Creatures Of A Day (and Other Tales Of Psychotherapy)

By (author) Irvin D Yalom; By (author) Yalom, Irvin
Short description/annotation
From the best-selling author of Love''s Executioner, a penetrating exploration of life, death, and the search for meaning
Description
In this stunning collection of stories, renowned psychiatrist Irvin D. Yalom describes his patients'' struggles--as well as his own--to come to terms with the two great challenges of existence: how to have a meaningful life yet reckon with its inevitable end. We meet a nurse who must stifle the pain of losing her son in order to comfort her patients'' pains, a newly minted psychologist whose studies damage her treasured memories of a lost friend, and a man whose rejection of psychological inquiry forces even Yalom himself into a crisis of confidence. Creatures of a Day is a radically honest statement about the difficulties of human life, but also a celebration of some of the finest fruits--love, family, friendship--it can offer. Marcus Aurelius has written that "we are all creatures of a day." With Yalom as our guide, we will find the means to make our own day not only bearable, but also meaningful and joyful.
Review quote
"[A] collection of insightful case studies that read like life-affirming short stories. It''s a must-read for human psyche buffs." --Express in the UK, one of the best books of 2015 "With every page come new introspections, each retelling reveals more of Yalom''s genius therapy techniques and of the human capacity for mental healing and growth...The book as a whole is simultaneously quite intellectual and astoundingly accessible." --San Francisco Book Review "[A] highly engaging book... Whether Yalom has figured out how therapy works will probably be less important to most readers than his brilliant writing, deep insight, and candid sharing of occasional clinical errors. As he''s done in popular offerings such as Love''s Executioner..., the author employs colorful prose and a practiced eye to make each client full blooded... By sharing his fascinating interior monologues from the clinical hour, Yalom also offers a master class in how to do good therapy. This is one of those rare books of equal interest to beginning therapists, advanced practitioners, and nonprofessionals curious to learn what goes on behind closed doors in the sanctity of the therapy chamber." --PsycCRITIQUES "Creatures of a Day is a series of moving, if partly fictionalized, tales illuminating Yalom''s hand-crafted approach to treating grief, loss, regret and, above all, encroaching mortality... [Yalom] is a student of the human condition whose literary, as well as therapeutic, voice mixes wonder and humility." --Boston Globe "[Creatures of a Day is] a book that circles around the crisis of our mortality and finds redemption in our capacity for growth, in love and in language... [Yalom] tempers his admissions of his shortcomings with a confident narrative voice and a generous attitude toward both himself and his patients." --Palo Alto Weekly "Like Love''s Executioner, which established Yalom''s preeminence as a storyteller illuminating the drama of existential therapy, Creatures of a Day is funny, earthy, and often shocking; it is a radically honest statement about the difficulties of human life, but also a celebration of some of the finest fruits -- love, family, friendship -- that life can bear. We are all creatures of a day. With Yalom as a guide, we can find in this book the means not just to make our own day bearable, but meaningful -- and perhaps even joyful." --Between the Covers blog "In a profession that exists exclusively behind closed doors, it''s rare and precious to get a real peek through the window to witness the raw power of the therapeutic process... This book is the best of its kind I''ve read to date, offering a tender and credible look behind the curtain, through a powerful series of vignettes." --Miranda Palmer, PsychCentral "Creatures of a Day serves as someth