The Schopenhauer Cure: A Novel Paperback – November 10, 2020
by Irvin Yalom (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars 568 ratings
From the internationally bestselling author of Love's Executioner and When Nietzsche Wept, comes a novel of group therapy with a cast of memorably wounded characters struggling to heal pain and change lives
Suddenly confronted with his own mortality after a routine checkup, eminent psychotherapist Julius Hertzfeld is forced to reexamine his life and work -- and seeks out Philip Slate, a sex addict whom he failed to help some twenty years earlier. Yet Philip claims to be cured -- miraculously transformed by the pessimistic teachings of German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer -- and is, himself, a philosophical counselor in training.
Philip's dour, misanthropic stance compels Julius to invite Philip to join his intensive therapy group in exchange for tutoring on Schopenhauer. But with mere months left, life may be far too short to help Philip or to compete with him for the hearts and minds of the group members. And then again, it might be just long enough.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Yalom’s enthusiasm is contagious. And he certainly knows how to tell a page-turning story.” -- Los Angeles Times
“Yalom’s melding of philosophy, pedantry, psychiatry and literature result in a surprisingly engaging novel of ideas.” -- San Francisco Chronicle
“Considers the value and limits of therapy and those points at which philosophy and psychology converge.” -- Washington Post
“A beautifully wrought tale of a therapy group’s final year and a moving debate about the end of life.” -- Kirkus Reviews
“As a novel of ideas, this book effectively explores loss, sexual desire, and the search for meaning.” -- Library Journal
“The world’s first accurate group-therapy novel, a mezmerizing story of two men’s search for meaning.” -- Greensboro News & Record
“Meticulous. [Yalom’s] re-creation of a working therapy group is utterly convincing.” -- Publishers Weekly
From the Back Cover
Suddenly confronted with his own mortality after a routine checkup, eminent psychotherapist Julius Hertzfeld is forced to reexamine his life and work -- and seeks out Philip Slate, a sex addict whom he failed to help some twenty years earlier. Yet Philip claims to be cured -- miraculously transformed by the pessimistic teachings of German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer -- and is, himself, a philosophical counselor in training. Philips dour, misanthropic stance compels Julius to invite Philip to join his intensive therapy group in exchange for tutoring on Schopenhauer. But with mere months left, life may be far too short to help Philip or to compete with him for the hearts and minds of the group members. And then again, it might be just long enough.
About the Author
Irvin D. Yalom, M.D., is the author of Love's Executioner, Momma and the Meaning of Life, Lying on the Couch, The Schopenhauer Cure, When Nietzsche Wept, as well as several classic textbooks on psychotherapy, including The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, considered the foremost work on group therapy. The Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford University, he divides his practice between Palo Alto, where he lives, and San Francisco, California.
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Product details
ASIN : 0060938102
Publisher : Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Reprint edition (November 10, 2020)
Language : English
Paperback : 384 pages
Item Weight : 9.9 ounces
Dimensions : 5.31 x 0.86 x 8 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #68,525 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#69 in Doctors & Medicine Humor
#270 in Metaphysical & Visionary Fiction (Books)
#411 in Self-Help & Psychology Humor
Customer Reviews: 4.5 out of 5 stars 568 ratings
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Biography
Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University. Author of nonfiction psychiatry texts, novels, and books of stories. Currently in private practice of psychiatry in Palo Alto and San Francisco, California.
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group therapy schopenhauer cure irvin yalom arthur schopenhauer nietzsche wept years ago philip slate julius hertzfeld great read german philosopher enjoyed reading anyone interested sex addiction really enjoyed theory and practice thought provoking dynamics of group nineteenth century human beings lying on the couch
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Kate Cohen-Posey
5.0 out of 5 stars One Book Better than the Next
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2018
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I have been remiss in writing reviews of Yalom’s books. I became a therapist in 1973 and soon after I read THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY, 1975 and not getting enough….then read EXISTENTIAL PSYCHOTHERAPY, 1980. Last fall at a therapy training, Yalom’s fiction was recommended to me and lickety-split I read THE SPINOZA PROBLEM, WHEN NIETZSCHE WEPT, and THE SCHOPENHAUER CURE, each book better than the one before, but all of them splendid! I started with Spinoza because I’d always respected him for being true to himself and love historical fiction. Reading a Midrash (a story that fills in the gaps) of Spinoza’s life helped me realize that I too have a “Spinoza Problem” because I think I’ve become a therapist bereft of a “methodological” community having developed my own brand of psychotheray. WHEN NIETZSCHE WEPT gave the juicy details of Breuer’s (Freud’s mentor) life and glimpses of a young Freud, not to mention an introduction to Nietzsche and his influence on psychology. It puzzles me that many therapists, thinking Freud is passé, have no interest in studying their roots and discovering that psychoanalysis is in our DNA. And finally—THE SCHOPENHAUER CURE. I did not have a clue who Schopenhauer was and I thank Yalom for his “philosophy for dummies” books. But, will someone please tell me if Yalom is familiar with the enneagram because Philip Slate is the prefect ennea-type 5: self-sufficient, avoids intrusions, observes rather than experiences, and seeks wisdom and skills. It helped me understand a significant other in my life—also a self-sufficient type. This last book, in its modern setting with flash-backs to the 1800s made me laugh, cry out loud, and is a candidate for the best book I ever read.
