LOS ANGELES TIMES
January 8, 2005
Home Edition

The first person we meet in Irvin Yalom's novel “The Schopenhauer Cure” is a 65-year-old San Francisco psychiatrist in seemingly good health who is shocked to learn that he has a fatal illness. As a therapist, Julius Hertzfeld has dealt with dying patients. As a sentient human being, he has contemplated the fact of his own mortality. But there is a great difference between comprehending death intellectually and being directly confronted by it.

Julius, who is not a religious man, has often found consolation in the words of the Greek philosopher Epicurus: “Where I am, death is not and where death is, I am not. Hence why fear death?” Even now, he is not so much fearful of death as shaken to realize how short a span of life and consciousness remains to him. His doctors have promised him one good year. How to make the most of it?

While some might throw habit to the winds in pursuit of exotic experiences, Julius recognizes the truth of what Nietzsche meant by “eternal recurrence”: live your life in such a way that you would be willing to repeat it eternally. As someone who feels he has led a good life, Julius decides to “live just the way he had lived the previous year — and the year before that and before that. He loved being a therapist; he loved connecting to others and helping to bring something to life in them.”

Looking back over his career, Julius wonders how much — or little — he's actually helped the many people he's treated. What, for example, ever happened to the patient who was his most glaring failure: Philip Slate, a handsome, intelligent but distinctly coldblooded character whom he treated unsuccessfully for sexual addiction 15 years ago? Julius decides to get in touch with Philip to find out if the therapy might have had some beneficial effects after all.

Philip, it turns out, has overcome his sex addiction and credits his cure to the pessimistic wisdom of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. To Julius' surprise (and alarm), however, Philip has now set up as therapist, planning to offer clients the consolations of Schopenhauer's renunciatory philosophy. Although intelligent and honest, he's aloof and uncaring, unable — or perhaps unwilling — to relate to other human beings. Not, in short, a “people” person.

Julius persuades Philip to join his therapy group to learn the art of relationships. Coincidentally, the group includes Pam, one of the many women seduced and abandoned by Philip in his bad old days. The clash between the impassive ex-predator and his still-furious victim is a key part of the novel's overarching theme: a debate between two divergent approaches to life — the solitary, self-sufficient way of disengagement associated here with Schopenhauer, Buddhism and Eastern mysticism and the engaged, relationship-centered way that means so much to Julius.

Philip serves as a kind of latter-day stand-in for Schopenhauer (1788-1860), whose life story is crisply retailed in chapters that alternate with the present-day narrative. Yalom's insightful account of Schopenhauer's life offers a psychoanalytical explanation for his philosophy: The great philosopher (like Philip) suffered from uncaring parents, lack of social skills, misogyny and misanthropy. But Schopenhauer's willingness to forgo the pleasures and perils of relationships and to face reality without the comforts of illusion makes him a potent adversary.

Julius' focus as a therapist, however, is not on family history but on dealing with universal concerns as aloneness and mortality. His group therapy emphasizes relationships in the here-and-now rather than Oedipal ones. Not surprisingly, his outlook reflects that of his creator, a professor of psychiatry and a practicing therapist who has written textbooks on existential psychotherapy and group therapy. Yalom has also developed a highly distinctive brand of fiction. His 1989 bestseller, “Love's Executioner,” blended psychotherapy with storytelling, and his 1993 novel, “When Nietzsche Wept,” used fiction and alter-histoire to probe questions of philosophy and psychotherapy.

Unlike novelists who disclaim any extra-literary motives in writing fiction, Yalom's aims are unabashedly educational. Contrary to a widely held misconception, “educational” can mean interesting. Yalom's enthusiasm is contagious, and his knack for presenting complex ideas and theories in clear, engaging prose makes him a popularizer in the finest sense. And he certainly knows how to tell a page-turning story.

Merle Rubin, Special to The Times

KIRKUS REVIEWS

Yalom continues his fictional traversal of philosophy and psychotherapy (Momma and the Meaning of Life, 1999, etc.) with this beautifully wrought tale of a therapy group's final year. Dr. Julius Hertzfeld is only 65, but a cancerous lesion on his back indicates the galloping approach of death. In his despair, Julius seeks out Philip Slate, a sex addict he treated years ago with a complete lack of success. Philip was too remote, too devoid of empathy, for therapy to work, and when Julius calls him to find out how he's been coping since they parted, he's astonished that Philip has become a therapist himself. Eschewing the obligatory protocols of concern for Julius's illness, Philip instead advises him to read famously gloomy German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer-and floors Julius by asking him to become Philip's training clinician. The two strike an unusual bargain: Julius will study Schopenhauer under Philip's tutelage if Philip will attend weekly meetings of Julius's therapy group for six months. At first holding himself at arm's length from the group, answering direct questions from the other five patients and offering informative glosses on everything but himself, Philip abruptly assumes a new role when Pam Swanvil, a sixth patient returning from an ashram in India, recognizes Philip as the teaching assistant who took advantage of her and her best friend when they were students at Columbia. The narrative intertwines the ensuing group sessions-rich in accusation, analysis, and conflict, not all of it productive-with a touching account of Schopenhauer's life (1788-1860) in order to contrast the unflinching imperative Philip inherits from the solitary philosopher (shun relationships thatcan produce only unhappiness) with the dying Julius's urging that he open himself to others. Yalom risks occasional prosiness and inflation to present a moving debate about the end of life-a debate doubly rooted in fictional experience and philosophical wisdom.

