Product Description

The many thousands of readers of the best-selling Loves Executioner will welcome this paperback edition of an earlier work by Dr. Irvin Yalom, written with Ginny Elkin, a pseudonymous patient whom he treatedthe first book to share the dual reflections of psychiatrist and patient. Ginny Elkin was a troubled young and talented writer whom the psychiatric world had labeled as schizoid. After trying a variety of therapies, she entered into private treatment with Dr. Irvin Yalom at Stanford University. As part of their work together, they agreed to write separate journals of each of their sessions. Every Day Gets a Little Closer is the product of that arrangement, in which they alternately relate their descriptions and feelings about their therapeutic relationship.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15861 in Books
• Published on: 1990-12-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Customer Reviews

Disappointing and vaguely uncomfortable.
I fell on yet another of Yalom's books when I saw it in the bookshop, even though the original publication date was 1974. I wonder if Yalom had any choice in whether it should be reprinted? Surely he would have at least attached a new foreword to this edition? I guess things were a lot more fluid in those days but I had real trouble coming to terms with the whole arrangement with Ginny. He waives payment in lieu of her submitting a write up of her thoughts after each session (itself an odd situation, or am I just jealous?. This costs him nothing because any cash payment would have gone to the organisation which pays him a full salary. So, really he is getting more out of this arrangement than he would if she paid cash and he is aware that he hasn't fully explained all this to Ginny). He also writes up each session and every six months they put the reports together and read them. Publication is obviously in his mind from the beginning though Ginny has the right of veto - supposedly. How likely is it that she would refuse him? The write-ups are headed 'Dr Yalom' and 'Ginny' further underlining the power difference. The part that feels most uncomfortable is that Ginny gets to read all his honest thoughts mid-therapy, and I'm not sure that it's always helpful to her. Neither does he take care to prepare her for things that may be hard for her to hear, for example, that he's already shown her reports to another therapist, albeit before finding out that she happens to know this person outside. The boundaries are confused here. And I'm not convinced (as he is) that she makes such enormous improvements. He decides on an appropriate time to terminate when he's going away for 3 months, but she has very little choice in the matter, and I don't think she would have finished there. The story I would like to read, 25 years on, is Ginny's reflective account on all this. Or at least Yalom's reflections. He comes across much more insightful in his other books, and much less self-serving. Maybe the value in this book is in comparison with his later work - we see how much he grew as a therapist?

Enlightening, helpful, healing book about how to use therapy
Someone who is just experiencing therapy may not be comfortable reading this book which really is a tell ALL from both sides of the couch. It's a little like the magician who gave away all the tricks. Still, the intellectual analysand, struggling to understand what he/she should be doing in therapy--how best to use the process--can learn from the hesitancy of Ginny who was reluctant to take brave leaps of faith, whose self-consciousness prevented becoming more conscious of her self through this relationship. Those of us who have been there, done that can get a therapeutic booster shot by experiencing vicariously the relationship between a caring therapist and a creative, blocked woman. It is compelling reading. It is NOT fiction; there is no clear, happy denoument. It's best that way.

Step by step towards self-esteem
This book and others by Yalom changed my life. I would suggest reading it to every person ( especially young women) having self-esteem problems. I find Yalom extremely intelligent,warm,subtle.He uses simple language to deal with the deepest topics.Since he is great,he does not need to use jargon.