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Bulent Basaran
5.0 out of 5 stars A tutorial on group therapy and an extensive overview of Schopenhauer's life and philosophy
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2021
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... yet, this book is still a page turner. A novel, and part fiction, indeed, yet the parts based on true life events are not limited to Schopenhauer's life. Just finished reading it for the third time in about ten years. I believe I read all that Yalom wrote including his recent autobiography (except for his academic writings) and the wonderful, nonfiction, The Gift of Therapy.
A psychiatrist (MD) with a lifelong interest in literature, leaving the modern neurotransmitter regulating drugs to others, Yalom dedicates his life to practicing and teaching group and individual psychotherapy, the existential kind, if such a thing is admissible, and attacks with full force the varied neuroses that trouble the modern town-dweller human beings..
The stage is the living room in the main protagonist's house with seven or eight chairs where a well functioning group meets regularly for support and therapy. Most of the action of the novel does, and indeed mostly did, happen outside, and it includes flashbacks to Schopenhauer's life as well as a trip by one of the members of the therapy group to modern day India to the ashram of famous vipassana guru Goenka.
If you'd like to understand what goes on in the minds of many of us, how we relate, or not, to others, how we make up so much of our own suffering by keeping others away from us, and how, at the end, forgiveness, not in the common sense of pardon that assumes and accepts crime and pretends superior morality, but, in the Socratic sense, that we all do wrong when we don't know any better, gives us everything we need, read this book. It might provide you the support group you may not have readily available and change your life. And if not, it will give you enough pointers to go and relate to everybody in your circle in a more open, authentic and healing way..
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Mid-Centurian
4.0 out of 5 stars This book is a must for Grad Psych students!
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2016
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Irvin Yalom. His novels have taught so many of us psychotherapists how to really listen and interact with our clients without shoving it in our faces like textbooks often do.
Schopenhauer Cure is a good way to learn group psycho-therapeutic practice. Reads like a novel (and it is) and shows that the therapist does his/her clients more good by being an integral part of the group rather than as a stone faced know-it-all. Yalom is definitely NOT a Freudian. His methodology is largely Existential/eclectic counseling. The fictional therapist in the book uses his own mortality along with a gentle but firm hand to help his beloved group help themselves. There is a newer member of the group who just doesn't see what is going on in the sessions and the challenge for the group and the therapist is to get the newcomer, Philip, to "get it" and heal himself
This book succeeds where textbooks often fail to get graduate students to truly understand the humanity in the work that we do with and for our clients.
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RKDR
3.0 out of 5 stars fairly boring
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2020
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The book has been mostly zeroed in on group therapy conducted by a psychiatrist, which is fairly boring per se. Lack of good editing is obvious in misspelling the names of two medications: Vicodin and Synthroid, seriously? Is it that hard? Then a silly mistake in measuring tumor as seven eighth of a centimeter. Really? Centimeter consisted of ten millimeters, so you cannot measure it in seven eights, it is not an inch. Poor editing. Refreshing aspect of the book is related to Schopenhauer, who is more interesting and realistic than the personalities of the book itself. I am going to re-read a few of his books, but doubt that I would reopen this one.
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Susan Glazier
4.0 out of 5 stars Loved the book but is Schopenhauer so intolerable as a person as he's painted?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 1, 2018
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As usual with Yalom's work, I was gripped from the start by this novel and read compulsively. Yalom is a master storyteller and narrator. I very much enjoyed this offering. Nevertheless, I have the feeling that the massive character assassination (contained within) of the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer is a little unfair. Yalom himself paints a picture of dedicated and supportive Schopenhauer followers including the loyal executor of Schopenhauer's will. If Schopenhauer was so unattractive in all things (superior, isolated, extremely pessimistic, humourless and misanthropic) how come he had any followers? On finishing Yalom's novel I downloaded the entire works of Schopenhauer on Kindle (49p) and began reading his preface to his first edition of: 'The World as Will and Idea' (1819). I was astounded to find it contained a very good (barbed) joke that had me laughing out loud. So not so humourless then? I will keep reading and currently I'm prepared to give the bad press on Schopenhauer's character the benefit of some doubt.
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basiluzzo
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written and fascinating
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 30, 2012
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A friend who shares her reading opinions with me (and I with her) recommended this book to me. I thought it was fascinating and illuminating and couldn't put it down. The book deals with Julius, a psychotherapist, and his confrontation with his impending death, and with his last year with his intensive therapy group. I have since then started to read everything Irvin Yalom has written, which has moved me onto reading Schopenhaur and Nietzsche, which had the spin off effect of deciding to go into therapy!
