A review by calebmatthews
Love's Executioner and Other Tales of Psychotherapy by Irvin D. Yalom

3.0

An interesting book, but Yalom’s forward approaches and judgement were not okay in my opinion. It was still nice to see what therapy looks like in a narrative form.



Love’s Executioner

The givens of life
-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
-the absence of any obvious meaning or sense to life

A crucial first step in therapy is the patients assumption of responsibility for his or her life predicament. As long as one believe that their problems are caused by some force or agency outside oneself, there is no leverage in therapy.

Thelma and her therapist Matthew - she continues to see him once a month following therapy

Wise madness or foolish sanity

If rape were legal… - part honest or easy honest

Fat shaming

“Another boring session” — yikes

“Refusing to watch the sunrise because you hate to see it set”

Setting a termination date leading to higher efficacy in therapy

If something big in relationships isn’t talked about then nothing else of important will be either

if you lose child you lose the future

Do not go gentle chapter - never take away anything- if you have nothing better to offer

Yalom saying the purpose of therapy

Two smiles - she kills a dog!

Nietzche - our first impressions are closest to truth

Threshold of a psychotic patient - helping them care for themselves shifts into safety planning

Letters and leaving 50 in will

Turning a dream from past tense to present tense

Paradox

One year follow up session

For: people studying existential psychotherapy in a narrative format

Yalom learning to type via space invader game

He forgets the endings