I'm in two minds about this , 26 Oct 2008
On the one hand, I didn't really discover anything new by reading this book. Unless this book is literally your first step to getting better, you will probably, on some level, already know everything that's within its pages. But lots of information by itself can be overwhelming and so it's easy to be discouraged about facing up to it. On the other hand, where this book is useful is in breaking down and tackling piece by piece your dysfunctional thinking.

I do also like the IDEA that this book gives you exercises to do so that you are no longer passive in your troubles, but you are active in getting to grips with them. In theory that's good, but in practice I have to admit to skipping over many of them. It's easy to persuade yourself that YOU don't need to do them because you can imagine what they're supposed to teach and you've learned that lesson already -- from another book, your therapist or just because it's so obvious anyway.

These exercises mostly involve filling in tables (like the Thought Record), lists and questionnaires. I particularly liked the Thought Record (which is the central idea and tool of the whole book) and I think I can see myself filling out many of these worksheets as the months go by even if I am not confident that they will produce any lasting benefit. However, doing many of these exercises in this book you do feel a little bit like a baby being spoon-fed. But then again you do probably secretly enjoy it too.

Lastly, it is comforting to be reminded that you are not alone in having psychological problems. So I liked the four or five case histories that the reader follows through the book and through the exercises. You could easily empathise with these people and I saw a little bit of myself in many of their thoughts and their experiences. And I'm also glad that in the epilogue we learn that they all got significantly better. But then again the authors would hardly have picked unresponsive cases to highlight.

very effective self help guide, 07 Jul 2008
This is an excellent book to make you realise how your feelings are determined by your thoughts, and how you can positively influence your mood by changing the way you think. Some self-help books don't deliver because they're too vague but this book is also very practical, with many useful exercises. It's no wonder that many people are so enthusiastic about CBT and talking about it as an alternative to medication. I do not suffer from depression and was always a fairly happy person but this book has taught me how to be happier still. I would also recommended Eckhart Tolle's the Power of Now for a slightly different perspective and Steve Taylor's Making Time Making Time: Why Time Seems to Pass at Different Speeds and How to Control It for an invesigation into time and how we can learn to expand time and learn to live in the present.


The old made new, 07 Mar 2008
I always recommend books on cognitive psychology as they represent the cutting edge of psychotherapy. I also always recommend FREE YOUR MIND by Anthony Stultz-he helps us to see the roots of CBT are from the Buddhist tradition and he presents a system that combines CBT in a Buddhist orientation.

Helpful Strategies, 04 Jul 2007
This book offers many helpful cognitive therapy strategies to overcome mental distortions that lead to mood disorders such as anxiety and depression. Cognitive therapy looks at changing thought patterns that contribute to negative feelings. Once you gain an understanding of your own distortions and how they contribute to your feeling down or anxious, you can then creative positive thoughts and feel better about yourself with the helpful cognitive therapy strategies offered in this book.

I highly recommend this book as a practical hands-on book on cognitive therapy. Also try "Feeling Good" by David Burns and for a novel about Logan's struggle with depression, check out "Nexus: A Neo Novel."


12 years on, still using it..., 01 Jul 2007
When I had post-natal depression, OCD (cleaning...) and agoraphobia, my GP referred me to a psychologist. Who sat me down with this book. We worked through it, chapter by chapter. As a medical professional, I was familiar with the concepts, but hadn't been able to see clearly enough to put them into practice for myself. Within 18 months, I was living a full normal life and haven't had a panic attack since. 12 years on, I still refer other people to this book, use it with my own clients, and use the techniques to get me through exams, interviews and public speaking. Brilliant.

I'm in two minds about this , 26 Oct 2008
On the one hand, I didn't really discover anything new by reading this book. Unless this book is literally your first step to getting better, you will probably, on some level, already know everything that's within its pages. But lots of information by itself can be overwhelming and so it's easy to be discouraged about facing up to it. On the other hand, where this book is useful is in breaking down and tackling piece by piece your dysfunctional thinking.

I do also like the IDEA that this book gives you exercises to do so that you are no longer passive in your troubles, but you are active in getting to grips with them. In theory that's good, but in practice I have to admit to skipping over many of them. It's easy to persuade yourself that YOU don't need to do them because you can imagine what they're supposed to teach and you've learned that lesson already -- from another book, your therapist or just because it's so obvious anyway.

These exercises mostly involve filling in tables (like the Thought Record), lists and questionnaires. I particularly liked the Thought Record (which is the central idea and tool of the whole book) and I think I can see myself filling out many of these worksheets as the months go by even if I am not confident that they will produce any lasting benefit. However, doing many of these exercises in this book you do feel a little bit like a baby being spoon-fed. But then again you do probably secretly enjoy it too.

Lastly, it is comforting to be reminded that you are not alone in having psychological problems. So I liked the four or five case histories that the reader follows through the book and through the exercises. You could easily empathise with these people and I saw a little bit of myself in many of their thoughts and their experiences. And I'm also glad that in the epilogue we learn that they all got significantly better. But then again the authors would hardly have picked unresponsive cases to highlight.

very effective self help guide, 07 Jul 2008
This is an excellent book to make you realise how your feelings are determined by your thoughts, and how you can positively influence your mood by changing the way you think. Some self-help books don't deliver because they're too vague but this book is also very practical, with many useful exercises. It's no wonder that many people are so enthusiastic about CBT and talking about it as an alternative to medication. I do not suffer from depression and was always a fairly happy person but this book has taught me how to be happier still. I would also recommended Eckhart Tolle's the Power of Now for a slightly different perspective and Steve Taylor's Making Time Making Time: Why Time Seems to Pass at Different Speeds and How to Control It for an invesigation into time and how we can learn to expand time and learn to live in the present.


The old made new, 07 Mar 2008
I always recommend books on cognitive psychology as they represent the cutting edge of psychotherapy. I also always recommend FREE YOUR MIND by Anthony Stultz-he helps us to see the roots of CBT are from the Buddhist tradition and he presents a system that combines CBT in a Buddhist orientation.

Helpful Strategies, 04 Jul 2007
This book offers many helpful cognitive therapy strategies to overcome mental distortions that lead to mood disorders such as anxiety and depression. Cognitive therapy looks at changing thought patterns that contribute to negative feelings. Once you gain an understanding of your own distortions and how they contribute to your feeling down or anxious, you can then creative positive thoughts and feel better about yourself with the helpful cognitive therapy strategies offered in this book.

I highly recommend this book as a practical hands-on book on cognitive therapy. Also try "Feeling Good" by David Burns and for a novel about Logan's struggle with depression, check out "Nexus: A Neo Novel."


12 years on, still using it..., 01 Jul 2007
When I had post-natal depression, OCD (cleaning...) and agoraphobia, my GP referred me to a psychologist. Who sat me down with this book. We worked through it, chapter by chapter. As a medical professional, I was familiar with the concepts, but hadn't been able to see clearly enough to put them into practice for myself. Within 18 months, I was living a full normal life and haven't had a panic attack since. 12 years on, I still refer other people to this book, use it with my own clients, and use the techniques to get me through exams, interviews and public speaking. Brilliant.

Insightful but verbose, 14 Jan 2008
Having for the last two years been a student of the integrative approach with an emphasis on the humanistic paradigm, I was fascinated by Roger's own journey and reasoning behind his Core Conditions as well as his presentation of the humanistic paradigm in its original form.

My only criticisms of this book are it's repetitiveness (better editing required in bringing together the constituent papers) and it's verbosity, which only serves to obfuscate the subject matter.



A humble masterpiece, 15 Oct 2007
This book by Carl Rogers on client-centered therapy may lack the drama, the force or the cleverness associated with some books on other forms of psychotherapy. What it doesn't seem to lack is a quiet wisdom that flowed from Rogers' many years of experience and sensitivity to his patients.

Despite some redundancy, being a collection of papers and presentations from Rogers over many years, "On Becoming A Person":

1) presents a branch of psychotherapy distinct from psychoanalysis and learning theories as well as from behaviorism, focused more on basically well people growing than on helping disturbed people get better.

2) is rooted in Roger's positive view of human nature as basically good and constructive, as he discovered in encounters with his patients. Roger's emphasis on empathic understanding, on not imposing theoretical speculations about the clients state of mind and on avoiding forceful interference would seem to avoid some of the abuses associated with some other psychotherapies.

3) presents ideas about the helping relationship that Rogers extended from psychotherapy into other areas such as education. Rogers's nondirective approach suggested to him the possibility of a progressive education free of examinations, of grades, of conclusions, and even of teachers.

4) despite its "fuzziness", Rogers does present some experimental evidence in favor of client-centered therapy as compared to those based on learning theory and behaviorism.

5) Rogers' shows appreciation of the growing power of the behavioral sciences but expresses concern less this science, like other sciences, becomes manipulated by politicians to the detriment of people. He basically wonders, if a culture is to be designed, as Skinner had suggested, what safeguards there are on the designer.

Rogers may seem too rosy and to be cherry-picking his results. The kind of measurements he presents, such as a psychological test measuring "changes in the self" based on self reporting may seem too fuzzy. How long it takes, compared to other available approaches, to get effective change seems not to have been a primary consideration for Rogers and may explain the rise of more recent approaches like Cognitive Therapy and Constructive Living. As a lay person, I respect the humane treatment Rogers recommended toward those entering psychotherapy as clients.

A major contribution by Rogers seems to be his recognition that his clients were not objects to do things to but rather fellow people whose experience he could share in.