I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in philosophy and psychotherapy.Yalom has an easy going way of melding both which draws the non professional into the group therapy situation and its human dramas.
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shelley baldwin
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved it
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 18, 2020
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Love this book. Insightful combination of psychology and philosophy
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Ms. L. B. Jenkins
4.0 out of 5 stars 'Must buy'
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 1, 2009
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Having read Love's Executioner by Yalom I was hooked on this author/therapist. The Schopenhauer Cure did not disappoint. Highly entertaining, extremely informative and a delight to read. I can hardly wait for my daily dose of reading and feel that this book needs to be on all recommended reading lists for anyone training or developing their counselling/therapy skills. Definitely a FIVE STAR read. (though I think I pressed 4 by mistake)
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Hadi
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2019
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Yet another great boon From Irvine Yalom.
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The Schopenhauer Cure
by Irvin D. Yalom
4.24 · Rating details · 18,273 ratings · 1,328 reviews
Suddenly confronted with his own mortality after a routine checkup, eminent psychotherapist Julius Hertzfeld is forced to reexamine his life and work -- and seeks out Philip Slate, a sex addict whom he failed to help some twenty years earlier. Yet Philip claims to be cured -- miraculously transformed by the pessimistic teachings of German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer -- ...more
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Paperback, 358 pages
Published November 10th 2020 by Harper Perennial Modern Classics (first published June 4th 2000)
Original TitleThe Schopenhauer Cure
ISBN0060938102 (ISBN13: 9780060938109)
Edition LanguageEnglish
Other Editions (96)
درمان شوپنهاور
علاج شوبنهاور
Soluţia Schopenhauer
La cura Schopenhauer
The Schopenhauer Cure
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I'm not reading the book in English so can someone please write the quote from the beginning of chapter 20 in English and tell me who is it from? It goes something like this: We climb the hill of life, unaware of the death waiting on the other side of the hill.
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Zoé In case you haven't found the quote yet, here it is:
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Ahmad Sharabiani
Feb 26, 2014Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: literature, 21th-century, psychology, fiction, united-states, novels
The Schopenhauer cure : a novel, 1st ed, c2005, Irvin D. Yalo
Julius Hertzfeld is a distinguished psychotherapist when a sudden confrontation with his own mortality forces him to re-examine his life and work. Has he really made an enduring difference to the lives of his patients? And what about those he's failed Ð what has happened to them?
His attempt to make sense of the past places him on a collision course with former patient Philip Slate a handsome but arrogant and misanthropic sex addict whom he had treated, unsuccessfully, 23 years before.
In a profound challenge to Julius's professional status, Philip claims to have cured himself by reading the works of philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. Furthermore, he has become a philosophical counsellor, and asks Julius to act as his professional supervisor in order to obtain a license to practise.
Reluctantly, Julius agrees, and they strike a Faustian bargain Ð one which threatens to undermine his career and the well-being of his patients, but also brings with it the potential for extraordinary personal change through a unique combination of psychotherapy and philosophy.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز یازدهم ماه نوامبر سال 2016میلادی
عنوان: درمان شوپنهاور؛ نویسنده: اروین دی یالوم؛ مترجم: حمید طوفانی؛ زهرا حسینیان؛ مشهد، ترانه، 1390، در 496ص؛ شابک 9789645638953؛ چاپ پنجم 1393؛ چاپ هشتم 1397؛ موضوع آرتور شوپنهاور از سال 1788م تا 1860م، روان درمانی گروهی؛ داستان - سده 21م
