Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Irvin D. Yalom

Quote by Irvin D. Yalom

“One doesn't do existential therapy as a freestanding separate theory; rather it informs your approach to such issues as death, which many therapists tend to shy away from.”

Quote by Irvin D. Yalom

Create image

Author

Irvin D. Yalom
Irvin D. Yalom

Irvin D. Yalom is an American author renowned for his psychological novels and philosophical reflections. His works delve into the essence of human existence, as well as psychotherapy and interpersonal relationships. more

You May Also Like

“You know, I think everybody I've seen has come from some other therapy, and almost invariably it's very much the same thing: the therapist is too disinterested, a little too aloof, a little too inactive. They're not really interested in the person, he doesn't relate to the person. All these things I've written so much about. That's why I've made such a practice really, over and over to hammer home the point of self-revelation and being more of yourself and showing yourself. Every book I write I want to get that in there.”

ThinkingKnowsWantWritingLittlesPersonsMadeBookSelfHomePracticeWrittenRelateTherapyRevelationsHammersTherapistsDisinterestedAloofSelf Revelation
Author:Irvin D. Yalom
Create image

“In a study we did of bereavement, we found that rather impressive numbers of widows and widowers had not simply gone back to their pre-loss functioning, but grown. This was due to a kind of increased existential awareness that resulted from this confrontation with the death of another. And I think it brought them in touch with their own death, so they began to experience a kind of preciousness to life that comes with an experience of its transiency.”

ThinkingKindFoundLossNumbersGoneStudyAwarenessDuesExistentialImpressiveBereavementConfrontationWidowsWidowers
Author:Irvin D. Yalom
Create image

“One reason patients are reluctant to work in a therapy group is they fear that things will go too far, that the powerful therapist or the collective group might coerce them to lose control--to say or think or feel things that will be catastrophic. The therapist can make the group feel safer by allowing each patient to set his or her limits and by emphasizing the patient's control over every interaction.”

ThinkingFeelsReasonMightLosesPowerfulGroupsLimitsPatientTherapyCollectivesAllowingInteractionReluctantTherapistsCoerce
Book:Inpatient Group Psychotherapy
Create image

“If people in their 20s had more death awareness, would that in fact temper their ambition or drive? My hunch is yes. It would certainly do something for those who are most ruthless, who tend to make others most miserable. Some sort of greater awareness of their own finiteness and what their time on earth really is, and what they really want to do with their lives, could help improve them.”

PeopleIfsWantFactsHelpingEarthGreaterAwarenessAmbitionMiserableTemperRuthlessHunchesTime On Earth
Author:Irvin D. Yalom
Create image

“To the best of my knowledge, every acute inpatient ward offers some inpatient group therapy experience. Indeed, the evidence supporting the efficacy of group therapy, and the prevailing sentiment of the mental health profession, are sufficiently strong that it would be difficult to defend the adequacy of the inpatient unit that attempted to operate without a small group program.”

Would BeStrongDifficultGroupsOffersEvidenceProgramMental HealthProfessionTherapySentimentsUnitsPrevailingSmall GroupsEfficacyAdequacyGroup Therapy
Book:Inpatient Group Psychotherapy
Create image

“Specialness as a primary mode of death transcendence takes a number of other maladaptive forms. The drive for power is not uncommonly motivated by this dynamic. One's own fear and sense of limitation is avoided by enlarging oneself and one's sphere of control. There is some evidence, for example, that those who enter the death-related professions (soldiers, doctors, priests, and morticians) may in part be motivated by a need to obtain control over death anxiety.”

NeedsMayFormNumbersExampleAnxietyEvidenceDoctorsSoldierOneselfProfessionPrimariesLimitationRelatedPriestsMotivatedSpheresTranscendenceAvoidedSpecialnessMorticians
Author:Irvin D. Yalom
Create image