Are the core condtions truly 'enough'?, 30 Aug 2006
I am currently trying to read this book in preparation for a counselling diploma beginning next month. Having already read Rogers's book, "A Way of Being", I thought I would enjoy "On Becoming a Person", however I am struggling to be engaged with it.
I think the problem is that I feel as though I am just covering ground that he has already discussed in A WAY OF BEING. While I agree that for a relationship to be helpful there has to be the core conditions of empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence, I feel as though I need more than just this if I am to develop as a counsellor. I feel as though you need to have some knowledge of how your clients can help their situations - people come to counselling because they want to improve aspects of their life, and I am not sure that just the core conditions are enough.
While I shall try and continue with ON BECOMING A PERSON for my course, I have already started looking for alternative books whcih may offer more. One that has caught my eye is Egan's SKILLED HELPER - a book which suposedly takes Rogers's core conditions as a starting point, but then develops ways of actually helping clients meet goals which would be helpful to them.

Hippy Tree Hugging Counselling, 04 Jun 2006
This is a guide to counselling written by someone who had individuals who where frequently lonely, miserable and rich approach him for counselling, his clients where willing to engage with counselling, had some idea of what they wanted from counselling and where paying for every session,

as a result some of his recommendations about unconditional positive regard, friendly counselling and little or no highlighting of inconsistencies or goal setting from the outset can be understood,

however I would recommend Egan instead, his three steps model of counselling, beginning with a brief stage of positive regard, establishing communication through listening, active listening, rephrasing, paraphrasing etc. moving on to a stage of challenging inconsistencies, rational/cognitive behaviour theraphy, goal setting to a final phase of evaluation, review etc.

in Egan there is most of the suggestions you'll find in Rogers and more, plus its better for real world counselling situations, where people are often confused about what counselling is, its purpose or outright resistant,

Brilliant, 27 Jul 2005
Excelliant read. Very hard to put down.

I'm in two minds about this , 26 Oct 2008
On the one hand, I didn't really discover anything new by reading this book. Unless this book is literally your first step to getting better, you will probably, on some level, already know everything that's within its pages. But lots of information by itself can be overwhelming and so it's easy to be discouraged about facing up to it. On the other hand, where this book is useful is in breaking down and tackling piece by piece your dysfunctional thinking.

I do also like the IDEA that this book gives you exercises to do so that you are no longer passive in your troubles, but you are active in getting to grips with them. In theory that's good, but in practice I have to admit to skipping over many of them. It's easy to persuade yourself that YOU don't need to do them because you can imagine what they're supposed to teach and you've learned that lesson already -- from another book, your therapist or just because it's so obvious anyway.

These exercises mostly involve filling in tables (like the Thought Record), lists and questionnaires. I particularly liked the Thought Record (which is the central idea and tool of the whole book) and I think I can see myself filling out many of these worksheets as the months go by even if I am not confident that they will produce any lasting benefit. However, doing many of these exercises in this book you do feel a little bit like a baby being spoon-fed. But then again you do probably secretly enjoy it too.

Lastly, it is comforting to be reminded that you are not alone in having psychological problems. So I liked the four or five case histories that the reader follows through the book and through the exercises. You could easily empathise with these people and I saw a little bit of myself in many of their thoughts and their experiences. And I'm also glad that in the epilogue we learn that they all got significantly better. But then again the authors would hardly have picked unresponsive cases to highlight.

very effective self help guide, 07 Jul 2008
This is an excellent book to make you realise how your feelings are determined by your thoughts, and how you can positively influence your mood by changing the way you think. Some self-help books don't deliver because they're too vague but this book is also very practical, with many useful exercises. It's no wonder that many people are so enthusiastic about CBT and talking about it as an alternative to medication. I do not suffer from depression and was always a fairly happy person but this book has taught me how to be happier still. I would also recommended Eckhart Tolle's the Power of Now for a slightly different perspective and Steve Taylor's Making Time Making Time: Why Time Seems to Pass at Different Speeds and How to Control It for an invesigation into time and how we can learn to expand time and learn to live in the present.


The old made new, 07 Mar 2008
I always recommend books on cognitive psychology as they represent the cutting edge of psychotherapy. I also always recommend FREE YOUR MIND by Anthony Stultz-he helps us to see the roots of CBT are from the Buddhist tradition and he presents a system that combines CBT in a Buddhist orientation.

Helpful Strategies, 04 Jul 2007
This book offers many helpful cognitive therapy strategies to overcome mental distortions that lead to mood disorders such as anxiety and depression. Cognitive therapy looks at changing thought patterns that contribute to negative feelings. Once you gain an understanding of your own distortions and how they contribute to your feeling down or anxious, you can then creative positive thoughts and feel better about yourself with the helpful cognitive therapy strategies offered in this book.

I highly recommend this book as a practical hands-on book on cognitive therapy. Also try "Feeling Good" by David Burns and for a novel about Logan's struggle with depression, check out "Nexus: A Neo Novel."


12 years on, still using it..., 01 Jul 2007
When I had post-natal depression, OCD (cleaning...) and agoraphobia, my GP referred me to a psychologist. Who sat me down with this book. We worked through it, chapter by chapter. As a medical professional, I was familiar with the concepts, but hadn't been able to see clearly enough to put them into practice for myself. Within 18 months, I was living a full normal life and haven't had a panic attack since. 12 years on, I still refer other people to this book, use it with my own clients, and use the techniques to get me through exams, interviews and public speaking. Brilliant.

Insightful but verbose, 14 Jan 2008
Having for the last two years been a student of the integrative approach with an emphasis on the humanistic paradigm, I was fascinated by Roger's own journey and reasoning behind his Core Conditions as well as his presentation of the humanistic paradigm in its original form.

My only criticisms of this book are it's repetitiveness (better editing required in bringing together the constituent papers) and it's verbosity, which only serves to obfuscate the subject matter.



A humble masterpiece, 15 Oct 2007
This book by Carl Rogers on client-centered therapy may lack the drama, the force or the cleverness associated with some books on other forms of psychotherapy. What it doesn't seem to lack is a quiet wisdom that flowed from Rogers' many years of experience and sensitivity to his patients.

Despite some redundancy, being a collection of papers and presentations from Rogers over many years, "On Becoming A Person":

1) presents a branch of psychotherapy distinct from psychoanalysis and learning theories as well as from behaviorism, focused more on basically well people growing than on helping disturbed people get better.

2) is rooted in Roger's positive view of human nature as basically good and constructive, as he discovered in encounters with his patients. Roger's emphasis on empathic understanding, on not imposing theoretical speculations about the clients state of mind and on avoiding forceful interference would seem to avoid some of the abuses associated with some other psychotherapies.

3) presents ideas about the helping relationship that Rogers extended from psychotherapy into other areas such as education. Rogers's nondirective approach suggested to him the possibility of a progressive education free of examinations, of grades, of conclusions, and even of teachers.

4) despite its "fuzziness", Rogers does present some experimental evidence in favor of client-centered therapy as compared to those based on learning theory and behaviorism.

5) Rogers' shows appreciation of the growing power of the behavioral sciences but expresses concern less this science, like other sciences, becomes manipulated by politicians to the detriment of people. He basically wonders, if a culture is to be designed, as Skinner had suggested, what safeguards there are on the designer.

Rogers may seem too rosy and to be cherry-picking his results. The kind of measurements he presents, such as a psychological test measuring "changes in the self" based on self reporting may seem too fuzzy. How long it takes, compared to other available approaches, to get effective change seems not to have been a primary consideration for Rogers and may explain the rise of more recent approaches like Cognitive Therapy and Constructive Living. As a lay person, I respect the humane treatment Rogers recommended toward those entering psychotherapy as clients.

A major contribution by Rogers seems to be his recognition that his clients were not objects to do things to but rather fellow people whose experience he could share in.

Are the core condtions truly 'enough'?, 30 Aug 2006
I am currently trying to read this book in preparation for a counselling diploma beginning next month. Having already read Rogers's book, "A Way of Being", I thought I would enjoy "On Becoming a Person", however I am struggling to be engaged with it.
I think the problem is that I feel as though I am just covering ground that he has already discussed in A WAY OF BEING. While I agree that for a relationship to be helpful there has to be the core conditions of empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence, I feel as though I need more than just this if I am to develop as a counsellor. I feel as though you need to have some knowledge of how your clients can help their situations - people come to counselling because they want to improve aspects of their life, and I am not sure that just the core conditions are enough.
While I shall try and continue with ON BECOMING A PERSON for my course, I have already started looking for alternative books whcih may offer more. One that has caught my eye is Egan's SKILLED HELPER - a book which suposedly takes Rogers's core conditions as a starting point, but then develops ways of actually helping clients meet goals which would be helpful to them.

Hippy Tree Hugging Counselling, 04 Jun 2006
This is a guide to counselling written by someone who had individuals who where frequently lonely, miserable and rich approach him for counselling, his clients where willing to engage with counselling, had some idea of what they wanted from counselling and where paying for every session,

as a result some of his recommendations about unconditional positive regard, friendly counselling and little or no highlighting of inconsistencies or goal setting from the outset can be understood,

however I would recommend Egan instead, his three steps model of counselling, beginning with a brief stage of positive regard, establishing communication through listening, active listening, rephrasing, paraphrasing etc. moving on to a stage of challenging inconsistencies, rational/cognitive behaviour theraphy, goal setting to a final phase of evaluation, review etc.

in Egan there is most of the suggestions you'll find in Rogers and more, plus its better for real world counselling situations, where people are often confused about what counselling is, its purpose or outright resistant,

Brilliant, 27 Jul 2005
Excelliant read. Very hard to put down.

