wise and incisive observations. While many experienced psychotherapists would agree with his experience it is rare to have it all in one book. I thought its only deficit was the limited bibliography- his ideas clearly come from many sources, sadly only a few are identified in the references. A more extensive reading list would have been helpful.
Rating:
Summary: I laughed, I cried...I was moved!
Review: Long after Dr. Yalom has departed for that great therapist's office in the sky, this book will still be known as a must read for the novice and veteran counselor because of the common-sense and compassionate advice it offers. This is Dr. Yalom's Opus Magnum. I first came across Dr. Yalom's works when I took a required course in group therapy, and his text on the subject was the reference for the course. It did not take me long to gain a sense of awe at his wisdom, the likes of which can only be compared to something usually reserved for a demi-god. Nevertheless, Dr. Yalom is a wise man who has "been there," and his writings reflect the wisdom of his years. The Gift of Therapy will renew your sense of passion for the mental health field. Dr. Yalom has a way of giving his readers insight into the therapy process, which affords the practioner or therapist-to-be a vantage point that will make him or her appreciative of all of the good we can do in the service of humankind. There were times when reading this book, when I had to set it down and ruminate on what I had just read; Dr. Yalom has a way of expressing the profound, without pedantry, and the sublime, without silliness. After reading this book I am literally in awe of this "giant" and I am proud that we are both serving humanity in the same field.
Rating:
Summary: Simple Tips for a Complex Field
Review: Psychiatrist and Stanford Professor Yalom does it again in this existential psychotheraputic tip sheet designed for counselors and therapists (as well as therapists in training). With more than 80 one- to four- page "chapters" in just 250 pages, it's like having the "therapist's therapist" on your shoulder. This is Yalom's swan song and is grounded in more than thirty-five years of experience in facing life with clients in the here and now. Mazel Tov!
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