Becoming Myself

A Psychiatrist's Memoir

Author: Irvin D. Yalom

A significant and eagerly anticipated memoir from one of the world's leading therapists.

Product Unavailable

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Summary

A significant and eagerly anticipated memoir from one of the world's leading therapists.

Description

'Wonderful, compelling and as insightful about its subject and about the times he lived in as you could hope for. A fabulous read' Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone

Irvin D. Yalom has made a career of investigating the lives of others. In Becoming Myself, his long-awaited memoir, he turns his therapeutic eye on himself, delving into the relationships that shaped him and the groundbreaking work that made him famous.

The first-generation child of immigrant Russian Jews, Yalom grew up in a lower-class neighbourhood in Washington DC. Determined to escape its confines, he set his sights on becoming a doctor. An incredible ascent followed: we witness his start at Stanford Medical School amid the cultural upheavals of the 1960s, his turn to writing fiction as a means of furthering his exploration of the human psyche and his rise to international prominence.

Yalom recounts his revolutionary work in group psychotherapy and how he became the foremost practitioner of existential psychotherapy, a method that draws on the wisdom of great thinkers over the ages. He reveals the inspiration for his many seminal books, including Love's Executioner and When Nietzche Wept, which meld psychology and philosophy to arrive at arresting new insights into the human condition. Interweaving the stories of his most memorable patients with personal tales of love and regret, Becoming Myself brings readers close to Yalom's therapeutic technique, his writing process and his family life.

Critic Reviews

“Wonderful, compelling and as insightful about its subject and about the times he lived in as you could hope for. A fabulous read”

Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone
Irvin D. Yalom is the psychiatrist who thinks like a philosopher and writes like the fine novelist he also happens to be. Becoming Myself delivers not only the engrossing story of one exceptional individual's life, it shines with revelations regarding life as it ought to be lived Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of Plato at the Googleplex: Why Philosophy Won't Go Away
This is a book to read and reread for years to come, a memorable journey through Yalom's time and ours Jay Parini, author of The Last Station and New and Collected Poems: 1975-2015
A candid, insightful memoir by one of the world's most important and accomplished experts on the human soul Daniel Menaker, author of The Treatment and My Mistake: A Memoir
When Yalom publishes something - anything - I buy it, and he never disappoints. He's an amazing storyteller, a gorgeous writer, a great, generous, compassionate thinker, and - quite rightly - one of the world's most influential mental healthcare practitioners Nicola Barker, Guardian Best Books of 2017

About the Author

Irvin D. Yalom is an emeritus professor of psychiatry at Stanford University and a psychiatrist in private practice in San Francisco. He is the author of many bestselling titles including Love's Executioner, Momma and the Meaning of Life, The Gift of Therapy, Staring at the Sun and Creatures of a Day.