Interesting subject but the book is dull, poorly written, and might turn you off therapy., 09 Nov 2008
This is a collection of patient case studies by psychiatrist Yalom. It was given to me as a gift by a friend who is a great admirer of Yalom's work. I am not working in the field of therapy or counseling but as I had took a few psychology classes in college I am somewhat familiar with the some of the classic texts of psychology (Freud, Jung, Piaget, etc) and I am accustomed to reading case studies.

Yalom often describes his own feelings and reactions during therapy, something that might be helpful for a future councilor but his style is too simplistic. To follow his example and give my critic in a personal tone rather than a professional one: I was left disliking the man intensely, the idea that I could give access to my private life to this man was revolting. His patients are all viewed critically at first and then -in some extent- some manage to gain his compassion or at least his respect. In none other of the case studies the shallow notions of the psychiatrist were so evident. He describes with great detail -and snobbery- the appearance among others of an elderly depressed woman who neglects her looks, of an obese young woman for whom he feels such revolt he cannot stand looking at her, of an advanced cancer patient who has the illusion that he can attract women even his illness and chemotherapy have ruined his appearance.... When moving beneath appearances he has the same attitude towards the weaknesses of his patients. How much better the clinical detachment of traditional analysts. Yalom does not accept one method of therapy -such as Freudian, Jungian etc- which is a great idea and liberating but it seems as if it has left him open to seeing his patients as acquaintances rather than patients.

I understand that he adopts this tone in an effort to reveal all with sincerity. But I was left thinking that a better writer could do so with more tact and less callous expressions. Yalom tries to point out that therapy is a process which involves two people and wants to reveal himself as much as his patient, pity that his self is not more appealing. It is a difficult task which he sets and he is not equal to it: it takes a lot of professionalism and dignity for the psychiatrist to expose himself and still convince he is worth getting paid pounds per minute of his time.

This becomes more apparent when he attempts to present his more sophisticated and sensitive aspects where you read quotes from and references to canonic art works that have nothing to do with the subject whatsoever.

One of my professors at grad school used to say that you need to learn to write well when you are still in the beginning of your career but then once you make a name of yourself you can damp the rules and start either experimenting -if you are serious about your work- or as is so often the case just start vomiting and selling words to publishers who are only to happy to sell a badly written book if it is authored by 'a name'. I think Yalom falls in the second category, whatever professional attributes he has are not apparent in this book which is more like an unedited journal of a psychotherapist than a book about analysis. If this was written by a student it would be returned back for rewriting.

Seeing that it got good reviews by previous reviewers I guess even that will get an audience. For me it was not good enough and I am grateful to amazon for the opportunity to vent for loosing so many hours of my life.

Fascinating stories of therapy where the psychiatrist is not God, 19 May 2008
Having read most of Yalom's other books, I expected this to be an insightful and instructive read. And so it proved. Yalom's ten 'cases' are recounted with gentleness, caring and consideration. The author does not cast himself in the role of the psychiatrist-God who has all the answers but as a person with likes and dislikes, with successes and failures, someone whose best intentions at times backfire and who can hit the spot with some of his patients through sheer accident. He treats his patients with consideration and respect without romanticizing the despair and anxiety he faces in his work. The book offers an interesting counter-part to Freud's classic case studies, which evoked the detective story genre as the psychoanalyst seeks to put together the clues offered him/her by the patient. Here too there is suspense. But the answers come from unexpected, sometimes accidental, quarters. Yet, each and every one of these cases provides a meaningful story with a beginning, a middle and, always, a satisfying end.

What an amazing book..., 15 Nov 2007
I rarely read books to the end, even those I like, but this had me gripped from start to finish.

Yalom makes interactions with his patients into riveting, detective story narratives wrapped in essential human needs and the essential fears and desires at the heart of nearly all of us (he says we all fear death for example).

He takes each patient (and us as viewers) on a sort of an absolutely enthralling intellectual ramble seeking the essence of the patients pain. He manages to eek out the most interesting characteristics from these stories and his insights into them are incredible. Interspersed in the accounts are interesting digressions into the process of psychotherapy; what it is for and what it aims to do.

For someone interested in psychotherapy (someone "psychologically minded" as he says) or into the deeper meaning of all of our lives journeys, this is juicy juicy stuff.

Simply the best, 21 Jun 2007
This is a "fly on the wall" book. It lets budding counsellors and psychotherapists see what really goes on in the consulting room of one of the most important therapists of the age. I recommend this to students every year, and every year they are gripped by the stories.

An essential read for anyone interested in the inner lifes of clients therapists or themselves

Fascinating Stories, 23 Mar 2007
This book is riveting. It's all about people who are exhibiting extreme behaviour: overeating, passionately in love with someone half your age, a man paranoid about losing face, a sleazy sex maniac and a boring accountant with lurid dreams.

Dr Yalom gets them all in his surgery and talks them through their problems. He uncovers the most amazing things, which are an inspiration, offering insights into how we all tick.

I find lots of people quite hostile or afraid of psychotherapy. I've recommended this book to them because, whatever your views on therapy, it's a gripping read.

I'm in two minds about this , 26 Oct 2008
On the one hand, I didn't really discover anything new by reading this book. Unless this book is literally your first step to getting better, you will probably, on some level, already know everything that's within its pages. But lots of information by itself can be overwhelming and so it's easy to be discouraged about facing up to it. On the other hand, where this book is useful is in breaking down and tackling piece by piece your dysfunctional thinking.

I do also like the IDEA that this book gives you exercises to do so that you are no longer passive in your troubles, but you are active in getting to grips with them. In theory that's good, but in practice I have to admit to skipping over many of them. It's easy to persuade yourself that YOU don't need to do them because you can imagine what they're supposed to teach and you've learned that lesson already -- from another book, your therapist or just because it's so obvious anyway.

These exercises mostly involve filling in tables (like the Thought Record), lists and questionnaires. I particularly liked the Thought Record (which is the central idea and tool of the whole book) and I think I can see myself filling out many of these worksheets as the months go by even if I am not confident that they will produce any lasting benefit. However, doing many of these exercises in this book you do feel a little bit like a baby being spoon-fed. But then again you do probably secretly enjoy it too.

Lastly, it is comforting to be reminded that you are not alone in having psychological problems. So I liked the four or five case histories that the reader follows through the book and through the exercises. You could easily empathise with these people and I saw a little bit of myself in many of their thoughts and their experiences. And I'm also glad that in the epilogue we learn that they all got significantly better. But then again the authors would hardly have picked unresponsive cases to highlight.

very effective self help guide, 07 Jul 2008
This is an excellent book to make you realise how your feelings are determined by your thoughts, and how you can positively influence your mood by changing the way you think. Some self-help books don't deliver because they're too vague but this book is also very practical, with many useful exercises. It's no wonder that many people are so enthusiastic about CBT and talking about it as an alternative to medication. I do not suffer from depression and was always a fairly happy person but this book has taught me how to be happier still. I would also recommended Eckhart Tolle's the Power of Now for a slightly different perspective and Steve Taylor's Making Time Making Time: Why Time Seems to Pass at Different Speeds and How to Control It for an invesigation into time and how we can learn to expand time and learn to live in the present.


The old made new, 07 Mar 2008
I always recommend books on cognitive psychology as they represent the cutting edge of psychotherapy. I also always recommend FREE YOUR MIND by Anthony Stultz-he helps us to see the roots of CBT are from the Buddhist tradition and he presents a system that combines CBT in a Buddhist orientation.

Helpful Strategies, 04 Jul 2007
This book offers many helpful cognitive therapy strategies to overcome mental distortions that lead to mood disorders such as anxiety and depression. Cognitive therapy looks at changing thought patterns that contribute to negative feelings. Once you gain an understanding of your own distortions and how they contribute to your feeling down or anxious, you can then creative positive thoughts and feel better about yourself with the helpful cognitive therapy strategies offered in this book.

I highly recommend this book as a practical hands-on book on cognitive therapy. Also try "Feeling Good" by David Burns and for a novel about Logan's struggle with depression, check out "Nexus: A Neo Novel."


12 years on, still using it..., 01 Jul 2007
When I had post-natal depression, OCD (cleaning...) and agoraphobia, my GP referred me to a psychologist. Who sat me down with this book. We worked through it, chapter by chapter. As a medical professional, I was familiar with the concepts, but hadn't been able to see clearly enough to put them into practice for myself. Within 18 months, I was living a full normal life and haven't had a panic attack since. 12 years on, I still refer other people to this book, use it with my own clients, and use the techniques to get me through exams, interviews and public speaking. Brilliant.

Insightful but verbose, 14 Jan 2008
Having for the last two years been a student of the integrative approach with an emphasis on the humanistic paradigm, I was fascinated by Roger's own journey and reasoning behind his Core Conditions as well as his presentation of the humanistic paradigm in its original form.

My only criticisms of this book are it's repetitiveness (better editing required in bringing together the constituent papers) and it's verbosity, which only serves to obfuscate the subject matter.



A humble masterpiece, 15 Oct 2007
This book by Carl Rogers on client-centered therapy may lack the drama, the force or the cleverness associated with some books on other forms of psychotherapy. What it doesn't seem to lack is a quiet wisdom that flowed from Rogers' many years of experience and sensitivity to his patients.

