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.Įxposing 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. Marshal, who is haunted by his own obsessive-compulsive behaviors, is troubled by the role money plays in his dealings with his patients. Seymour is a therapist of the old school who blurs the boundary of sexual propriety with one of his clients. This is a novel for anyone who wants to know how the mind of a psychotherapist really works.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. “ insight into his own profession is sharp and merciless, recalling both Oliver Sacks and Studs Terkel. This may be the funniest and most sensitive novel ever written about psychoanalysis.” - San Jose Mercury News Yalom brings to his latest work of fiction an authentic mastery of the techniques of psychotherapy and a real genius for showing the reader what is really going on inside the head of a psychiatrist while he or she is shrinking someone.” - Los Angeles Times “ Lying on the Couch is a witty, gripping and hugely entertaining novel from which the reader effortlessly learns a great deal about the theory and practice of psychotherapy.” - David Lodge, author of Therapy and The Art of Fiction “If Freud or Jung had set out to write a psychological thriller, I doubt that either one could have come up with a yarn as taut and telling.” - Los Angeles Times Fascinating, engrossing and relentlessly intelligent, it ultimately moves readers with a denouement of surprising humanity and redemptive faith.

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.

Lying on the Couch by Irvin D. Yalom