Feelings of love between patients and their therapists have been an endless source of confusion for those involved. An essential reading for all counselling and psychotherapy students and practitioners, this text offers fresh perspectives and advice on how best to deal with expressions of love and sexual desires in the course of therapy.

Feelings of love between patients and their therapists have been an endless source of confusion for those involved. An essential reading for all counselling and psychotherapy students and practitioners, this text offers fresh perspectives and advice on how best to deal with expressions of love and sexual desires in the course of therapy.

'Wise, beautiful, heartbreaking, raw' The Times 'A beacon of hope to all of us who will be bereaved' Kathryn Mannix 'An unforgettable and achingly beautiful story of enduring love' Lori Gottleib Internationally renowned psychiatrist and author Irvin Yalom has devoted his career to counselling those suffering from anxiety and grief. But never had he faced the need to counsel himself until his wife, esteemed feminist author Marilyn Yalom, was diagnosed with cancer. In A MATTER OF DEATH AND LIFE, Marilyn and Irvin share how they took on profound new struggles: Marilyn to die a good death, Irvin to live on without her. In alternating accounts of their last months together and Irvin's first months alone, they offer us a rare window into coping with death and the loss of one's beloved. The Yaloms had rare blessings - a loving family, a beautiful home, a large circle of friends, avid readers around the world, and a long, fulfilling marriage - but they faced death as we all do. With the candour and wisdom of those who have thought deeply and loved well, they investigate universal questions of intimacy, love, and grief. Informed by two lifetimes of experience, A MATTER OF DEATH AND LIFE offers poignant insights and solace to all those seeking to fight despair in the face of death, so that they can live meaningfully.

This book illuminates the structure and focus of thinking about love and loss, and sheds light on a wide range of psychological issues. It will be essential for bereavement professionals as well as students of psychology, psychiatry, and sociology.

Sigmund Freud noted the importance of love in the healing of the human psyche. So many of life's distresses have their origins in lack of love, disruption of love, or trauma. People naturally seek love in their lives to feel complete. Is therapy a substitute for love? Or is it love by another name? This important book looks at the place of love in therapy and whether it is the curative factor. The authors continually stress, however, that within psychotherapy both ethical and professional boundaries should govern this 'Love' at all times in order for it to be experienced as healing and therapeutic. This book offers explorations of the complexity of love from different modalities: psychoanalytic, humanistic, person-centred, psychosexual, family and systemic, transpersonal, existential, and transcultural. The discussions challenge therapists and other allied professionals to think about their practice, ethics, and boundaries.

This work is about psychotherapy with a terminally ill patient but it is intended for a far broader readership than this indicates. Joy Schaverien raises questions regarding the meaning of love and endings in psychotherapy.

The other day, as I came out from the station, I caught a glimpse of dark hair and for a second, I thought it was you, Mina. So begins this searingly honest account, written by a psychotherapist, who returns from her summer vacation to discover that one of her patients has died unexpectedly: a young woman, with whom she had felt a particularly close connection. That day she carries on as normal, sees all her patients, only to wake in the middle of the night, sweating and shaking in the dark, and with the strangest sensation of falling. A rapid freefall ensues, a spiralling descent into grief and a kind of madness, as present and past collide and she begins to confront what she has always feared. A compelling narrative centred on death and love and loss, Do You Realize? raises profound and penetrating questions: What is grief? For who and what do we grieve when we lose somebody? and How do we live life fully and passionately, and yet, face up to death?

The complexities of heartbreak, the shadows of trauma, the struggles of mental health, and the warmth of love – all find refuge within these pages. Delve into a journey that captures the essence of the human experience, where every emotion has its sanctuary. Let this book be your haven, a space to confront, reflect, and heal.

Explores the origins of love and hate from infancy and how they develop through the life cycle.