Lying on the couch

It is the "twilight of the shrinks." Disciples of Freud and Jung sandbag against the rising tide of new age therapies and wring their hands over the unreliable narratives of patients who "lie" on the couch. Managed health care threatens the very future of practice. The contemporary therapist has much to worry about: patients who seduce their therapists with money, sex, fanatical devotion - and all the other deadly sins in a game of musical chairs around the seat of power in the therapeutic session.

In a daring spin on his lifelong devotion to chart the inner lives of patients in his intimate case histories, Dr. Yalom now turns the tables on the other half of the therapeutic relationship - the therapist from an age of secrets, who "interprets" the boundaries of sexual propriety. Or Marshal, haunted by his own obsessive-compulsive behaviors, uncertain of the role of money in his relationship with patients.

And finally, there is Ernest Lash, who, saved ultimately by his sincere desire to help people, risks a totally open, authentic relationship with a patient and assumes that to be healing in and of itself. Their stories are rendered here with great affection and ruthless recognition.