Professional Development: Interview with Dr. Yalom

If you’re a psychotherapist or training to become one, it’s likely you know the name Irvin D. Yalom.

Dr Yalom is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford University with over 50 years clinical experience as well as an accomplished author. He has inspired generations of therapists with his text books Existential Psychotherapy and The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, as well as his ‘teaching tales’ that contain psychotherapy themes central to his fiction and non-fiction books.

Dr Yalom’s latest book Creatures of a Day: And Other Tales of Psychotherapy is a collection of poignant and moving tales from psychotherapy. In these stories his patients grapple with life’s two greatest challenges: that we must all die, and that each of us is responsible for leading a life worth living.

I have admired Dr Yalom's teaching and writing for many years now, so was thrilled when he agreed to be interviewed by me for the Australia Counselling Podcast. In this interview we discuss:

• Writing and psychotherapy: How he came to write this book and how his creative writing sits with his practice of psychotherapy.
• Therapist disclosure: Throughout this book Dr Yalom makes honest disclosures in the here-and-now with his patients. He talks about how important therapist disclosure is in psychotherapy.
• Facing the death of a client: What he learned about death from his patient Ellie, who called herself “a pioneer of dying”.
• Not predicting where the therapy will go: The important ingredients that make for effective therapy and how he is sometimes completely surprised by the therapeutic journeys of his patients.
• Taking a detailed history of a recent, 24 hour period: This strategy seems to uncover some surprising information about his patients, such as his patient Alvin, who he discovered through asking this question had so little intimacy in his life. Dr Yalom describes how he uses this intervention.
• Brief therapy: With symptom focused, quick fix and short-term therapies becoming increasingly popular with governments, therapists and clients, Dr Yalom shares his view on whether in-depth psychotherapy is still relevant.
• Giving up hope for a better past: How we can help our clients with the idea that change may come from actually giving up hope for a better past.
• On being creative in therapy: How he worked creatively with some of his patients to bring about change and transformation in unexpected ways.
• Effective psychotherapy: How much of his writing is part of his mission to educate and inspire young therapists about what effective psychotherapy looks like.
• Group psychotherapy: His views on the importance of this type of therapy and positive changes he’s noticing with psychiatric resident group training.

Click the link below to listen to the podcast.

075: The Yalom Interview: Creatures of a Day and Other Tales of Psychotherapy

I hope you enjoy this episode!

To your success,

Clinton Power
Founder, Australia Counselling