Despite some redundancy, being a collection of papers and presentations from Rogers over many years, "On Becoming A Person":

1) presents a branch of psychotherapy distinct from psychoanalysis and learning theories as well as from behaviorism, focused more on basically well people growing than on helping disturbed people get better.

2) is rooted in Roger's positive view of human nature as basically good and constructive, as he discovered in encounters with his patients. Roger's emphasis on empathic understanding, on not imposing theoretical speculations about the clients state of mind and on avoiding forceful interference would seem to avoid some of the abuses associated with some other psychotherapies.

3) presents ideas about the helping relationship that Rogers extended from psychotherapy into other areas such as education. Rogers's nondirective approach suggested to him the possibility of a progressive education free of examinations, of grades, of conclusions, and even of teachers.

4) despite its "fuzziness", Rogers does present some experimental evidence in favor of client-centered therapy as compared to those based on learning theory and behaviorism.

5) Rogers' shows appreciation of the growing power of the behavioral sciences but expresses concern less this science, like other sciences, becomes manipulated by politicians to the detriment of people. He basically wonders, if a culture is to be designed, as Skinner had suggested, what safeguards there are on the designer.

Rogers may seem too rosy and to be cherry-picking his results. The kind of measurements he presents, such as a psychological test measuring "changes in the self" based on self reporting may seem too fuzzy. How long it takes, compared to other available approaches, to get effective change seems not to have been a primary consideration for Rogers and may explain the rise of more recent approaches like Cognitive Therapy and Constructive Living. As a lay person, I respect the humane treatment Rogers recommended toward those entering psychotherapy as clients.

A major contribution by Rogers seems to be his recognition that his clients were not objects to do things to but rather fellow people whose experience he could share in.

Are the core condtions truly 'enough'?, 30 Aug 2006
I am currently trying to read this book in preparation for a counselling diploma beginning next month. Having already read Rogers's book, "A Way of Being", I thought I would enjoy "On Becoming a Person", however I am struggling to be engaged with it.
I think the problem is that I feel as though I am just covering ground that he has already discussed in A WAY OF BEING. While I agree that for a relationship to be helpful there has to be the core conditions of empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence, I feel as though I need more than just this if I am to develop as a counsellor. I feel as though you need to have some knowledge of how your clients can help their situations - people come to counselling because they want to improve aspects of their life, and I am not sure that just the core conditions are enough.
While I shall try and continue with ON BECOMING A PERSON for my course, I have already started looking for alternative books whcih may offer more. One that has caught my eye is Egan's SKILLED HELPER - a book which suposedly takes Rogers's core conditions as a starting point, but then develops ways of actually helping clients meet goals which would be helpful to them.

Hippy Tree Hugging Counselling, 04 Jun 2006
This is a guide to counselling written by someone who had individuals who where frequently lonely, miserable and rich approach him for counselling, his clients where willing to engage with counselling, had some idea of what they wanted from counselling and where paying for every session,

as a result some of his recommendations about unconditional positive regard, friendly counselling and little or no highlighting of inconsistencies or goal setting from the outset can be understood,

however I would recommend Egan instead, his three steps model of counselling, beginning with a brief stage of positive regard, establishing communication through listening, active listening, rephrasing, paraphrasing etc. moving on to a stage of challenging inconsistencies, rational/cognitive behaviour theraphy, goal setting to a final phase of evaluation, review etc.

in Egan there is most of the suggestions you'll find in Rogers and more, plus its better for real world counselling situations, where people are often confused about what counselling is, its purpose or outright resistant,

Brilliant, 27 Jul 2005
Excelliant read. Very hard to put down.

Interesting subject but the book is dull, poorly written, and might turn you off therapy., 09 Nov 2008
This is a collection of patient case studies by psychiatrist Yalom. It was given to me as a gift by a friend who is a great admirer of Yalom's work. I am not working in the field of therapy or counseling but as I had took a few psychology classes in college I am somewhat familiar with the some of the classic texts of psychology (Freud, Jung, Piaget, etc) and I am accustomed to reading case studies.

Yalom often describes his own feelings and reactions during therapy, something that might be helpful for a future councilor but his style is too simplistic. To follow his example and give my critic in a personal tone rather than a professional one: I was left disliking the man intensely, the idea that I could give access to my private life to this man was revolting. His patients are all viewed critically at first and then -in some extent- some manage to gain his compassion or at least his respect. In none other of the case studies the shallow notions of the psychiatrist were so evident. He describes with great detail -and snobbery- the appearance among others of an elderly depressed woman who neglects her looks, of an obese young woman for whom he feels such revolt he cannot stand looking at her, of an advanced cancer patient who has the illusion that he can attract women even his illness and chemotherapy have ruined his appearance.... When moving beneath appearances he has the same attitude towards the weaknesses of his patients. How much better the clinical detachment of traditional analysts. Yalom does not accept one method of therapy -such as Freudian, Jungian etc- which is a great idea and liberating but it seems as if it has left him open to seeing his patients as acquaintances rather than patients.

I understand that he adopts this tone in an effort to reveal all with sincerity. But I was left thinking that a better writer could do so with more tact and less callous expressions. Yalom tries to point out that therapy is a process which involves two people and wants to reveal himself as much as his patient, pity that his self is not more appealing. It is a difficult task which he sets and he is not equal to it: it takes a lot of professionalism and dignity for the psychiatrist to expose himself and still convince he is worth getting paid pounds per minute of his time.

This becomes more apparent when he attempts to present his more sophisticated and sensitive aspects where you read quotes from and references to canonic art works that have nothing to do with the subject whatsoever.

One of my professors at grad school used to say that you need to learn to write well when you are still in the beginning of your career but then once you make a name of yourself you can damp the rules and start either experimenting -if you are serious about your work- or as is so often the case just start vomiting and selling words to publishers who are only to happy to sell a badly written book if it is authored by 'a name'. I think Yalom falls in the second category, whatever professional attributes he has are not apparent in this book which is more like an unedited journal of a psychotherapist than a book about analysis. If this was written by a student it would be returned back for rewriting.

Seeing that it got good reviews by previous reviewers I guess even that will get an audience. For me it was not good enough and I am grateful to amazon for the opportunity to vent for loosing so many hours of my life.

Fascinating stories of therapy where the psychiatrist is not God, 19 May 2008
Having read most of Yalom's other books, I expected this to be an insightful and instructive read. And so it proved. Yalom's ten 'cases' are recounted with gentleness, caring and consideration. The author does not cast himself in the role of the psychiatrist-God who has all the answers but as a person with likes and dislikes, with successes and failures, someone whose best intentions at times backfire and who can hit the spot with some of his patients through sheer accident. He treats his patients with consideration and respect without romanticizing the despair and anxiety he faces in his work. The book offers an interesting counter-part to Freud's classic case studies, which evoked the detective story genre as the psychoanalyst seeks to put together the clues offered him/her by the patient. Here too there is suspense. But the answers come from unexpected, sometimes accidental, quarters. Yet, each and every one of these cases provides a meaningful story with a beginning, a middle and, always, a satisfying end.

What an amazing book..., 15 Nov 2007
I rarely read books to the end, even those I like, but this had me gripped from start to finish.

Yalom makes interactions with his patients into riveting, detective story narratives wrapped in essential human needs and the essential fears and desires at the heart of nearly all of us (he says we all fear death for example).

He takes each patient (and us as viewers) on a sort of an absolutely enthralling intellectual ramble seeking the essence of the patients pain. He manages to eek out the most interesting characteristics from these stories and his insights into them are incredible. Interspersed in the accounts are interesting digressions into the process of psychotherapy; what it is for and what it aims to do.

For someone interested in psychotherapy (someone "psychologically minded" as he says) or into the deeper meaning of all of our lives journeys, this is juicy juicy stuff.

Simply the best, 21 Jun 2007
This is a "fly on the wall" book. It lets budding counsellors and psychotherapists see what really goes on in the consulting room of one of the most important therapists of the age. I recommend this to students every year, and every year they are gripped by the stories.

An essential read for anyone interested in the inner lifes of clients therapists or themselves

Fascinating Stories, 23 Mar 2007
This book is riveting. It's all about people who are exhibiting extreme behaviour: overeating, passionately in love with someone half your age, a man paranoid about losing face, a sleazy sex maniac and a boring accountant with lurid dreams.

Dr Yalom gets them all in his surgery and talks them through their problems. He uncovers the most amazing things, which are an inspiration, offering insights into how we all tick.

I find lots of people quite hostile or afraid of psychotherapy. I've recommended this book to them because, whatever your views on therapy, it's a gripping read.

A sweet companion for your journey, 17 Sep 2008
I loved this book and many of my clients do too. This is a sweet story about Toad on the road to recovery from 'depression'. This book should be a companion to anyone that is having counselling or psychotherapy using Transactional Analysis. Highly recommended.

an insiration, 12 Jun 2008
I found myself so much in toads situation, a friend gave me this book. I hadn`t read a paper or watched tv for weeks, I read this book in a couple of days! This book is not only useful to inspiring herons but also to us depressed toads. I loved this book and am now in agreement to attend for counselling,couldn`t recommend it highly enough! An insight from cover to cover.

A fantastic book., 17 Oct 2007
After being given this book by my previous counsellor, I found it to be a very pleasing read. Not only does it give the reader a sense of what should be expected in counselling, it uses the story to explain several different ideas in transactional analysis.