عنوان: درمان شوپنهاور؛ نویسنده: اروین دی یالوم؛ مترجم: سپیده حبیب؛؛ تهران، نشر قطره، 1392، در 547ص؛ شابک 9786001196195؛ چاپ چهارم 1393؛ چاپ یازدهم 1395؛ چاپ ششم 1394؛ چاپ چهاردهم 1396؛ چاپ شانزدهم 1397؛ چاپ بیست و یکم 1399؛
عنوان: درمان شوپنهاور؛ نویسنده: اروین دی یالوم؛ مترجم: کیومرث پارسای؛ تهران، انتشارات مصدق، جامی، 1394؛ در 424ص؛ شابک 9786007436325؛ چاپ دوم 1395؛
عنوان: درمان شوپنهاور؛ نویسنده: اروین دی یالوم؛ مترجم: مرجان معتمد حسینی؛ تهران، نوای مکتوب، 1396؛ در 432ص؛ شابک 9786009666737؛ چاپ دوم 1396؛
عنوان: درمان شوپنهاور؛ نویسنده: اروین دی یالوم؛ مترجم: فروزنده دولتیاری؛ تهران، نیک فرجام، 1398؛ در 438ص؛ شابک 9786226395342؛
عنوان: درمان شوپنهاور؛ نویسنده: اروین دی یالوم؛ مترجم: زهره قلیپور؛ تهران، آتیسا، 1398؛ در 387ص؛ شابک 9786227182088؛
عنوان: درمان شوپنهاور؛ نویسنده: اروین دی یالوم؛ مترجم: زهرا ودادیان؛ تهران، نارون دانش، 1398؛ در 200ص؛ شابک 9786226632430؛
عنوان: درمان شوپنهاور؛ نویسنده: اروین دی یالوم؛ مترجم: ابراهیم حسنی؛ تهران، نیک فرجام، 1398؛ در 512ص؛ شابک 9786226395342؛
یالوم، در رمان «درمان شوپنهاور» خیال میکند، فیلسوف معاصری به نام «فیلیپ»، که فردی منزوی، و به نوعی رونوشت «شوپنهاور» است، به یکی از گروههای درمانی روان درمانگر مشهوری به نام «جولیوس»، وارد میشود، که خود به دلیل رویارویی ناگهانی با سرطان - و مرگ خویش- به بازبینی زندگی و کار خویش بنشسته است؛ «فیلیپ» آرزو دارد، با به کارگیری اندیشه های «شوپنهاور»، به یک مشاور فلسفی بدل شود، و برای این منظور نیازمند سرپرستی «جولیوس» است؛ ولی «جولیوس» میخواهد به یاری اعضای گروه، به «فیلیپ (شوپنهاور)» بقبولاند، که این ارتباط انسانی ست، که به زندگی معنا میبخشد؛ کاری که هیچکس برای «شوپنهاور» تاریخی نکرد؛
اروین دی یالوم - استاد بازنشسته ی روانپزشکی دانشگاه استنفورد، روان درمانگر اگزیستانسیال، و گروه درمانگر، در این کتاب نیز همچون رمان «وقتی نیچه گریست»؛ با زبان سحرانگیز داستان، به معرفی اندیشه های پیچیده ی فلسفی، و توصیف فنون روان درمانی، و گروه درمانی میپردازند
نقل از متن: «این موضوع اغلب مورد توجه قرار گرفته که سه انقلاب عمده ی فکری بشر، ایده ی محوریت انسان را تهدید کرده است؛ اول، کوپرنیک نشان داد که زمین آن مرکزی نیست، که همه ی اجرام آسمانی به دورش میگردند؛ بعد داروین روشن کرد که ما کانون زنجیره ی حیات نیستیم، بلکه مانند سایر موجودات، از تکامل اَشکال دیگر حیات، به وجود آمده ایم؛ سوم، فروید نشان داد که ارباب خانه ی خودمان نیستیم؛ به این معنا که بیشتر رفتار ما تابع نیروهایی خارج از آگاهی ماست؛ شکی نیست که آرتور شوپنهاور در این انقلاب فکری، نقشی برابر فروید داشت، ولی هرگز به تأثیر او اذعان نشد، زیرا شوپنهاور مدتها پیش از تولد فروید، فرض را بر این قرار داده بود، که نیروهای زیست شناختی ژرفی، بر ما حاکمند، ولی ما خود را میفریبیم، و فکر میکنیم، خودمان آگاهانه، فعالیتهایمان را برمیگزینیم؛ (از ترجمه خانم سپیده حبیب، صفحه 297)»؛ پایان نقل
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 10/07/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی (less)
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Glenn Russell
Nov 14, 2013Glenn Russell rated it it was amazing
“Live right, he reminded himself, and have faith that good things will flow from you even if you never learn of them.”
― Irvin D. Yalom, The Schopenhauer Cure
This book receives a five star rating not because the author is on the level with Vladimir Nabokov or Leo Tolstoy, but because this novel is a real page-turner and teaches as great deal about two topics: the dynamics of group psychotherapy and the illustrious nineteenth century philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer. Highly recommended! Take this book with you when you travel by airplane or train and your six hour trip will seem like forty-five minutes - The Schopenhauer Cure is that riveting.
The novel opens with the main character, a seasoned sixty-five year old psychotherapist and leader of group therapy, Julius Hertzfeld, having been diagnosed with cancer and given a year of good health. So what to do with a year to live? Julius reviews his career as a therapist and asks himself if he had cured people or at least provided a degree of help. This self-examination leads Julius to unearth an old file going back twenty years of one patient who spent three years of therapy with him but the patient terminated treatment since what Julius had to offer was not helping. Julius calls the patient, Philip Slate by name, and requests a meeting for the purposes of research.
Turns out, Philip is a counselor himself as well as being a philosophy instructor at a local college. But Philip needs certification to continue his counseling. Without giving away too much of the novel's plot, it is enough to say Philip, as part of his certification process, becomes a new member of Julian's group therapy weekly gathering.
