Written in Irv Yalom's inimitable story-telling style, Staring at the Sun is a profoundly encouraging approach to the universal issue of mortality.

"Once we confront our own mortality," Dr. Yalom writes, "we are inspired to rearrange our priorities, communicate more deeply with those we love, appreciate more keenly the beauty of life, and increase our willingness to take the risks necessary for personal fulfillment."

Filled with touching personal stories of people who are grappling with the terror of death—including the author—Staring at the Sun offers specific methods to cope with terror and is ultimately life affirming. Most important, Dr. Yalom encourages us to strive for more direct engagement with others. Compassionate connection, combined with the wisdom of the great thinkers who have wrestled with mortality, enables us to overcome the terror of death and lead happier, more meaningful lives.

Anyone interested in psychotherapy or personal growth will rejoice at the publication of The Gift of Therapy. Yalom imparts his unique wisdom in this remarkable guidebook for successful therapy. At once startlingly profound and irresistibly practical, Yalom's insights — let the patient matter to you; create a new kind of therapy for each patient; how and how not to use self-disclosure — will help enrich the therapeutic process for both patient and counselor.

"Yalom writes with the narrative wit of O. Henry and the earthy humor of Isaac Bashevis Singer."

-- San Francisco Chronicle

Yalom's second novel is an ingenious blend of psychological insight and fictional invention.

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 therapists themselves. Meet Seymour, an older therapist from an age of secrets, who “interprets” the boundaries of sexual propriety. Or Marshal, haunted in his own obsessive-compulsive behaviors. 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.

In Lying on the Couch, the reader is seated ringside the nastiest of power plays between therapists and patients and moved by a resolution of suprising humanity and redemptive faith.

In the biography, Ruthellen Josselson traces the genesis and evolution of Yalom's thinking and presents some of the seminal ideas of his writings.

Irvin Yalom is one of the best known, most widely-read and most influential psychiatrists in the contemporary world. Rather than positioning himself as a representative of one of the hundreds of “schools” or approaches to psychotherapy, Yalom offers a message that goes to the heart of psychotherapy. Taking up the central existential concerns of human life, Yalom’s work engages the problems of finding meaning in life and confronting death, concerns that had lain beyond the scope of psychiatry.

“On Psychotherapy and the Human Condition is like Yalom himself: lucid, open, wise. It is a good story about a great storyteller. It chronicles the art and heart of psychotherapy.”

— David Spiegel, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine

A teaching novel about group psychotherapy and the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer - now available in paperback. Yalom comes through with another page-turner that both entertains and informs. Excellent as a supplemental text for group psychotherapy courses.

“Yalom’s melding of philosophy, pedantry, psychiatry and literature result in a surprisingly engaging novel of ideas... Yalom works us toward the inevitable – and unusually moving – psychological breakthrough in convincing, fascinating steps. Admirably lucid with concepts, he is transcendent when it comes to emotional particulars.”

— San Francisco Chronicle, January 23, 2005

From the leader and pioneer of group psychotherapy theory and technique comes a vital text for anyone interested in inpatient psychotherapy groups. Yalom conceptualizes his much praised and well-known theories on group psychotherapy in new ways and presents a radical modification of technique for use in groups in an inpatient psychiatric ward.

Presenting two models for groups, one for higher functioning hospitalized patients and one for lower-functioning psychotic patients, he discusses the different ways the therapy sessions should be structured, the kinds of support that should be offered and the importance of continually focusing the sessions on the here-and-now.

This is a book for front line clinicians, filled with the examples of cases for which Yalom is famous, It is especially suitable for the contemporary psychiatric ward where acutely disturbed patients are hospitalized for brief periods of time, and a great companion to the 2-DVD set, Understanding Group Psychotherapy: Volume II, Inpatients.

This classic text published in 1980 provides a background, framework and synthesis for understanding and practicing existential psychotherapy. Yalom draws from clinical experience, empirical research, philosophy, and literature to examine what he identifies as the four ultimate concerns: death, freedom, existential isolation, and meaninglessness. He shows how these concerns are manifested in personality and psychopathology, and with this knowledge how we can help our clients confront them.

Existential Psychotherapy is the perfect book for those interested in learning an alternate viewpoint of psychotherapy, those interested in weaving together the central concerns of human existence with the fundamentals of psychotherapy, and those who already enjoy Yalom’s group therapy approach. A great addition to classes and training groups!

Yalom's first novel is a riveting blend of fact and fiction, a drama of love, fate, and will, played out against the intellectual ferment of nineteenth century Vienna on the eve of the birth of psychoanalysis.

Friedrich Nietzsche - Europe's greatest philosopher, Josef Breuer - one of the founding fathers of psychoanalysis, a young medical intern named Sigmund Freud, and a secret pact: These are the elements that combine to create the unforgettable saga of an imagined relationship between an extraordinary patient and a gifted healer.