[sidony]

I saw "The Gift of Therapy" recommended in another thread (ECHOES, I think it was you). Is this the same as "The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients"? These were listed separately under Amazon, and only the latter was available. Was wondering if it was the right one?

What are some other good books I might check into? I have no educational background in psychology, yet I was fascinated to read most of Yalom's "Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy" when I started going to group. I know I couldn't follow all of what he said, but it was still really fascinating to me. I'm really interested in reading about therapy though less technical is good too!

Sidony

Yes, that's it. Great book! I don't know why Amazon lists it seaprately.

He also wrote Love's Executioner, & Other Tales of Psychotherapy a book of tales based on his patients that illuminate the therpeutic relationship. I just started that one. I really like his writing and think I'd like to read all of his books.

Other good books:

Between Therapist and Client (The New Relationship) by MIcahel Kahn.

In Session (the Bond Between Women and Their Therapists) by Deborah Lott

Some were recommended here and some I discovered on Amazon.

Happy reading!

ECHOES

[sidony]

Thanks! And let me know what you think of that "Other Tales" one too when you're done with it -- sounds like something I might like.

Thanx, Sidony

ok!

ECHOES

[Caramee]

I liked "The Man with a Beautiful Voice" by Lillian Rubin.

I also like books by Thomas Moore (Care of the Soul, Dark Night of the Soul). Though they are not directly about therapy, he does sprinkle stories about his patients throughout his books.

i don't know, maybe i'll be the odd one out but i didn't like the books by Yalom at all. i read both and i found him to be arrogant really. No offense intended towards those who liked his books.

The trouble with most books like Yalom's, is that they are written by or about psychoanalysis, the classical variety.

i am also just wanting more of case studies, with a little more meat to them and less filler. i read a lot of academic journal articles, but they leave out the personal aspects and refer to the client/patient in a very objectified way... then the "general public" books are the opposite. Is there nothing in between? i'd love recommendations.

i found The Road Less Travelled to be ok when i read it but that was several years ago.

[Lemon]

I just posted this on DePressMe's thread, but since the topic came up here.....
I really recommend the book Kitchen Table Wisdom by Rachel Naomi Remen. She is a physician who also happened to have a chonic illness and later became a therapist. The book is a collection of stories and experiences she's had with clients and in her personal life. She talks a lot about using imagery.

[sunrise]

I love getting people's book suggestions. Caramee, I had not heard of The Man with the Beautiful Voice and will check that one out.

Some I have read or am reading now:

Their Finest Hour: Master Therapists Share Their Greatest Success Stories, by Jeffrey Kottler and Jon Carlson.
This takes the case study approach, with each therapist relating a memorable case. All the therapists use different therapeutic approaches. It is a good way to become familiar with the many different flavors of psychotherapy. Some of the therapists I felt really drawn to, and others I really disliked!

The Call of Stories: Teaching and the Moral Imagination, by Robert Coles. I love this book/memoir by a psychiatrist who is also a professor of literature at Harvard. There's a segment I love toward the beginning of his psychiatry training when he realizes just how powerful and therapeutic self disclosure in therapy can be.

Love's Executioner and Other Tales of Psychotherapy, by Irving Yalom. Warm and very human psychiatrist tells of memorable cases. This is not traditional psychoanalysis.

Psychodynamic Counselling in a Nutshell, by Susan Howard. Short and sweet introduction to this therapeutic approach.

Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most, by D. Stone, B. Patton, S. Heen. Helpful for breaking dysfunctional communnication patterns.

The Places that Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times, by Pema Chodron. Buddhist nun wisdom. ECHOES turned me on to her.

Personal Village: How to have people in your life by choice not chance, by Marvin Thomas. --"how to add real value to your life by forming deeper, more meaningful relationships with the people in your life that matter most."

The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth, by Scott Peck. Written in 1978 by psychiatrist Peck, it was a very popular book with the general theme of spiritual psychotherapy, with lots of examples drawn from his clients. I'm reading this now and am not enamored of it, but will read a bit more before giving up.

sunny, thanks for the book ideas. several sound good, particularly Personal Village. The Call of Stores... sounds very good too. I'll have to write these down as I am in the middle of about a half dozen books. I order them and get so excited when they come that I have to delve into them. Ok sometimes but I have too many going at the moment.

I just started Love's Executioner. I like the way Yalom writes and I love his depth and warmth.

I'm so glad you like Pema Chodron!

[sidony]

Thanks everybody! I'll get started on some reading while I'm off work for a while.

Sidony

"The Gift of Therapy" is my required reading for my internship class this semester. Actually tomorrow is the last class. I really enjoyed the book, he covers so much of what we talk about on this board. I particularly enjoyed his discussion on the "here-and-now" of the session. I have no doubt you'll love this one, Sid.

[sidony]

I picked up Gift of Therapy and Love's Executioner at the bookstore last night (was amazed that at a store had books I wanted in stock -- I usually have to order!). I'll let you guys know what I think. I'm taking a trip next week and will probably get a lot of reading done on the way.

