After some six decades of therapeutic practice and writing, I learned in a new and meaningful way how we humans - whether we''re in the cool, distanced medium of Zoom, or in the heat of real life - can create a startlingly honest and heartfelt connection that in a single hour can change one''s life. What does the ''father of group therapy'' do at age 90, when he is still advising patients in the therapy sessions which have been his life''s work, and yet, must face his increasing frailties, and even his own mortality? Rather than melt into retirement, instead, Dr Yalom develops another revolutionary approach. In HOUR OF THE HEART, Dr Yalom captures profound moments with his patients, which happen in the span of just one hour, with people he will never see again. Taking place over two years before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the midst of Dr Yalom''s grief over losing his wife, these one-time sessions would, as Dr Yalom writes, "help to sustain my client and would profoundly alter my vision of what psychotherapy can do." For those who love reading stories of human connection, for therapists and for those in training, and for any fans of Dr Yalom''s work, HOUR OF THE HEART is a collection of deeply moving personal stories which will tap into how powerful authentic human connection can be. While these one-hour sessions are, in many cases, just the start of these patients'' journeys, Dr Yalom''s insights, and his willingness to open himself up to his patients in a way rarely seen in therapy, are truly illuminating.

Autorentext

Irvin Yalom is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford University. He has won two major awards from the American Psychiatric Association and is the bestselling author of LOVE'S EXECUTIONER, STARING AT THE SUN, THE GIFT OF THERAPY and most recently, with his late wife Marilyn Yalom, A MATTER OF DEATH AND LIFE. He continues to run his clinical practice and lectures widely.

Klappentext

A profound and moving collection of stories from internationally renowned psychiatrist Irvin Yalom's one-off consultations, with his own meditations on love, purpose, mortality and grief

Zusammenfassung

A deeply moving and revealing chronicle, from one of the most prominent psychotherapists of our time, of working under wholly new circumstances, and the challenges and breakthroughs he's made as he takes on patients for one hour, one time only.

Facing memory loss at age 93, as well as the fallout from a pandemic that moved much of daily life online, legendary psychotherapist and bestselling author Irvin Yalom was forced to vastly reconsider the shape of his sessions with patients. But rather than throw in the towel in the face of change, Dr Yalom considered the limitations imposed by these new realities head on, and revolutionized his practice. Dr Yalom wondered if perhaps his own practice could focus deeply on the work that could be achieved in a one-hour, one-time meeting between patient and practitioner-employing an even more concerted use of his "here and now" approach. As he began these one-time sessions, the beloved veteran therapist found himself freed to reach ever deeper places with new patients on a shortened timeline, without the buffer of future appointments.

In HOUR OF THE HEART, Yalom recounts some of these intense, life-changing consultations, exploring an array of human predicaments, and his own late-career development as a therapist. In recounting these consultations, he shows how a therapist's willingness to be open themselves helps the patient let down their own guard, leading to a deeper and more immediate connection-one necessary to achieve profound realizations in just sixty minutes.

Life is precious and our time together short. HOUR OF THE HEART shows us how to relate to each other better in the moment, with more honesty and vulnerability. That hour of connection, occurring during a time of isolation and grief for so many, helped to sustain both patient and therapist, and enriched Yalom's vision of what psychotherapy can do. This transformative account of a new way of connecting and sharing is for all of us looking to build relationships with greater immediacy, authenticity, and openness-in every area of life.