Even if you haven't a clue what transactional analysis is, this book allows a gentle movement into what can be considered a very confusing set of theories with the familiar Mr. Toad woven into it. Brilliant.

Please read!!, 15 Sep 2007
How I wish I had read this book years ago. It was recommended by my counselling skills tutors and I believe its set me on the path to truly understanding my own behaviours as well as understanding things a little more from a counsellors view point. I can't recommend it enough. Excellent.

Simple and wonderful., 02 May 2007
My Aunt bought me this book two years ago during a period of stress in my life. Only now have I finally picked up this book, at another time of worry in my life. Thirty pages in it made a difference. I haven't put it down. It is wonderful. Thank you Toad. Thank you Heron. Thank you Aunt.

I'm in two minds about this , 26 Oct 2008
On the one hand, I didn't really discover anything new by reading this book. Unless this book is literally your first step to getting better, you will probably, on some level, already know everything that's within its pages. But lots of information by itself can be overwhelming and so it's easy to be discouraged about facing up to it. On the other hand, where this book is useful is in breaking down and tackling piece by piece your dysfunctional thinking.

I do also like the IDEA that this book gives you exercises to do so that you are no longer passive in your troubles, but you are active in getting to grips with them. In theory that's good, but in practice I have to admit to skipping over many of them. It's easy to persuade yourself that YOU don't need to do them because you can imagine what they're supposed to teach and you've learned that lesson already -- from another book, your therapist or just because it's so obvious anyway.

These exercises mostly involve filling in tables (like the Thought Record), lists and questionnaires. I particularly liked the Thought Record (which is the central idea and tool of the whole book) and I think I can see myself filling out many of these worksheets as the months go by even if I am not confident that they will produce any lasting benefit. However, doing many of these exercises in this book you do feel a little bit like a baby being spoon-fed. But then again you do probably secretly enjoy it too.

Lastly, it is comforting to be reminded that you are not alone in having psychological problems. So I liked the four or five case histories that the reader follows through the book and through the exercises. You could easily empathise with these people and I saw a little bit of myself in many of their thoughts and their experiences. And I'm also glad that in the epilogue we learn that they all got significantly better. But then again the authors would hardly have picked unresponsive cases to highlight.

very effective self help guide, 07 Jul 2008
This is an excellent book to make you realise how your feelings are determined by your thoughts, and how you can positively influence your mood by changing the way you think. Some self-help books don't deliver because they're too vague but this book is also very practical, with many useful exercises. It's no wonder that many people are so enthusiastic about CBT and talking about it as an alternative to medication. I do not suffer from depression and was always a fairly happy person but this book has taught me how to be happier still. I would also recommended Eckhart Tolle's the Power of Now for a slightly different perspective and Steve Taylor's Making Time Making Time: Why Time Seems to Pass at Different Speeds and How to Control It for an invesigation into time and how we can learn to expand time and learn to live in the present.


The old made new, 07 Mar 2008
I always recommend books on cognitive psychology as they represent the cutting edge of psychotherapy. I also always recommend FREE YOUR MIND by Anthony Stultz-he helps us to see the roots of CBT are from the Buddhist tradition and he presents a system that combines CBT in a Buddhist orientation.

Helpful Strategies, 04 Jul 2007
This book offers many helpful cognitive therapy strategies to overcome mental distortions that lead to mood disorders such as anxiety and depression. Cognitive therapy looks at changing thought patterns that contribute to negative feelings. Once you gain an understanding of your own distortions and how they contribute to your feeling down or anxious, you can then creative positive thoughts and feel better about yourself with the helpful cognitive therapy strategies offered in this book.

I highly recommend this book as a practical hands-on book on cognitive therapy. Also try "Feeling Good" by David Burns and for a novel about Logan's struggle with depression, check out "Nexus: A Neo Novel."


12 years on, still using it..., 01 Jul 2007
When I had post-natal depression, OCD (cleaning...) and agoraphobia, my GP referred me to a psychologist. Who sat me down with this book. We worked through it, chapter by chapter. As a medical professional, I was familiar with the concepts, but hadn't been able to see clearly enough to put them into practice for myself. Within 18 months, I was living a full normal life and haven't had a panic attack since. 12 years on, I still refer other people to this book, use it with my own clients, and use the techniques to get me through exams, interviews and public speaking. Brilliant.

Insightful but verbose, 14 Jan 2008
Having for the last two years been a student of the integrative approach with an emphasis on the humanistic paradigm, I was fascinated by Roger's own journey and reasoning behind his Core Conditions as well as his presentation of the humanistic paradigm in its original form.

My only criticisms of this book are it's repetitiveness (better editing required in bringing together the constituent papers) and it's verbosity, which only serves to obfuscate the subject matter.



A humble masterpiece, 15 Oct 2007
This book by Carl Rogers on client-centered therapy may lack the drama, the force or the cleverness associated with some books on other forms of psychotherapy. What it doesn't seem to lack is a quiet wisdom that flowed from Rogers' many years of experience and sensitivity to his patients.

Despite some redundancy, being a collection of papers and presentations from Rogers over many years, "On Becoming A Person":

1) presents a branch of psychotherapy distinct from psychoanalysis and learning theories as well as from behaviorism, focused more on basically well people growing than on helping disturbed people get better.

2) is rooted in Roger's positive view of human nature as basically good and constructive, as he discovered in encounters with his patients. Roger's emphasis on empathic understanding, on not imposing theoretical speculations about the clients state of mind and on avoiding forceful interference would seem to avoid some of the abuses associated with some other psychotherapies.

3) presents ideas about the helping relationship that Rogers extended from psychotherapy into other areas such as education. Rogers's nondirective approach suggested to him the possibility of a progressive education free of examinations, of grades, of conclusions, and even of teachers.

4) despite its "fuzziness", Rogers does present some experimental evidence in favor of client-centered therapy as compared to those based on learning theory and behaviorism.

5) Rogers' shows appreciation of the growing power of the behavioral sciences but expresses concern less this science, like other sciences, becomes manipulated by politicians to the detriment of people. He basically wonders, if a culture is to be designed, as Skinner had suggested, what safeguards there are on the designer.

Rogers may seem too rosy and to be cherry-picking his results. The kind of measurements he presents, such as a psychological test measuring "changes in the self" based on self reporting may seem too fuzzy. How long it takes, compared to other available approaches, to get effective change seems not to have been a primary consideration for Rogers and may explain the rise of more recent approaches like Cognitive Therapy and Constructive Living. As a lay person, I respect the humane treatment Rogers recommended toward those entering psychotherapy as clients.

A major contribution by Rogers seems to be his recognition that his clients were not objects to do things to but rather fellow people whose experience he could share in.

Are the core condtions truly 'enough'?, 30 Aug 2006
I am currently trying to read this book in preparation for a counselling diploma beginning next month. Having already read Rogers's book, "A Way of Being", I thought I would enjoy "On Becoming a Person", however I am struggling to be engaged with it.
I think the problem is that I feel as though I am just covering ground that he has already discussed in A WAY OF BEING. While I agree that for a relationship to be helpful there has to be the core conditions of empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence, I feel as though I need more than just this if I am to develop as a counsellor. I feel as though you need to have some knowledge of how your clients can help their situations - people come to counselling because they want to improve aspects of their life, and I am not sure that just the core conditions are enough.
While I shall try and continue with ON BECOMING A PERSON for my course, I have already started looking for alternative books whcih may offer more. One that has caught my eye is Egan's SKILLED HELPER - a book which suposedly takes Rogers's core conditions as a starting point, but then develops ways of actually helping clients meet goals which would be helpful to them.

Hippy Tree Hugging Counselling, 04 Jun 2006
This is a guide to counselling written by someone who had individuals who where frequently lonely, miserable and rich approach him for counselling, his clients where willing to engage with counselling, had some idea of what they wanted from counselling and where paying for every session,

as a result some of his recommendations about unconditional positive regard, friendly counselling and little or no highlighting of inconsistencies or goal setting from the outset can be understood,

however I would recommend Egan instead, his three steps model of counselling, beginning with a brief stage of positive regard, establishing communication through listening, active listening, rephrasing, paraphrasing etc. moving on to a stage of challenging inconsistencies, rational/cognitive behaviour theraphy, goal setting to a final phase of evaluation, review etc.

in Egan there is most of the suggestions you'll find in Rogers and more, plus its better for real world counselling situations, where people are often confused about what counselling is, its purpose or outright resistant,

Brilliant, 27 Jul 2005
Excelliant read. Very hard to put down.

Interesting subject but the book is dull, poorly written, and might turn you off therapy., 09 Nov 2008
This is a collection of patient case studies by psychiatrist Yalom. It was given to me as a gift by a friend who is a great admirer of Yalom's work. I am not working in the field of therapy or counseling but as I had took a few psychology classes in college I am somewhat familiar with the some of the classic texts of psychology (Freud, Jung, Piaget, etc) and I am accustomed to reading case studies.

Yalom often describes his own feelings and reactions during therapy, something that might be helpful for a future councilor but his style is too simplistic. To follow his example and give my critic in a personal tone rather than a professional one: I was left disliking the man intensely, the idea that I could give access to my private life to this man was revolting. His patients are all viewed critically at first and then -in some extent- some manage to gain his compassion or at least his respect. In none other of the case studies the shallow notions of the psychiatrist were so evident. He describes with great detail -and snobbery- the appearance among others of an elderly depressed woman who neglects her looks, of an obese young woman for whom he feels such revolt he cannot stand looking at her, of an advanced cancer patient who has the illusion that he can attract women even his illness and chemotherapy have ruined his appearance.... When moving beneath appearances he has the same attitude towards the weaknesses of his patients. How much better the clinical detachment of traditional analysts. Yalom does not accept one method of therapy -such as Freudian, Jungian etc- which is a great idea and liberating but it seems as if it has left him open to seeing his patients as acquaintances rather than patients.

