love's executioner

[bubblingbeebles]

i've been reading this book - it is several stories by a therapist about patients fighting difficult problems that each have something to do with death anxiety. hearing what therapists have to say about life leaves me with this intense feeling of mental vitality, and also a bit of an urge to flee pittsburgh and pursue such a career myself.

somewhat

Comments

[bubblingbeebles]

i told myself i'd have enough free time this semester to be thoughtful and creative, but there are so many things to spread my energy among... i still have work to do, dammit! "be careful what you wish for", &c.

[joshua_]

death anxiety

In part, this stems from Irvin Yalom's style of therapy. Sadly, I don't have any electronic notes from the day we discussed this in class, but the gist of it is that Yalom believes that the existential question -- the fear of death -- is underlying in all of us. Yalom finds that since it is such a unifying problem (he thinks that everyone fears death), he calls it one of the core mechanisms by which group therapy effects change. (In that list, it falls under "universality".)

(This was sort of stitched together from vague memories of the class I took last semester, which I truly enjoyed, and from where that book originated.)

Anyway, it's a great book. It's a set of stories of Irvin Yalom developing a deep emotional connection with his patients, and in some senses, can serve as an introspective model for the reader. People interested in that sort of thing should check it out.

[bubblingbeebles]

I noticed he talks about it as though it's his "thing". I wonder (if it's possible to have fully addressed one's death anxiety yet still have problems, and if so) what therapy between such a person and him would be like.

thanks, again, for having me read it!