If you have never been part of group therapy, here is your unique opportunity to have the experience. Of course, your experience will be as a reader and not a participant, but, through the magic of the author's novel, you will have the feeling of being an actual member of the group. Not only will you come to know the men and women of the group and how they interact as part of the group, but you will be given the ongoing insights and observations that go through the mind of Julian as he acts as the group's psychotherapist. And the group has a certain energy that is shaken up and lifted with the entrance of Philip. After several sessions with Philip as the new member, the group energy is shaken up yet again with the return of Pam, who has spent a month in India at a meditation retreat.
Back on Philip. As a younger man he was a sex-fiend. That's why Philip was in therapy with Julius. Where psychotherapy with Julius didn't help, the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer did help, and Philip explains to everyone in the group how and why the philosophy of Schopenhauer worked and how Schopenhauer can help others. This leads the author to intersperse chapters in the novel about the life and philosophy of the great nineteenth century thinker, a thinker who had a profound influence on Sigmund Freud and thus psychology and psychotherapy. Schopenhauer didn't shy away from philosophizing about sexuality and other issues of the body; rather, his insights into nature's urges and energies are at the core of this thinking. Thus, the direct connection between what happens in the development of Schopenhauer's philosophy and what happens in the sessions of the group.
The cancer of the group's beloved friend and leader, Julius, adds a bond and emotional charge to all that happens in the group from week to week. To find out exactly how events unfold, please place an order for the novel today and read the first five pages. You will be hooked. You will want to continue reading and reading, nonstop till the end. Thank you Irvin D. Yalom for writing a fine novel and sharing your experience and wisdom as a group psychotherapist, as well providing a penetrating overview of one of the great philosophers in the Western tradition, who, as it turns out, was foundational in linking philosophy with psychology.
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BlackOxford
Sep 20, 2017BlackOxford rated it liked it
Shelves: american, philosophy-theology
Cancer Cures Neurosis
An episode of the British sci-fi comedy, Red Dwarf, has a disturbing female character with a heavy Germanic accent proclaiming, "Schopenhauer was rrrright: Without pain, life has no meaning. I am about to give your life meaning." This is more or less the central theme of Yalom's novel.
Like Robertson Davies' Manticore, The Schopenhauer Cure follows a series of psycho-analytic therapy sessions, interspersed with background material. But Yalom uses group not individual therapy as the binding story-line. And Instead of the Jungian technique of Davies, inserts the highly unlikely character of the German 19th century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer as a model for psychological investigation and treatment.
Unlikely because, although Schopenhauer certainly inspired subsequent doctors of the mind through his philosophy, he himself was without question a neurotic of the first order. He had no stable relationships, male or female. He was alienated from his suicidal father, his emotionally distant mother, and his spinster sister for decades before each of them died without concern on his part. He spent his entire adult life in a sort of normalized isolation dominated by an abiding obsession with death.
On the other hand, Schopenhauer was not an unhappy person. Or to put it more aptly in terms of his philosophy, he experienced less pain than he might have, had he not learned to recognise the futility of his desires - material, social, professional, but especially sexual.
Schopenhauer's self-prescribed psycho-therapy involved training himself insistently that such desires could never actually be achieved, or more accurately that such desires once sated would merely be replaced by others, and so on ad infinitum as well as ad nauseum. So he adopted the life of a hermetic recluse - on the streets of 19th century Frankfurt rather than the deserts of 4th century Syria.
Yalom's motivating character, Philip, is a devotee of Schopenhauer's philosophy, who in a Luther-like attempt to heal himself by diagnosing his own as the world's problem, crashes an established therapy group in order to fulfill his training requirements as... a psycho-therapist!
So a person who is happily convinced that a primary source of pain is attachment to human relationships involves himself in a therapeutic group, the function of which is to intensify human relationships among its members. What could go wrong?
In fact the situation provokes some rather interesting insights by all concerned, including the reader. Without doubt, for example, Yalom's group, both individually and collectively, is improved by the insertion of the Schopenhaurian take on life, no matter how dismal it might appear. Every member of the group perceives an important contribution is made by Philip, although none understands precisely why or how.
More significantly the confrontation between two opposed views of the world pointedly raises the issue of what constitutes the success of a psycho-therapeutic process. What are the criteria of psychological or emotional 'healing'? Is it personal contentment? A feeling of acceptance within a group? Reduced compulsivity? Increased social skills? All or none of the above? It isn't at all clear that members of the group share the same criterion of success to begin with but Philip's arrival formalizes the issue, at least for the therapist-in-charge.
The therapist-in-charge dies with his boots on (from cancer), so we don't get his view on the issue. The only one to get the short end of the therapeutic stick, however, is poor Philip. 'Reconnected' to his desiring self, he suffers the pain and anxiety of human relationships once again. Is 'meaning' worth the price? By whose standard?