I understand that he adopts this tone in an effort to reveal all with sincerity. But I was left thinking that a better writer could do so with more tact and less callous expressions. Yalom tries to point out that therapy is a process which involves two people and wants to reveal himself as much as his patient, pity that his self is not more appealing. It is a difficult task which he sets and he is not equal to it: it takes a lot of professionalism and dignity for the psychiatrist to expose himself and still convince he is worth getting paid pounds per minute of his time.

This becomes more apparent when he attempts to present his more sophisticated and sensitive aspects where you read quotes from and references to canonic art works that have nothing to do with the subject whatsoever.

One of my professors at grad school used to say that you need to learn to write well when you are still in the beginning of your career but then once you make a name of yourself you can damp the rules and start either experimenting -if you are serious about your work- or as is so often the case just start vomiting and selling words to publishers who are only to happy to sell a badly written book if it is authored by 'a name'. I think Yalom falls in the second category, whatever professional attributes he has are not apparent in this book which is more like an unedited journal of a psychotherapist than a book about analysis. If this was written by a student it would be returned back for rewriting.

Seeing that it got good reviews by previous reviewers I guess even that will get an audience. For me it was not good enough and I am grateful to amazon for the opportunity to vent for loosing so many hours of my life.

Fascinating stories of therapy where the psychiatrist is not God, 19 May 2008
Having read most of Yalom's other books, I expected this to be an insightful and instructive read. And so it proved. Yalom's ten 'cases' are recounted with gentleness, caring and consideration. The author does not cast himself in the role of the psychiatrist-God who has all the answers but as a person with likes and dislikes, with successes and failures, someone whose best intentions at times backfire and who can hit the spot with some of his patients through sheer accident. He treats his patients with consideration and respect without romanticizing the despair and anxiety he faces in his work. The book offers an interesting counter-part to Freud's classic case studies, which evoked the detective story genre as the psychoanalyst seeks to put together the clues offered him/her by the patient. Here too there is suspense. But the answers come from unexpected, sometimes accidental, quarters. Yet, each and every one of these cases provides a meaningful story with a beginning, a middle and, always, a satisfying end.

What an amazing book..., 15 Nov 2007
I rarely read books to the end, even those I like, but this had me gripped from start to finish.

Yalom makes interactions with his patients into riveting, detective story narratives wrapped in essential human needs and the essential fears and desires at the heart of nearly all of us (he says we all fear death for example).

He takes each patient (and us as viewers) on a sort of an absolutely enthralling intellectual ramble seeking the essence of the patients pain. He manages to eek out the most interesting characteristics from these stories and his insights into them are incredible. Interspersed in the accounts are interesting digressions into the process of psychotherapy; what it is for and what it aims to do.

For someone interested in psychotherapy (someone "psychologically minded" as he says) or into the deeper meaning of all of our lives journeys, this is juicy juicy stuff.

Simply the best, 21 Jun 2007
This is a "fly on the wall" book. It lets budding counsellors and psychotherapists see what really goes on in the consulting room of one of the most important therapists of the age. I recommend this to students every year, and every year they are gripped by the stories.

An essential read for anyone interested in the inner lifes of clients therapists or themselves

Fascinating Stories, 23 Mar 2007
This book is riveting. It's all about people who are exhibiting extreme behaviour: overeating, passionately in love with someone half your age, a man paranoid about losing face, a sleazy sex maniac and a boring accountant with lurid dreams.

Dr Yalom gets them all in his surgery and talks them through their problems. He uncovers the most amazing things, which are an inspiration, offering insights into how we all tick.

I find lots of people quite hostile or afraid of psychotherapy. I've recommended this book to them because, whatever your views on therapy, it's a gripping read.

A sweet companion for your journey, 17 Sep 2008
I loved this book and many of my clients do too. This is a sweet story about Toad on the road to recovery from 'depression'. This book should be a companion to anyone that is having counselling or psychotherapy using Transactional Analysis. Highly recommended.

an insiration, 12 Jun 2008
I found myself so much in toads situation, a friend gave me this book. I hadn`t read a paper or watched tv for weeks, I read this book in a couple of days! This book is not only useful to inspiring herons but also to us depressed toads. I loved this book and am now in agreement to attend for counselling,couldn`t recommend it highly enough! An insight from cover to cover.

A fantastic book., 17 Oct 2007
After being given this book by my previous counsellor, I found it to be a very pleasing read. Not only does it give the reader a sense of what should be expected in counselling, it uses the story to explain several different ideas in transactional analysis.

Even if you haven't a clue what transactional analysis is, this book allows a gentle movement into what can be considered a very confusing set of theories with the familiar Mr. Toad woven into it. Brilliant.

Please read!!, 15 Sep 2007
How I wish I had read this book years ago. It was recommended by my counselling skills tutors and I believe its set me on the path to truly understanding my own behaviours as well as understanding things a little more from a counsellors view point. I can't recommend it enough. Excellent.

Simple and wonderful., 02 May 2007
My Aunt bought me this book two years ago during a period of stress in my life. Only now have I finally picked up this book, at another time of worry in my life. Thirty pages in it made a difference. I haven't put it down. It is wonderful. Thank you Toad. Thank you Heron. Thank you Aunt.

The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, 08 Oct 2008

this book was recommended to me by my Criminology module tutor on my law degree course. I have found it helpful, and there is much detail, yet at the same time it is readable. Probably the most helpful textbook on Criminology for degree level that you will find.

Superb , 04 Apr 2008
This is the leading modern text in criminology, comprehensive and authoritative, written by 35 distinguished British contributors. The editors are Mike Maguire, Professor of Criminology at Cardiff University, Rod Morgan, Chairman of the Youth Justice Board of England and Wales and Professor Emeritus at Bristol University, and Robert Reiner, Professor of Criminology at the London School of Economics.

It has five parts: the history and theory of criminology, the social construction of crime and crime control, the dimensions of crime, the forms of crime, and reactions to crime. It covers research and policy developments and their relationship to race, gender, youth culture and political economy.

The evidence is that the serious violent crime rate is much higher in Thatcherite political economies than in welfarist ones. As Reiner writes, there is a plethora of material confirming that crime of all kinds is linked to inequality, relative deprivation, and unemployment. So, for example, the rise in crime in Britain in the 1980s was due to what happened in the 1980s: naturally Thatcher blamed it on what had happened 20 years before. And it was the 1980s, not the 1960s, that saw the dramatic rise in opiate use here.

The evidence shows that states with higher welfare spending have less crime and lower imprisonment rates. For every dollar spent, Michigans Head Start welfare programme brought $17 of benefit by cutting crime, thereby cutting the numbers imprisoned and thus the costs of imprisonment.

Of course, recognising that crime has root causes does not stop us exploring all possible avenues of crime reduction, victim support and penal reform. Nor does it mean ignoring offenders moral responsibility. Understanding does not cancel the need for judgment.

Thatcherite political economies also have more punitive penal policies. Yet welfarist Sweden has had a smaller rise in crime than Britain, while having a less punitive penal policy. Similarly, Finland has dramatically cut its prison numbers, without increasing crime.

Growing economic inequality and social polarisation increase crime and therefore insecurity and fear. We cannot afford to leave the economy, or society or security to the market. We need to take responsibility for all aspects of our society.



Absolutely outstanding., 22 Jul 2007
Right. I guess I should precis this review by stating quite explicitly that I'm a raging criminology geek. I was determined not to write a review until I had read the OHC cover-to-cover. And it has been well worth the experience. I went into the second year of a Criminology BSc with no criminological background, and decided to spend a couple of months before the start of term reading the third edition cover to cover. I feel that the background the OHC gave me provided a springboard for getting a first. The outstanding wealth and depth of knowledge has to be seen to be believed - I would happily be giving it away as a birthday present left, right and center if it wasn't for the sure and certain knowledge that doing so would get me a hearty slap from my non-criminological family.

I am starting a Masters (hopefully leading into a PhD) this October; given that the 3rd edition seemed to give me a huge amount, I decided to do my best to read the 4th edition cover to cover before October. My copy is now dog-eared, much-loved, and covered liberally in pencil scrawls. I feel far, far more comfortable at the prospect of going back into academia having spent just over a year in very non-academic work.

The one real tragedy for me is the conflation of Loraine Gelsthorpe's and Frances Heidensohn's chapters. In the third edition, they respectively covered Feminism and Criminology and Gender and Crime. In the fourth edition, they co-author a single chapter on Gender and Crime. I personally find it deeply frustrating that two beautifully written, detailed and very discrete chapters have been merged into one. Loraine Gelsthorpe's chapter on feminism and criminology was my introduction to feminist criminology - something I have every intention of carrying into my MPhil / (hopefully) PhD. I found the third edition's coverage of both gender AND feminism both highly appropriate, and absolutely fascinating. The conflation of the two chapters into one to my mind leaves something seriously lacking. And maybe the omission of a chapter on feminism and criminology says something and makes a statement in its own right. The chapter on gender and crime is very well written and contains aspects of both preceding chapters; but the idea that two discrete chapters each of forty pages can be combined into one chapter of forty pages without significant loss is ridiculous. I would recommend with all my heart that anyone with an interest in gender and crime / feminist criminology at least borrows a copy of the third edition. There is a wealth of additional colour and texture there that substantially fired up my interest in criminology.

