by Irvin D. Yalom and B.Yalom

When I first began my journey as a therapist, The Gift of Therapy by Irvin D. Yalom felt like an eye opener my hands. It offered warmth, candour, and a deeply human view of what therapy could be—beyond techniques, beyond manuals. It resonated powerfully with me as I trained to become a clinical psychologist in the NHS, working within systems that, while necessary, often felt constrained by session limits and service pressures.

In that context, therapy could sometimes feel like a race against the clock—an attempt to help people feel better and reduce their symptoms within tight parameters. While I learned a great deal and valued the experiences enormously, I often wondered what could be possible if time were not so tightly rationed—if we could sit with our clients for as long as they needed, not just for as long as the system allowed.

Reading Hour of the Heart—a beautifully honest and contemplative collection from Yalom’s later practice – rekindled my excitement that I felt when I first Read The Gift of Therapy. In these stories, Yalom returns not as a teacher or simply the therapist, but as a fellow human sitting across from another, sharing in the uncertainty, the grief, the growth. This book felt like an offering to those of us who have always wanted therapy to be more than symptom reduction—to be something real, relational, and enduring.

Now, in private practice, I have the freedom and space to work more openly and deeply with my clients. Moving into this space has opened the door to the kind of therapy I once longed for — where the therapeutic relationship can unfold naturally, without the pressure of discharge dates or outcome measures dictating its course.

In Hour of the Heart, Yalom captures the importance of the therapeutic relationship with grace and elegance considering the brevity of the single sessions he now offers. He reflects not only on his clients’ transformations but on his own ageing, his grief, and the echoes of therapy long after the final session ends. His honesty about the limits of our knowledge, and the power of simply being present, is deeply affirming. He also reflects that single session or short term interventions often do not hold the key to meaningful change, yet demonstrates how even during brief encounters the connection between therapist and client is paramount.

For those early in their therapeutic career, this book offers wisdom. For those further along, it offers reassurance and allows us to step away from the arms race of trying to learn ever more new modalities and tap into the heart of therapy. And for all of us, it offers a reminder of why we do this work in the first place: to connect, to witness, and to share in the courageous changes we might then share in.