I am concerned about how the new generation of effective psychotherapists will be trained. I worry about psychotherapy and how it can be distorted by financial pressures and impoverished by radically shortened educational programs.

Nevertheless, I have confidence that in the future a cohort of psychotherapists from various scientific fields will continue to pursue intensive graduate education and, even under the pressure of reality, will find patients who desire broad growth and change, willing to commit to long-term psychotherapy.

For these therapists and for these patients, I write "The Gift of Psychotherapy." The recommendations in this book come from notes collected over forty-five years of clinical practice.

It is an idiosyncratic blend of ideas and techniques that I have found useful in my work. These are such personal, subjective, and sometimes so original ideas that it is likely the reader will not encounter them anywhere else.

Nonetheless, I hope that every reader will find their own creative way to adapt and apply what I have learned to their specific work circumstances.

(Irvin D. Yalom)