Aside from that, the online chapters do add something invaluable to the fourth edition. It is a self-contained, beautifully comprehensive and more-than-sufficient edition in itself; but the addition of Jock Young, Barbara Hudson, David Garland and Ken Pease's chapters online do add yet another level of depth. Jock Young and David Garland in particular were two of the chapters that stood out the most to me from the third edition, and two of the chapters that I have gone back to time and time again. The OHC is richer for having them available. At the risk of harping on, though - I wish that Dr. Gelsthorpe's and Professor Heidensohn's chapters were on the OHC website too. They really are the one substantial omission in my eyes. And that - I promise - is the last of that particular tub-thumping spree.

In brief, I cannot recommend this book enough. To anyone, but particularly budding / current criminologists. There is such a wealth of detail in there, from the first two introductory chapters (sociological and psychological approaches) right through to the last two on community penalties and imprisonment. It is not heavygoing; it is not unduly challenging. With the possible exception of Media-Made Criminality, that is - which frankly lost me. Huge reams of statistics with remarkably little coherence to my eyes. Oddly enough, I felt the very next chapter (political economy, crime and criminal justice) is one of the best in the book, and by the self-same author.

Jock Young pulls off something similar - the only other chapter in the book to mildly vex me was the one on Cultural Criminology (done far better - though admittedly in a rather more inaccessible way - by Jeff Ferrell in the book Criminological Perspectives). And yet Crime and Social Exclusion in the third edition remains one of the most solid and interesting chapters in either book.

All in all, I've wittered enough. If your degree / course is worth thirty-whatever quid to you and you're willing to put in the effort, then go for it. If it isn't and / or you aren't, then don't. This book has the hallmark of quality stamped firmly right through it, and there's certainly nothing else criminological out there that can hope to compete in terms of either quality or value for money.

BUY IT!, 18 Nov 2006
This book is a must have for criminology students. I bought this book and 2 others but have not needed to use those. This has everything you need to know and more.

Essential for criminologists, 18 Nov 2006
I love this book. It seriously helped me through my criminology degree at uni - and I ended up with a 1st. It covers just about every topic you need. Definately a very wise investment.

I'm in two minds about this , 26 Oct 2008
On the one hand, I didn't really discover anything new by reading this book. Unless this book is literally your first step to getting better, you will probably, on some level, already know everything that's within its pages. But lots of information by itself can be overwhelming and so it's easy to be discouraged about facing up to it. On the other hand, where this book is useful is in breaking down and tackling piece by piece your dysfunctional thinking.

I do also like the IDEA that this book gives you exercises to do so that you are no longer passive in your troubles, but you are active in getting to grips with them. In theory that's good, but in practice I have to admit to skipping over many of them. It's easy to persuade yourself that YOU don't need to do them because you can imagine what they're supposed to teach and you've learned that lesson already -- from another book, your therapist or just because it's so obvious anyway.

These exercises mostly involve filling in tables (like the Thought Record), lists and questionnaires. I particularly liked the Thought Record (which is the central idea and tool of the whole book) and I think I can see myself filling out many of these worksheets as the months go by even if I am not confident that they will produce any lasting benefit. However, doing many of these exercises in this book you do feel a little bit like a baby being spoon-fed. But then again you do probably secretly enjoy it too.

Lastly, it is comforting to be reminded that you are not alone in having psychological problems. So I liked the four or five case histories that the reader follows through the book and through the exercises. You could easily empathise with these people and I saw a little bit of myself in many of their thoughts and their experiences. And I'm also glad that in the epilogue we learn that they all got significantly better. But then again the authors would hardly have picked unresponsive cases to highlight.

very effective self help guide, 07 Jul 2008
This is an excellent book to make you realise how your feelings are determined by your thoughts, and how you can positively influence your mood by changing the way you think. Some self-help books don't deliver because they're too vague but this book is also very practical, with many useful exercises. It's no wonder that many people are so enthusiastic about CBT and talking about it as an alternative to medication. I do not suffer from depression and was always a fairly happy person but this book has taught me how to be happier still. I would also recommended Eckhart Tolle's the Power of Now for a slightly different perspective and Steve Taylor's Making Time Making Time: Why Time Seems to Pass at Different Speeds and How to Control It for an invesigation into time and how we can learn to expand time and learn to live in the present.


The old made new, 07 Mar 2008
I always recommend books on cognitive psychology as they represent the cutting edge of psychotherapy. I also always recommend FREE YOUR MIND by Anthony Stultz-he helps us to see the roots of CBT are from the Buddhist tradition and he presents a system that combines CBT in a Buddhist orientation.

Helpful Strategies, 04 Jul 2007
This book offers many helpful cognitive therapy strategies to overcome mental distortions that lead to mood disorders such as anxiety and depression. Cognitive therapy looks at changing thought patterns that contribute to negative feelings. Once you gain an understanding of your own distortions and how they contribute to your feeling down or anxious, you can then creative positive thoughts and feel better about yourself with the helpful cognitive therapy strategies offered in this book.

I highly recommend this book as a practical hands-on book on cognitive therapy. Also try "Feeling Good" by David Burns and for a novel about Logan's struggle with depression, check out "Nexus: A Neo Novel."


12 years on, still using it..., 01 Jul 2007
When I had post-natal depression, OCD (cleaning...) and agoraphobia, my GP referred me to a psychologist. Who sat me down with this book. We worked through it, chapter by chapter. As a medical professional, I was familiar with the concepts, but hadn't been able to see clearly enough to put them into practice for myself. Within 18 months, I was living a full normal life and haven't had a panic attack since. 12 years on, I still refer other people to this book, use it with my own clients, and use the techniques to get me through exams, interviews and public speaking. Brilliant.

Insightful but verbose, 14 Jan 2008
Having for the last two years been a student of the integrative approach with an emphasis on the humanistic paradigm, I was fascinated by Roger's own journey and reasoning behind his Core Conditions as well as his presentation of the humanistic paradigm in its original form.

My only criticisms of this book are it's repetitiveness (better editing required in bringing together the constituent papers) and it's verbosity, which only serves to obfuscate the subject matter.



A humble masterpiece, 15 Oct 2007
This book by Carl Rogers on client-centered therapy may lack the drama, the force or the cleverness associated with some books on other forms of psychotherapy. What it doesn't seem to lack is a quiet wisdom that flowed from Rogers' many years of experience and sensitivity to his patients.

Despite some redundancy, being a collection of papers and presentations from Rogers over many years, "On Becoming A Person":

1) presents a branch of psychotherapy distinct from psychoanalysis and learning theories as well as from behaviorism, focused more on basically well people growing than on helping disturbed people get better.

2) is rooted in Roger's positive view of human nature as basically good and constructive, as he discovered in encounters with his patients. Roger's emphasis on empathic understanding, on not imposing theoretical speculations about the clients state of mind and on avoiding forceful interference would seem to avoid some of the abuses associated with some other psychotherapies.

3) presents ideas about the helping relationship that Rogers extended from psychotherapy into other areas such as education. Rogers's nondirective approach suggested to him the possibility of a progressive education free of examinations, of grades, of conclusions, and even of teachers.

4) despite its "fuzziness", Rogers does present some experimental evidence in favor of client-centered therapy as compared to those based on learning theory and behaviorism.

5) Rogers' shows appreciation of the growing power of the behavioral sciences but expresses concern less this science, like other sciences, becomes manipulated by politicians to the detriment of people. He basically wonders, if a culture is to be designed, as Skinner had suggested, what safeguards there are on the designer.

Rogers may seem too rosy and to be cherry-picking his results. The kind of measurements he presents, such as a psychological test measuring "changes in the self" based on self reporting may seem too fuzzy. How long it takes, compared to other available approaches, to get effective change seems not to have been a primary consideration for Rogers and may explain the rise of more recent approaches like Cognitive Therapy and Constructive Living. As a lay person, I respect the humane treatment Rogers recommended toward those entering psychotherapy as clients.

A major contribution by Rogers seems to be his recognition that his clients were not objects to do things to but rather fellow people whose experience he could share in.

Are the core condtions truly 'enough'?, 30 Aug 2006
I am currently trying to read this book in preparation for a counselling diploma beginning next month. Having already read Rogers's book, "A Way of Being", I thought I would enjoy "On Becoming a Person", however I am struggling to be engaged with it.
I think the problem is that I feel as though I am just covering ground that he has already discussed in A WAY OF BEING. While I agree that for a relationship to be helpful there has to be the core conditions of empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence, I feel as though I need more than just this if I am to develop as a counsellor. I feel as though you need to have some knowledge of how your clients can help their situations - people come to counselling because they want to improve aspects of their life, and I am not sure that just the core conditions are enough.
While I shall try and continue with ON BECOMING A PERSON for my course, I have already started looking for alternative books whcih may offer more. One that has caught my eye is Egan's SKILLED HELPER - a book which suposedly takes Rogers's core conditions as a starting point, but then develops ways of actually helping clients meet goals which would be helpful to them.

