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Harper Perennial Modern Classics

Lying on the Couch: A Psychological Novel of Therapy, Obsession, Sexuality, and Redemptive Human Truth

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From the bestselling author of Love's Executioner and When Nietzsche Wept comes a provocative exploration of the unusual relationships three therapists form with their patients.Seymour is a therapist of the old school who blurs the boundary of sexual propriety with one of his clients. Marshal, who is haunted by his own obsessive-compulsive behaviors, is troubled by the role money plays in his dealings with his patients. Finally, there is Ernest Lash. Driven by his sincere desire to help and his faith in psychoanalysis, he invents a radically new approach to therapy -- a totally open and honest relationship with a patient that threatens to have devastating results.Exposing the many lies that are told on and off the psychoanalyst's couch, Lying on the Couch gives readers a tantalizing, almost illicit, glimpse at what their therapists might really be thinking during their sessions. Fascinating, engrossing and relentlessly intelligent, it ultimately moves readers with a denouement of surprising humanity and redemptive faith. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Perennial Modern Classics


Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 18, 1997


Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Print length ‏ : ‎ 384 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0060928514


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 13


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.2 ounces


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.28 x 5.1 x 0.93 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #138,861 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #19 in Religious Fiction Anthologies #417 in Medical Fiction (Books) #432 in Jewish Literature & Fiction


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • Brilliant
I was fascinated from the first moment with this novel. It's a very interesting expose of psycho-therapy - although you don't have to be involved with psycho-analysis to be able to appreciate the story. The main protagonist, Ernest Lash, is just as his name suggests; earnest. He is vulnerable, erotic, sincere and trying his very best to rise above the professional detachment of his peers. He is experimenting with being totally honest with his patients, and in doing so, discovers the same pit-falls and dangers experienced in any truly intimate relationship. The novel tracks the gamut of human foibles, neatly shared between it's believable cast of characters. Pomposity, megalomania, addiction, betrayal, lust and revenge all rear their ugly heads - tempered by the redemptive actions of forgiveness, compassion and sincerity. A very satisfying and informative journey into the miasms of the human mind. I don't know why I was surprised that Yalom was such a good writer. Perhaps I expected the dryness that often accompanies the writing of many other professionals in their fields of expertise. Not so in this case. Yalom cleverly draws the reader in from the first paragraph and keeps us turning pages until the last. Highly recommended. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2006 by Chez
    • Multi-layered & Unpredictable.
Review Image by KathleenHemrich KathleenHemrich
Okay, I had to order this book for school (I'm studying to be a LPC - Licensed Professional Counselor). I was excited to have to buy a non-fiction book instead of a fiction book for school, especially when I saw the cover of the book and the reviews. If anything, even if the book is terrible, it looks great on my nightstand (see picture) :-). My schooling starts end of August and I have already read about 100 pages of this book, I have not finished it obliviously but I feel I can give enough of a review/perspective to hopefully help others. Pros: The writing is crisp, engaging in third person and have different "voices" because the story deals with different characters. The author, Irvin D. Yalom, does a good job of creating very different types of characters and he knows A LOT about psychotherapy because he is one, the author is currently in his 80's and according to Wiki page, still cuts a strong figure in his pictures and I can imagine he is (or was?) a bit of a Don Juan if you will with the ladies. I base that presumption on the fact that the first character in the book is an elderly man who is a psychotherapist that gets involved with a very promiscuous/off kilter patient. I imagined the author relating to this since he wrote the book n 1996 and as of 2016, he's 85, so 20 years ago, mid 60's he could foresee a man in his 70's still being able to catch a young and sexually active woman. But that's not what this book is about really, so far, the book seems to be about how as patients, as clients, as therapist etc. we all experience things in our own way. What makes Irvin (the author) so good is that he is able to not just create multi-dimensional characters but SO many of them! It's as if the author himself has tons of different personalities in him (he is a Gemini ...ha, so who knows). So far this is why I DO like the book. Now Cons: Where I struggle with the book is Irvin sometimes, especially in the first chapter, writes too much and makes you want to get to the point. Also, as interesting and varied some of his characters are? Some of a bit stereotypical. I have no idea where the book will end but it's much like a series of short stories strung together yet with most, if not all, the characters somehow being connected to each other. I look forward to the end of this book, not because it's so bad, but rather because much like ourselves, as human beings, it is multi-layered and unpredictable. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2016 by KathleenHemrich KathleenHemrich
    • Engaging
Although the book started a bit slow for my taste, I trusted Yalom and waited patiently for the plot to unfold. Boy! not only the book took some interesting turns I didn't expect, but it also delivered many interesting lessons through the various characters. The second half of the book went by extremely fast for me and I found it difficult to put the book down. Although I was able to foresee parts of the end, I was still pleasantly surprised by the way things came to an end. As a Clinical Psychology student, I was interested in reading this book for an expansion into Yalom's therapy perspective. The book provides wonderful advice for those who are open to listen. As an avid reader, I found the book engaging and entertaining. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2010 by MD
    • Teaching fiction
Excellent book - it seems that the novel was written to flesh out the issues that face modern therapists and detail some of the worst case scenarios possible for any training psychoanalyst. Issues of sexual impropriety, gifting, excessive adherence to psychoanalytic method over connection, coaching patients toward their addictions, and fraud are essential themes of this book. Sometimes Yalom's voice can be heard in all of the characters and the scenarios are a little pat, but the underlying message rings true. The teaching tenets of honesty, propriety, and the impact of therapeutic connection are the goals of the book and all of its characters. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2017 by Black Science Labs
    • Loved the story. Wish it could've gone on longer.
Lying On The Couch was quite a bit different from some of Yalom's other books — thinking specifically, "The Gift of Therapy" — in that it read as more narrative than autobiographical. That being said though, remembering back to things he wrote in The Gift of Therapy, specifically his exhortation on being honest with patients by letting them know that they matter and touching them when appropriate, I'd be shocked if Ernest Lash wasn't at least in some ways a foil for Yalom, if not Yalom entirely. Anyway, I loved the book, but I also work in mental health myself and could see why the story might not appeal to the average reader or that they might not enjoy it as much as they could otherwise, if they didn't pick up on some of the subtleties or have an idea as to how psychotherapy works, even if it's not Freudian psychoanalysis. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2019 by James M.

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