Article Review: “Momma and the Meaning of Life”
Yalom’s (1999) book, “Momma and the Meaning of Life” provides tales of psychotherapy. Several of Yalom psychotherapy group tales were of value to my training as a professional counselor. Throughout his book, there are multiple advice given to Yalom that are worthy of attention, especially at a counselor in training. I have always had an interest in group therapy; Yalom’ s tales of his group therapy experiences gave clinical insight of group therapy in various settings. There was a remarkable example of countertransference that verified the importance of a counselor’s ability to be attentive and discrete to protect clients’ confidentiality. And… In the beginning of Yalom’s book, a professional advised him to allow patients to teach him versus him teaching patients (Yalom, 1999). In parallel to learning in graduate school that clients are not their …show more content…
When I first started reading the book, I must say that I was not interested because of his word choice and it was a different style of writing I was used to. However, I kept reading only to find myself more intrigued. I appreciate how Yalom provided tales to educate readers. This approach, his gift in writing, is very valuable in the counseling profession. His tales of real-life and fictional events demonstrates how every client is different; even when clients present with similar situations his or her reactions varies. His tales stress how vital it is to establish a real therapeutic relationship with clients. By the same token, his tales illustrate how beneficial is it for counselors to be honest with themselves and their all-around feelings. While training to be a professional counselor, I will use what I have learned from reading this book to become a competent substance abuse and clinical counselor and provide effective services to clients and the
Yalom’s (1999) book, “Momma and the Meaning of Life” provides tales of psychotherapy. Several of Yalom psychotherapy group tales were of value to my training as a professional counselor. Throughout his book, there are multiple advice given to Yalom that are worthy of attention, especially at a counselor in training. I have always had an interest in group therapy; Yalom’ s tales of his group therapy experiences gave clinical insight of group therapy in various settings. There was a remarkable example of countertransference that verified the importance of a counselor’s ability to be attentive and discrete to protect clients’ confidentiality. And… In the beginning of Yalom’s book, a professional advised him to allow patients to teach him versus him teaching patients (Yalom, 1999). In parallel to learning in graduate school that clients are not their …show more content…
When I first started reading the book, I must say that I was not interested because of his word choice and it was a different style of writing I was used to. However, I kept reading only to find myself more intrigued. I appreciate how Yalom provided tales to educate readers. This approach, his gift in writing, is very valuable in the counseling profession. His tales of real-life and fictional events demonstrates how every client is different; even when clients present with similar situations his or her reactions varies. His tales stress how vital it is to establish a real therapeutic relationship with clients. By the same token, his tales illustrate how beneficial is it for counselors to be honest with themselves and their all-around feelings. While training to be a professional counselor, I will use what I have learned from reading this book to become a competent substance abuse and clinical counselor and provide effective services to clients and the