Hippy Tree Hugging Counselling, 04 Jun 2006
This is a guide to counselling written by someone who had individuals who where frequently lonely, miserable and rich approach him for counselling, his clients where willing to engage with counselling, had some idea of what they wanted from counselling and where paying for every session,

as a result some of his recommendations about unconditional positive regard, friendly counselling and little or no highlighting of inconsistencies or goal setting from the outset can be understood,

however I would recommend Egan instead, his three steps model of counselling, beginning with a brief stage of positive regard, establishing communication through listening, active listening, rephrasing, paraphrasing etc. moving on to a stage of challenging inconsistencies, rational/cognitive behaviour theraphy, goal setting to a final phase of evaluation, review etc.

in Egan there is most of the suggestions you'll find in Rogers and more, plus its better for real world counselling situations, where people are often confused about what counselling is, its purpose or outright resistant,

Brilliant, 27 Jul 2005
Excelliant read. Very hard to put down.

Interesting subject but the book is dull, poorly written, and might turn you off therapy., 09 Nov 2008
This is a collection of patient case studies by psychiatrist Yalom. It was given to me as a gift by a friend who is a great admirer of Yalom's work. I am not working in the field of therapy or counseling but as I had took a few psychology classes in college I am somewhat familiar with the some of the classic texts of psychology (Freud, Jung, Piaget, etc) and I am accustomed to reading case studies.

Yalom often describes his own feelings and reactions during therapy, something that might be helpful for a future councilor but his style is too simplistic. To follow his example and give my critic in a personal tone rather than a professional one: I was left disliking the man intensely, the idea that I could give access to my private life to this man was revolting. His patients are all viewed critically at first and then -in some extent- some manage to gain his compassion or at least his respect. In none other of the case studies the shallow notions of the psychiatrist were so evident. He describes with great detail -and snobbery- the appearance among others of an elderly depressed woman who neglects her looks, of an obese young woman for whom he feels such revolt he cannot stand looking at her, of an advanced cancer patient who has the illusion that he can attract women even his illness and chemotherapy have ruined his appearance.... When moving beneath appearances he has the same attitude towards the weaknesses of his patients. How much better the clinical detachment of traditional analysts. Yalom does not accept one method of therapy -such as Freudian, Jungian etc- which is a great idea and liberating but it seems as if it has left him open to seeing his patients as acquaintances rather than patients.

I understand that he adopts this tone in an effort to reveal all with sincerity. But I was left thinking that a better writer could do so with more tact and less callous expressions. Yalom tries to point out that therapy is a process which involves two people and wants to reveal himself as much as his patient, pity that his self is not more appealing. It is a difficult task which he sets and he is not equal to it: it takes a lot of professionalism and dignity for the psychiatrist to expose himself and still convince he is worth getting paid pounds per minute of his time.

This becomes more apparent when he attempts to present his more sophisticated and sensitive aspects where you read quotes from and references to canonic art works that have nothing to do with the subject whatsoever.

One of my professors at grad school used to say that you need to learn to write well when you are still in the beginning of your career but then once you make a name of yourself you can damp the rules and start either experimenting -if you are serious about your work- or as is so often the case just start vomiting and selling words to publishers who are only to happy to sell a badly written book if it is authored by 'a name'. I think Yalom falls in the second category, whatever professional attributes he has are not apparent in this book which is more like an unedited journal of a psychotherapist than a book about analysis. If this was written by a student it would be returned back for rewriting.

Seeing that it got good reviews by previous reviewers I guess even that will get an audience. For me it was not good enough and I am grateful to amazon for the opportunity to vent for loosing so many hours of my life.

Fascinating stories of therapy where the psychiatrist is not God, 19 May 2008
Having read most of Yalom's other books, I expected this to be an insightful and instructive read. And so it proved. Yalom's ten 'cases' are recounted with gentleness, caring and consideration. The author does not cast himself in the role of the psychiatrist-God who has all the answers but as a person with likes and dislikes, with successes and failures, someone whose best intentions at times backfire and who can hit the spot with some of his patients through sheer accident. He treats his patients with consideration and respect without romanticizing the despair and anxiety he faces in his work. The book offers an interesting counter-part to Freud's classic case studies, which evoked the detective story genre as the psychoanalyst seeks to put together the clues offered him/her by the patient. Here too there is suspense. But the answers come from unexpected, sometimes accidental, quarters. Yet, each and every one of these cases provides a meaningful story with a beginning, a middle and, always, a satisfying end.

What an amazing book..., 15 Nov 2007
I rarely read books to the end, even those I like, but this had me gripped from start to finish.

Yalom makes interactions with his patients into riveting, detective story narratives wrapped in essential human needs and the essential fears and desires at the heart of nearly all of us (he says we all fear death for example).

He takes each patient (and us as viewers) on a sort of an absolutely enthralling intellectual ramble seeking the essence of the patients pain. He manages to eek out the most interesting characteristics from these stories and his insights into them are incredible. Interspersed in the accounts are interesting digressions into the process of psychotherapy; what it is for and what it aims to do.

For someone interested in psychotherapy (someone "psychologically minded" as he says) or into the deeper meaning of all of our lives journeys, this is juicy juicy stuff.

Simply the best, 21 Jun 2007
This is a "fly on the wall" book. It lets budding counsellors and psychotherapists see what really goes on in the consulting room of one of the most important therapists of the age. I recommend this to students every year, and every year they are gripped by the stories.

An essential read for anyone interested in the inner lifes of clients therapists or themselves

Fascinating Stories, 23 Mar 2007
This book is riveting. It's all about people who are exhibiting extreme behaviour: overeating, passionately in love with someone half your age, a man paranoid about losing face, a sleazy sex maniac and a boring accountant with lurid dreams.

Dr Yalom gets them all in his surgery and talks them through their problems. He uncovers the most amazing things, which are an inspiration, offering insights into how we all tick.

I find lots of people quite hostile or afraid of psychotherapy. I've recommended this book to them because, whatever your views on therapy, it's a gripping read.

A sweet companion for your journey, 17 Sep 2008
I loved this book and many of my clients do too. This is a sweet story about Toad on the road to recovery from 'depression'. This book should be a companion to anyone that is having counselling or psychotherapy using Transactional Analysis. Highly recommended.

an insiration, 12 Jun 2008
I found myself so much in toads situation, a friend gave me this book. I hadn`t read a paper or watched tv for weeks, I read this book in a couple of days! This book is not only useful to inspiring herons but also to us depressed toads. I loved this book and am now in agreement to attend for counselling,couldn`t recommend it highly enough! An insight from cover to cover.

A fantastic book., 17 Oct 2007
After being given this book by my previous counsellor, I found it to be a very pleasing read. Not only does it give the reader a sense of what should be expected in counselling, it uses the story to explain several different ideas in transactional analysis.

Even if you haven't a clue what transactional analysis is, this book allows a gentle movement into what can be considered a very confusing set of theories with the familiar Mr. Toad woven into it. Brilliant.

Please read!!, 15 Sep 2007
How I wish I had read this book years ago. It was recommended by my counselling skills tutors and I believe its set me on the path to truly understanding my own behaviours as well as understanding things a little more from a counsellors view point. I can't recommend it enough. Excellent.

Simple and wonderful., 02 May 2007
My Aunt bought me this book two years ago during a period of stress in my life. Only now have I finally picked up this book, at another time of worry in my life. Thirty pages in it made a difference. I haven't put it down. It is wonderful. Thank you Toad. Thank you Heron. Thank you Aunt.

The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, 08 Oct 2008

this book was recommended to me by my Criminology module tutor on my law degree course. I have found it helpful, and there is much detail, yet at the same time it is readable. Probably the most helpful textbook on Criminology for degree level that you will find.

Superb , 04 Apr 2008
This is the leading modern text in criminology, comprehensive and authoritative, written by 35 distinguished British contributors. The editors are Mike Maguire, Professor of Criminology at Cardiff University, Rod Morgan, Chairman of the Youth Justice Board of England and Wales and Professor Emeritus at Bristol University, and Robert Reiner, Professor of Criminology at the London School of Economics.

It has five parts: the history and theory of criminology, the social construction of crime and crime control, the dimensions of crime, the forms of crime, and reactions to crime. It covers research and policy developments and their relationship to race, gender, youth culture and political economy.

The evidence is that the serious violent crime rate is much higher in Thatcherite political economies than in welfarist ones. As Reiner writes, there is a plethora of material confirming that crime of all kinds is linked to inequality, relative deprivation, and unemployment. So, for example, the rise in crime in Britain in the 1980s was due to what happened in the 1980s: naturally Thatcher blamed it on what had happened 20 years before. And it was the 1980s, not the 1960s, that saw the dramatic rise in opiate use here.

The evidence shows that states with higher welfare spending have less crime and lower imprisonment rates. For every dollar spent, Michigans Head Start welfare programme brought $17 of benefit by cutting crime, thereby cutting the numbers imprisoned and thus the costs of imprisonment.

Of course, recognising that crime has root causes does not stop us exploring all possible avenues of crime reduction, victim support and penal reform. Nor does it mean ignoring offenders moral responsibility. Understanding does not cancel the need for judgment.

Thatcherite political economies also have more punitive penal policies. Yet welfarist Sweden has had a smaller rise in crime than Britain, while having a less punitive penal policy. Similarly, Finland has dramatically cut its prison numbers, without increasing crime.

Growing economic inequality and social polarisation increase crime and therefore insecurity and fear. We cannot afford to leave the economy, or society or security to the market. We need to take responsibility for all aspects of our society.



Absolutely outstanding., 22 Jul 2007
Right. I guess I should precis this review by stating quite explicitly that I'm a ra