Postscript: Tomorrow is the anniversary of Schopenhauer's death. It seems more appropriate to celebrate his death than his birth. So here's to the inimitable Arthur for whom one of my sons is named. (less)
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Ladan
Aug 28, 2020Ladan rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: psychology, american-lit, drama, favorites, philosophy, deserves-a-reread, death
And above all there was Zarathustra’s oft-repeated question whether we would be willing to repeat the precise life we have lived again and again throughout eternity.
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Deea
Mar 22, 2017Deea rated it it was amazing
Recommends it for: Anyone interested in psychoanalysis and philosophy
Shelves: favourites, psychology, best-2017
Relationships are difficult: they can cause frustrations, misunderstandings, self-loathing and a whole range of negative feelings, especially if our own mental formation was biased by hurtful past events, even by traumas that we are not able to acknowledge as such. Human mind is a very powerful tool and most of us don’t have any clue how to understand it and use it to our advantage.
”Imagine an ancient city that built a high wall to protect it from the high torrents of an adjacent river. Centuries later, though the river had long dried up, the city still invested considerable resources in maintaining that wall." (about human-beings and their self-defense systems)
Most of the times we perceive our own actions as the exact expression of our desires. How often is it really so? Sometimes consciousness plays tricks on us and what we perceive as true might only be a mental disguise for something deeply hidden inside our minds. We think people are how we see them: sometimes cruel, not interesting or boring, but we forget that what we see is not what it’s really out there, but a distorted version of reality filtered by our own moods, passions, suffering, ideals (Kant).
Rene Magritte - The Glass House
This book explores how psychoanalysis and group therapy can contribute to the understanding of our actions and torments. It digs for the roots of unhappiness in certain individuals who have problems dealing with their relationships because their controversial actions are empowered by hidden psychological sufferings. The characters can be seen as prototypes of certain psychological afflictions: a beautiful woman whose relations with other people are heavily influenced by her unquenchable thirst to be admired, a woman that cannot get past her rage and destroys all the relationships she has with men, a sexually-addicted person that cannot relate to other human beings etc. and they become aware of their hidden motives only through discussions with the other members of the group during therapy sessions.
These discussions explore both psychological and philosophical realms: Schopenhauer and his views (together with the Buddhist influences on his philosophy) are explored and discussed in order to support certain opinions about behaviors. Together with this, other philosophical views are brought to discussion. The tone is erudite, but also light and entertaining and this makes this book a very enjoyable read. What I liked most about it is that it made me really want to know more about psychology (for which I seem to have quite a passion lately) and about philosophy (because of this book I started reading “A History of Western Philosophy” by Bertrand Russell which I really enjoy) and it made me understand more about my own behavior. (less)
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Ade Bailey
Sep 09, 2008Ade Bailey rated it really liked it
Shelves: fiction
Irvin Yalom, The Schopehahauer Cure
This is a lovely novel. Its apparently ridiculous ending is not so: it is a wink from the other side of the grave, a fatuous and caring slice of the humour by which we warm ourselves against death, perhaps Schopenhauer’s wink and rare shy smile. In fact, it is a brilliantly constructed novel of ideas. It’s theatrical in that most of the action takes place in a group therapy session, one set (with moveable furniture it turns out), and theatrical in its drawing of dramatic tension between sharply delineated charcters.
Yalom’s focus is as in When Nietzsche Wept, the only other of his novels I have read: how, beneath the hot drama of our furies and desires do we, in the ice cold stare of the great existential voids of death and meaningless, live a good life? When philosophy, religion and literature have been evacuated of comfort, how do we face our common dilemma? Conveniently for the novel, the therapist Julius has been given (almost precisely as it turns out) twelve months to live, the period during which these meetings take place. The other main character, Philip, is coldly philosophical, ironically one may say an inhabitant of a philia of bodiless communicants in the great universe of the eternal Logos, the apparent counterpoint to warm and human Julius whose practice is based upon caritas. In fact both characters are points in one mind, oscillating as do all the other characters between points of identity so dearly held but shown to be feeble and fragile: in the integration that occurs, it is this joint exposure that empties attachments and inward looking vanities. The novel is a practical guide to the doing of therapy, and the doing of it in the ordinary world of our friendships and relationships, and the world of our enemies.
Ultimately, there is not a conflict between the transcendent and the quotidian, Samsara and Nirvana cannot be separated. It is all here. Now.
(less)
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The Schopenhauer Cure
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2021) |
 First edition | |
| Author | Irvin D. Yalom |
|---|---|
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
Publication date | 2005 |
The Schopenhauer Cure is a 2005 novel by Irvin D. Yalom, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University, an existentialist, and psychotherapist
The story takes place around group therapies coordinated by Julius Hertzfeld and the influence and participation of a former patient, Philip Slate:
The book uses novelties in the world of psychiatry and psychology, with the addition of the philosophy of German 19th-century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, who claims that "to live is to suffer", inciting the self-knowledge of each individual. The reader is also presented with descriptions attempting to piece together the life of Arthur Schopenhauer:
See also[edit source]
References[edit source]
- ^ "yalom.com/schopenhauer". yalom.com. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
- ^ Yalom, Irvin (2005). The Schopenhauer Cure. HarperCollins.
