AT NINETY-THREE YEARS OLD, facing the loss of his memory, as well as the impact of a pandemic that shifted much of daily human communication online, the popular psychotherapist makes a groundbreaking change in his working method, focusing on what can be accomplished in a single hour-long session between therapist and patient. He seeks the core of the psychological problem and suggests ways to continue therapy.
Yalom did not hesitate to show the course of his life without embellishment and without exclusion. Faithful to the power of self-revelation and his commitment to present the truth and real life as they are and as they happen, he wrote books such as Love's Executioner, Momma and the Meaning of Life, Is This Life? Then Once More!, Creatures of a Day, A Matter of Death and Life, and others.
Among these books is also the most recent one. The Heart Hour adds something precious, which is very rarely found in therapeutic literature: the testimony of a great therapist regarding endurance despite deterioration, persistence despite old age, and the effort to do whatever he can to serve the needs of those who continue to seek it, as well as the difficulties and inner conflicts he encounters along this challenging part of the journey.
The message in these most recent narratives from the great therapist is that willpower is stronger than the mind, that the desire for life and connection finds ways to overcome physical shortcomings, when it matters to us. The soul finds its path and means.
Yalom, faithful to his choice to lead by example, opens it to our eyes with the assistance of his son.