THE SEATTLE TIMES
February 6, 2005

German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) might have written less pessimistically about the human condition had his Oedipal complex panned out, even by proxy. Instead, Schopenhauer seemed genetically programmed to mope; to abhor and suspect every fertile female; and to insult anyone who took umbrage with his impassioned points of view on life, sex and death. Including his mother.

“A happy life is impossible,” said Schopenhauer. “The best that a man can attain is a heroic life.”

But wait. Irvin D. Yalom's novel “The Schopenhauer Cure” may be steeped in Schopenhauer's morose brilliance and transmissible negativism, but that's just half the story. Jumping forward to the present:

Psychiatrist Julius Hertzfeld has melanoma, and death will claim him within a year. Trained to emote, Julius announces his ticking clock to family, friends, colleagues and private patients. Most difficult is sharing the morbid countdown with his group-therapy patients, for Julius has come to love not the group as its individual patients but the group dynamic.

Julius desires to make everything right before dying, so he contacts a former patient whom he'd failed to heal. The rub comes when it turns out that ex-patient, Philip Slate, has not only overcome sexual predation, he is now studying to become a therapist like Julius. Julius strikes a deal with Philip, agreeing to supervise Philip's academic internship if Philip joins Julius' therapy group as a patient.

Enter Arthur Schopenhauer in the persona of Philip Slate. As Philip introduces the negativist philosopher's epistemology to the group's members, the group dynamic changes radically. Now Pam must deal with her sexual history, Tony with his inferiority complex, Stuart with his pediatrician's mask, Bonnie with her self-abnegation and Gill, alas, with his wife.

Yalom, a psychiatrist and author of a best-selling textbook on group psychotherapy, has fashioned a slick braid: strands of Schopenhauer's troubled biography, a twirl of philosophical apologia from Epictetus to Nietzsche, and real-time psychotherapy sessions in which the reader feels voyeuristic, titillated and occasionally bored.

Yalom's braid doesn't hold together because the reader inevitably regrets jumping from one fascinating story to the next and back again. And yet, in its unraveling, the sending up of Hertzfeld reveals Schopenhauer's relevance today and Yalom's brilliance as a storyteller.

Were Schopenhauer alive to opine, he might remark somewhat glibly that Hertzfeld expected too much from the act of dying.

Reviewed by Skye K. Moody, Special to The Seattle Times

PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY
January 6, 2005

Having taken on the origins of psychotherapy in the popular When Nietzsche Wept, psychiatrist-novelist Yalom now turns to group therapy and the thinker sometimes known as the “philosopher of pessimism,” in this meticulous, occasionally slow-moving book. Julius Hertzfeld, a successful therapist in San Francisco, is shocked by the news that he suffers from terminal cancer. Moved to reassess his life's work, he contacts Philip Slate, whose three years of therapy for sexual addiction Julius describes as an “old-time major-league failure.” Philip is now training to be a therapist himself, guided by the writings of Arthur Schopenhauer, and he offers to teach Julius about Schopenhauer as a way of helping him deal with his looming death. Julius and Philip strike a deal: Julius will serve as Philip's clinical supervisor, but only if Philip joins the ongoing therapy group Julius leads. To complicate matters further, Pam, a group member, is one of the hundreds of women Philip seduced and then rejected. Yalom often refers to his books as “teaching novels,” and his re-creation of a working therapy group is utterly convincing. At the same time, his approach can be overly documentary, as the inner workings of therapy, often repetitious and self-referential, absorb much of the novel's momentum. A parallel account of Schopenhauer's life sheds light on the philosopher's intellectual triumphs and emotional difficulties.

Agent, Sandra Dijkstra. (Jan. 6) Copyright © 2004 Reed Business Information.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GROUP
PSYCHOTHERAPY
July 2006  vol 56 no. 3

Arguably the most realistic, honest, and poignant portrayal of the experience of group therapy in fiction, this intriguing page-turner will appeal to anyone interested in philosophy, psychotherapy, and the human struggle for meaning.  Psychiatrist/author Irvin Yalom, well known for his seminal texts in psychotherapy; The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, Existential Psychotherapy, and Inpatient Group Psychotherapy, and increasingly recognized as a writer of fiction (When Nietzsche Wept, Love's Executioner, Lying on the Couch), now introduces the compelling story of Julius Hertzfeld,  eminent group psychotherapist..  And so we are ushered into the intimacy of the therapeutic group. 

