A Critical Examination of Irvin D. Yalom’s Single-Session Consultations: It is the Relationship that Heals

This book explores the single-session work done by Irving Yalom and considers the implications of this work for the current theory and practice of single-session therapy (SST). Due to failing memory and decreasing stamina as he aged, Yalom eventually decided that if he was to continue to offer help to patients, he could only do so by offering them single-session consultations. While it was perhaps reluctant single-session work, it coincided with the continued rise of SST starting with Moshe Talmon in 1990. The book examines Yalom’s work against the growing literature on single-session therapy, covering both what single-session therapists can learn from Yalom’s consultations as well as what they would not want to implement. Dryden closely examines Yalom’s work in these sessions through a single-session mindset and tracks how it impacts the development of SST. This book will be of interest to any single-session practitioners as well as those scholars and followers of Yalom.