Thanks, Sidony

[lauren_helene]

Pink always knows the best books...I'll make a note for myself too

[happyflowergirl]

My library had copies of these books and I read them. They were really good, I think T and clients should read them. j ;-)

[sidony]

So I've been sitting out on my balcony reading The Gift of Therapy. It's awesome. Of course it's got me pondering my own therapy, wondering how to be more open and to gain more from it. I try, but I know I hold back more than I want to.

Sidony

[ClaireB]

Gerber, you are not the only one. While I found his books interesting to read, I do remember thinking he was rather arrogant. I loved Lott's book (that was mentioned earlier).

[sidony]

Yeah, same author's not for everyone. But he may be arrogant I don't know. I bet being a therapist does lead to some power trips occasionally. All those people relying on you for so much. I know I like the website www.guidetopsychology.com , but its author has always struck me as arrogant. But I still like it, so maybe that's what I like.

I was definitely fascinated by Yalom's textbook and so enjoy reading his more layman-friendly stuff.

Sidony

i hope this isn't sidetracking the thread or anything. PLease tell me if it is.

i think what i found not to my taste, well i did think he was arrogant, but part of it was assumptions he seemed to be making... about his correctness... and there wasn't any feedback from the patients themselves... nothing of their feelings or ideas. Now, i wouldn't really want their whole take on things, but the bits attributed to them, ie statements in session, seemed depersonalized to me. It was as if he was only able to see them through his filter of correctness... does that make sense? But, i suppose that is partially an issue i have with certain schools of thought overall as well.

i did think he was caring in many ways, and the gift of psychotherapy encouraged more of that caring than he seemed to show in love's executioner.

The one case that stuck in my craw was the only with the overweight lady. He talked basically about overcoming his bias against fat people...his self admitted revulsion. But did he really? i mean, he talks about her progress intertwined with her weight loss and his big excitment was when she'd lost enough weight that she had a visible lap! It left me wondering if he would have seen her as remarkable had her issues improved but her weight not changed? and if he saw her weight problem as being solely the result of those issues? That leads to all sorts of things.

i do hope you enjoy the books, they are worth a read regardless i think.

[sunrise]

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
gerber said:
The one case that stuck in my craw was the only with the overweight lady. He talked basically about overcoming his bias against fat people...his self admitted revulsion.

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">
I was kind of taken aback by his feelings toward overweight people also. I did find him very human for sharing this with his readers, as therapists are supposed to show empathy for all their clients, not just the thin ones, so this kind of made him look bad (sharing was a humble thing to do rather than arrogant). It reminded me of a therapist's website I visited once where he described the services he provided, among which was holding therapy, where he would put his arms around the client to comfort them. He said, however, he could not provide this service to fat people due to his personal revulsion. But lucky for them, he could still provide talk therapy.

I've read all his books and not sure how I feel about him.

[sidony]

I haven't gotten to the bit about overweight clients yet. I'm sorry to hear he's not very empathic about that.

I think that, whether or not you like his style or like him or whatever, there are lots of therapy examples and that's something I really like. I loved all the group therapy examples in his textbook. I think I'd actually like to read transcripts so maybe I'm looking to be a fly on the wall. And now I'll go off-topic too and say that there are some interesting transcripts at http://www.earley.org/GroupTherapy/g...rapy_frame.htm I'm fascinated by group therapy (as well as individual).

So I guess I love books with examples and Yalom's books seem to have a lot. I'll also check out some of the other books on this thread. Thanks to everyone for contributing!

Sidony

I see Yalom as confident and was surprised when I read that some thought of him as arrogant.. . But then I thought about it more and I thought about how one person can see arrogance where another person sees confidence.

A year ago I had major abdominal surgery and I almost didn't choose my surgeon because I thought he was arrogant. I complained to a friend about his arrogance and that I didn't want him to do my surgery. She pointed out that when I described him, he seemed very confident to her. So, I spoke with him a few more times before deciding and he was actually very confident and when I realized that, it was very relieving and reassuring.

Anyway, just goes to show you how perceptions create our reality. Interesting!

[sunrise]

I'm bumping this. I don't want it to get lost/deleted like our past book threads. There are so many good suggestions here.

I'm in the middle of reading the book Caramee recommended, "The Man with the Beautiful Voice" by Lillian Rubin. I'm liking it so far. Some of the passages have made me think about therapy and they made me curious what others thought. I may start a new thread with some of them and see what you think.

[MissCharlotte]

Sunny, I'm glad you bumped this back up. I think I missed this thread during my practicum. I've been reading, sporadically, The Gift of Therapy. I can understand how some people find Yalom arrogant, but overall, thought that this book gave some good insight into how therapy works. Yes, our perceptions are our reality. I have especially liked his "In the Moment" chapter (as Pink said). It is this aspect of my own therapy that I am working hard on.

I also have Debra Lott's book, about the bond between women and their therapists. Some of this book was ok but in general, I am less able to connect with her writing. I don't find myself in her words. I will give it another chance so I can respond more specifically.

[Caramee]

The only thing about Rubin that I didn't like is that she doesn't believe in long-term therapy, but I'm glad you're enjoying the book.