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쇼펜하우어, 집단심리치료
어빈 얄롬 (지은이),최윤미,이혜성 (옮긴이)시그마프레스2006-12-10원제 : The Schopenhauer Cure (2005년)
책소개
두 남자가 집단치료를 통해 자신의 삶을 찾아가는 매력적인 스토리의 소설. 심리치료사이기도 한 지은이 어빈 얄롬이 집단심리치료 소설을 통해 쇼펜하우어의 심리적 삶을 사실과 허구를 잘 섞어 흥미진진하게 엮었다.
죽음을 앞둔 심리치료사 줄이어스는 자신의 인생과 직업을 뒤돌아보게 된다. 자신이 진실로 환자들의 인생을 변화시키는 데 도움을 주었을까? 치료에 실패했던 환자들은 어떻게 되었을까? 지금이라도 그들을 구원할 수 있을까?
줄리어스는 20여 년 점 섹스 중독 문제로 자신에게 치료를 받다 떠난 필립을 찾는다. 당시 필립이 사람과 관계를 맺는 수단은 오로지 섹스뿐이었고, 줄리어스는 필립을 변화시키는 데 실패했었다.
그러나 줄리어스가 다시 찾은 필립은 놀랍게도 철학적 상담자가 되어 있었다. 필립은 상담소 개업 자격을 얻기 위해 줄리어스에게 도움을 청하고, 줄리어스는 필립이 집단치료에 참여하는 조건으로 동의한다.
책속에서
필립이 짧은 침묵을 깨뜨렸다. '좋아요. 나는 내 생각을 정리할 시간이 필요했어요. 내가 생각한 것은 이겁니다. 보니와 레베카는 비슷한 고뇌를 가지고 있어요. 보니는 인기가 없는 것을 못 견뎌 하고, 반면에 레베카는 더 이상 인기가 없다는 것을 못 견뎌 하는 거예요. 두 분 다 변덕스러운 다른 사람이 자기에 대해 어떻게 생각하는가... 더보기
저자 및 역자소개
어빈 얄롬 (Irvin D. Yalom) (지은이)
저자파일
신간알리미 신청
스탠퍼드대학교 정신의학과 명예교수이며 샌프란시스코에서 정신과 개업의사로 활동 중이다. 그는 ‘나는 사랑의 처형자가 되기 싫다, 카우치에 누워서, 스피노자 프로블럼, 쇼펜하우어, 집단심리치료, 보다 냉정하게 보다 용기있게, 폴라와의 여행: 삶과 죽음, 그 실존적 고뇌에 관한 심리치료 이야기’ 등 여러 권의 책을 저술하였다.
최근작 : <입원환자의 집단 정신치료>,<삶과 죽음 사이에 서서>,<니체가 눈물을 흘릴 때> … 총 159종 (모두보기)
최윤미 (옮긴이)
저자파일
신간알리미 신청
2013년 현재 강원대학교 교수, 한국상담심리학회 이사
이화여자대학교 대학원 심리학과 박사(상담심리학)
한국상담심리학회 회장(2012), 학술위원장, 윤리위원장, 편집위원, 서울가정법원 가사조정위원 역임
저서 멘붕탈출! 스트레스 관리(공저, 학지사, 2013)
역서 스트레스 없는 풍요로운 삶(공역, 시그마프레스, 2013)
쇼펜하우어 집단심리치료(공역, 시그마프레스, 2008)
사이코드라마 가이드(시그마프레스, 2007)
나는 사랑의 처형자가 되기 싫다(시그마프레스, 2001)
최근작 : <현대청년심리학>,<심리극> … 총 13종 (모두보기)
이혜성 (옮긴이)
저자파일
신간알리미 신청
한국상담대학원대학교 총장
이화여자대학교 명예교수
서울대학교 사범대학 졸업
미국 버지니아대학교 교육학 박사(상담자교육 전공)
서울여자대학교, 이화여자대학교 교수 역임
한국청소년상담원 원장 역임
저서
여성상담
삶·사람·상담
문학상담
사랑하자 그러므로 사랑하자
아름다움은 영원한 기쁨이어라
내 삶의 네 기둥
역서
쇼펜하우어, 집단심리치료
폴라와의 여행: 삶과 죽음, 그 실존적 고뇌에 관한
심리치료 이야기
카우치에 누워서
보다 냉정하게 보다 용기있게
어빈 D. 얄롬의 심리치료와 인간의 조건
매일 조금 더 가까이
스피노자 프로블럼
삶과 죽음 사이에 서서
접기
최근작 : <문학상담> … 총 19종 (모두보기)
평점 분포
8.9
구매자 (4)
전체 (5)
공감순
우리를 찾아가는 과정 구매
우왕 2014-07-29 공감 (0) 댓글 (0)
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공감
