The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients

Irvin D. Yalom was born in 1931 to Russian immigrant parents in Washington, D.C. Growing up in an impoverished neighborhood, Yalom sought comfort and entertainment in books from his local library, and he became a voracious reader. Upon graduating from George Washington University with his Bachelor of Arts degree, Yalom chose to pursue medicine. He intended to specialize in psychiatry, which was a field he found fascinating. He attended the Boston University School of Medicine and completed his residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. In addition to his private therapy practice, Yalom has taught psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine since 1994.

Yalom is known for his strong opinions about therapeutic practices. One of his main beliefs is that the therapist and patient should be equals, and another is that therapists must customize their techniques to respond to each patient’s unique needs. As an existential psychiatrist, Yalom believes that people are profoundly influenced by existential issues, such as finding meaning in life, isolation, death, and freedom.

Throughout his career, Yalom has shared his insights in interviews, articles, and books, becoming a well-known figure in the world of psychiatry and counseling. In addition to his teaching and therapy practice, Yalom is a prolific author of over 20 books. Yalom’s work includes fiction novels such as The Spinoza Problem and his memoir titled Becoming Myself. Much of his writing pushes the boundaries of genre. He has produced several “teaching novels”: These are works that are technically fiction, but they include many real-life references and are intended to educate psychiatrists. These include When Nietzsche Wept (1992), Lying on the Couch (1996), and The Schopenhauer Cure (2005). His work with patients inspired his “therapy tales” books, like Love’s Executioner (1989) and Momma and the Meaning of Life (1999), in which he describes and explores his work as a therapist.

As an author, Yalom is best known for his wide variety of instructional psychiatry books, such as Treating Couples (1996) and Treating Anxiety Disorders (1996). He also authored The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy (1970), which has had over 700,000 copies printed in 12 languages. It is still used in therapist training programs. The Gift of Therapy falls into this instructional category; in it, Yalom directly addresses young therapists and guides how they can best approach their work.

Yalom has received numerous awards for his contributions to psychiatry and his work as a writer. His novel When Nietzsche Wept won the Best Novel of 1992 Gold Medal Award from the Commonwealth Club of California. The American Psychiatric Association awarded him the Foundation’s Fund Award in 1976 and their Oscar Pfister Award in 2002, and in 2018, he accepted the Psychotherapy Networker Lifetime Achievement Award.