As I wrote, he was honest in his book and tried hard to not let it affect his therapy with clients. I don't think he was once repulsed and then overcame it for good, though, at least according to that book. I think he described it as an ever present challenge, and it did not end with the client he described. For me, forgiveness is not related to how I feel about the described incident. There are therapists of all kinds with all sorts of personal characteristics. I just wouldn't want my own therapist to have a repulsion towards me. There are a lot of fish in the sea, and I would rather have one for a therapist who is not repulsed. This is just like some clients saying they would prefer a therapist who is male, female, Christian, CBT, a native speaker of their language, in recovery, etc. I prefer a non-repulsed therapist. I have read other books by Yalom and liked them (e.g. Staring at the Sun).

At around the same time I was reading that Yalom book, I read on another therapist's web site that described his practice and services that he provided "holding" in therapy to clients who requested it, however, not to women who were overweight. (Overweight men, not a problem.) Again, here was a T being honest. The "holding" service would not be something I would personally want, but his exclusion made me feel like whoa, what is it with therapists and overweight women? Maybe it is just those two Ts, but maybe it is also reflecting a more general antipathy in the general population towards that sort of person. I don't know. Most people are probably not so bluntly honest that they would reveal that if it were true for them.

It makes me feel hopeless.