Overview

A deeply moving and revealing chronicle of the challenges and breakthroughs that come from a wholly new practice of one-hour, one-time-only sessions, from one of the most prominent psychotherapists of our time Facing the challenges of aging and memory loss at age ninety-three as well as the fallout from a global pandemic that moved much of daily life online, legendary psychotherapist and bestselling author Irvin D. Yalom was forced to vastly reconsider the shape of his sessions with patients. Rather than throw in the towel in the face of change, Dr. Yalom considered head-on the limitations imposed by these new realities and revolutionized his practice. Turning his focus to what might be achieved in a one-hour, one-time-only meeting between patient and practitioner, Dr. Yalom employed an even more concerted use of his signature ""here and now"" approach, a cornerstone of existential psychotherapy. In Hour of the Heart, Yalom recounts some of these intense, life-changing sessions, 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 helps patients let down their own guards, leading to a deeper and more immediate human connection--one necessary to achieving profound realizations in just sixty minutes. This vulnerability led Yalom to disclose details about his personal life that he might previously have kept hidden from patients, including his traumatic childhood in Washington, DC, the evolution of his thinking about philosophy and psychotherapy, and the recent death of his wife. Throughout, he pushes the boundaries of therapist self-disclosure as a powerful therapeutic tool. Life is precious and our time together short. Written in collaboration with his son, 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 the therapeutic relationship can truly do. In these unforgettable psychotherapy case studies, Yalom explores the profound questions we all face: Facing Mortality: Confront universal fears about death anxiety and the search for meaning in life through the poignant stories of patients grappling with their own finitude. Vulnerability as a Tool: Witness a master therapist's radical honesty as he shares his own stories of grief, childhood trauma, and aging to help his patients open their own hearts. The Here and Now Approach: Discover how Yalom adapts his signature technique to create powerful, immediate connections in a single hour, proving that profound change doesn't always require years of therapy. Connection in Isolation: Explore how brief, intense moments of genuine relating can offer a powerful antidote to grief and loneliness, sustaining both patient and therapist alike.

Full Product Details

9780063321458

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Yalom's success as a therapist comes from his fierce self-examination and fine attunement to his emotions. He has spent his life charting the depths of his own soul so that he may understand others better. Hour of the Heart demystifies the psychiatrist as some preternatural telepathist to a person who is fallibly human but has turned a metaphysical x-ray on themselves. The book has an interesting effect on the reader, inducing a kind of mindfulness a real-life therapy session may provide."" -- Arts Hub (AU)

""Yalom's success as a therapist comes from his fierce self-examination and fine attunement to his emotions. He has spent his life charting the depths of his own soul so that he may understand others better. Hour of the Heart demystifies the psychiatrist as some preternatural telepathist to a person who is fallibly human but has turned a metaphysical x-ray on themselves. The book has an interesting effect on the reader, inducing a kind of mindfulness a real-life therapy session may provide."" - Arts Hub (AU)

Author Information

Irvin D. Yalom, M.D., is one of the world's foremost psychiatrists, a visionary therapist and internationally bestselling author. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Love's Executioner, Momma and the Meaning of Life, When Nietzsche Wept, the Schopenhauer Cure, and most recently A Matter of Death and Life, a dual memoir written with his late wife, Marilyn Yalom, PhD. His textbooks Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy and Existential Therapy are standards for therapists in training worldwide. In 2014 he was the subject of the documentary Yalom's Cure. Now in his nineties, Dr. Yalom continues to live and write in Northern California. Benjamin Yalom is a San Diego-based psychotherapist, with an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, who focuses on values, relationships, and existential concerns. He is a long-time writing collaborator with his father, Irvin D. Yalom. Prior to his doctoral studies in Marriage and Family Therapy, Ben was the visionary force behind foolsFURY theater, which helped transform San Francisco's performing arts scene in the early 2000s. He is also an award-winning fiction writer. www.yalomtherapy.com

Tab Content 6

Countries Available