미국 중산층 배경이라는 분명한 한계가 있으나(미국에서 사회복지/집단상담은 값비싼 상품에 지나지 않는다), 국내에 출간된 그 어떤 책보다도 쇼펜하우어의 삶을 이해하는데 도움을 준다. 최소한 나치당원 발터 아벤트로트의 조잡한 평전보다 훨씬 낫다고 할 수 있다. 구매
블루비니 2013-04-20 공감 (0) 댓글 (0)
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공감
집단심리치료과정에 대해 얻는 바가 많았다. 죽음에 직면한 의사과 쇼펜하우어의 자아를 가진 한 남자의 치료과정은 스스로에 대한 많은 질문과 깨달음의 과정을 갇게 한다. 구매
jnh0320 2012-05-17 공감 (0) 댓글 (0)
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공감
집단상담에는 많은 장점이 있다는 것을 배울 수 있었다. 마치 재밌는 집단상담 사례집을 읽는 것 같기도 했다. 그리고 죽음의 순간까지 자신의 소명을 다한 집단상담 리더 줄리어스의 행동에 큰 감동을 받았다. 여러모로 나에게 긍정적인 에너지와 새로운 지적 호기심을 선물해준 좋은 책이었다. 구매
그릇 2014-03-02 공감 (0) 댓글 (0)
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공감
마이리뷰
구매자 (1)
전체 (2)
리뷰쓰기
공감순
도서기록장 백삼십사번째.- 쇼펜하우어, 집단심리치료 새창으로 보기
개인적인 생각으로는 개인심리치료보다 집단심리치료가 아주 좋은 치료를 할 수 있다고 생각한다. 하지만 알 수 없는 위험상황이 많고 좀 더 신중해야 한다는 단점때문에 그 가치가 가려진다고 해야 할까. 뭐어 그건 일대일심리치료에도 마찬가지로 적용되지만. 사실 어빈 얄롬의 ’카우치에 누워서’라는 심리학 책을 노리고 있었는데, 난데없이 처음 집게 된 책은 이것이었다. 쇼펜하우어와 집단심리치료의 만남은 사실 쇼펜하우어의 저서를 한 번도 읽어 본 적이 없는 나에게조차도 너무나 키워드가 안 맞아 보였기 때문이었다. 전형적인 소설 방식을 따라가고 있지만 심리치료라는 가상현실과 쇼펜하우어의 일생에 대한 이야기를 조합시켰다. 또한 줄리어스라는 유대감 높은 심리상담가와 필립이라는 감정이 결핍된 철학상담가의 대립도 주목할 만했다. 하지만 내가 무엇보다도 흥미가 있었던 장면은 팸과 필립의 만남이었다. 여기까지는 스포일러이므로 생략. 여성과 남성에게 얽혀있는 감정을 매우 잘 표현했다. 무엇보다도 내가 이겨내려 노력하는 남성에 대한 편견이 팸과 비슷해서 깜짝 놀랐다. 아무튼, 심리치료에 관심이 있으신 분들은 한 번 읽어보시기를 추천한다.
그동안 쇼펜하우어를 부정적으로만 보았었는데, 프로이트가 그의 이론과 관련이 있다고 하니 일단 ’의지와 표상으로부터의 세계’부터 정독해봐야겠다. 쇼펜하우어에게 심리치료가 필요하다는 주장은 파격적이라고 생각한다 ㅋ 하지만 그가 치료되었다면 과연 지금 허무주의라는 개념이 살아남을 수 있었을까?
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갈매미르 2010-12-14 공감(1) 댓글(0)
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집단역동의 생생한 현장 새창으로 보기 구매
집단정신치료의 대가로 잘 알려져 있는 얄롬의 책이다. 이 책은 교과서가 아니라 소설이다. 소설의 형식을 빌어 쇼펜하우어의 이론과 집단정신치료의 원리와 둘 사이의 접목을 생생하게 그려내고 있다. 쇼펜하우어나 집단정신치료를 이 책으로 제대로 공부할 수 있는 것은 아니지만 적어도 잘 꾸려진 집단이 실제로 어떻게 돌아가고 있는지 그 생생한 현장을 느낄 수는 있다. 게다가 다소의 긴장감을 가미하며 소설의 구성에 충실한 짜임은 읽는 내내 다음 장을 궁금하게 만들다가 남은 페이지가 줄어들수록 책장 넘기기가 아까워지다가 마지막 페이지를 읽고 난후 나도 모르게 책을 가슴에 끌어안게 만드는 그런 책이다. 집단을 대상으로 작업하는 모든 사람들에게 이 책을 강추한다.
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