As the story unfolds, Hertzfeld discovers at a regular physical check up that an advanced melanoma has infiltrated his body, and that he has at best, “one good year” left.  Yalom graphically captures Julius' barefaced confrontation with the inevitable:  He is now “a host; -- food for an organism whose gobbling cells divide at a dizzying pace, -- outfitting clusters of cells for cruises into the bloodstream and colonization in distant organs” (p.8).  And “in another year Julius Hertzfeld would be leeched into the soil, his molecules scattered, awaiting their next assignment” (p. 19).

After struggling with the initial shock and angst, Julius begins to consider how to spend this last year.  He considers his successes and failures throughout his career, and on an impulse, decides to make contact with a former patient, Phillip Slate, with whom he had utterly failed after three years of individual psychotherapy some twenty-three years ago.  “You want failure? --There was failure! Old-time major-league failure,” he reminds himself (p.13)

Through a series of complex interactions, Phillip finally agrees to accept Julius' invitation to join his longstanding and favorite therapy group, although Phillip is not interested in personal growth or change; in fact he believes that he has cured himself, through his rigorous studies of Arthur Schopenhauer, the nineteenth century German philosopher.  In return for this agreement, Phillip gets Julius to agree to be his supervisor in his new career as 'philosophical counselor.' 

The challenge begins in the therapy group, with Julius and Phillip holding opposing existential views of the road to life's meaning.  Julius, favoring the philosophies of Camus, Sartre, and Neitzsche, advocates that it is only through the honest examination of one's relationships that one finds self-understanding, intimacy, and ultimately, peaceful acceptance of the human condition; including “the pain of transient existence.” (p. 9). The cynical and pessimistic Phillip, (“twin-brained” with Schopenhauer) is firmly convinced that tolerable existence can only be achieved by complete detachment from human connection. “Blessed isolation is what I seek.” (p. 167) What better place to stage this battle than the arena of the therapy group! Yalom structures his novel around these two parallel stories: the life and development of Arthur Schopenhauer, and the story unfolding among the members of the therapy group. In alternating chapters, we see the progression of each, while Phillip bridges the two sagas with his enactment of Schopenhauer in the group. 

In his weaving of these two tales, Yalom also attempts to demonstrate how group therapy works: we get rich and vivid glimpses into the subtleties of an interpersonal group therapy, as when Julius presses for the identifying and expressing of feelings.  At one point a member says “I felt that it was odd—that's not quite a feeling, is it?” And Julius gently coaches, “Closer. -- First cousin to a feeling. Keep going.” And the member does. (p. 161).

There are many instances of Julius' harnessing the power of the therapeutic group by moving the group to explore its 'here and now' dynamics.  In typical fashion he says, “Let's take a look at what's happened in the past several minutes.  Who's got some feelings or observations?” (p.159)  He also encourages the group to explore its automatic and collusive  reenactments of members' dynamic patterns. He speaks toward the end of a difficult session, “The very issue she wanted to talk about may have been played out here in living color with all of us playing a part in the pageant.” (p.140)  The book illustrates many other techniques routinely employed by Yalom, er…Hertzfeld. Without a doubt, Julius loves his work, and finds it to be a life-giving experience, even as he approaches his death..

Unlike the Bob Newhart caricature of group therapy, Julius himself and the group members unfold as believable, multilayered characters, each with compelling life stories, strengths, and “blind spots.” And, as in a true-to-life group, there are some jolting surprises when the unexpected emerges in the group.  Yalom delights the reader with every therapist's nightmares and “bombshells.” There is the explosive coincidence of a group member from Phillip's past, and disclosures of secrets long withheld from the group. There is the development of an intimate subgroup, the ongoing, conflictual impact members have on each other, and of course the impending losses due to Julius' fatal illness, and the resulting termination of the group. Julius rises to the occasion with each of these challenges and demonstrates grace, humor, and steel-edged honesty.  At one point, Julius pushes the edges of Yalom's own advice on the judicious use of therapist self-disclosure as one member pointedly asks hum, “What's not clear is why you're telling us. Why now?”  (p.239). Julius becomes increasingly transparent under the pressure of his short time left.  And all of these issues are on the table for exploration, “grist for the mill.”

There are challenging bridges to be woven into this ambitious novel. First there is the movement back and forth between the alternating tales.  The Schopenhauer historical detail becomes a bit sluggish at times, and the reader becomes anxious to get back to what's happening in the “here and now” of the therapy group.  Yalom also wants to use his story to inform the general public about group therapy.  For the most part this is successful, as we have access to Julius' own thought-dialogue. But there are some occasions when the “instructional” elements seem a bit deliberate, not so smoothly incorporated. Nevertheless, the book is well researched, beautifully written, and thoroughly absorbing. Yalom's command of language and his portrayal of the existential issues, touch the soul in technicolor.

Facing Julius' inevitable death is difficult, but it becomes compelling as the plot simmers to a surprising ending.  The Schopenhauer Cure will captivate the audience of group therapists, most of whom will have studied The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, written by Yalom, andfirst published in1970. (The fifth edition, published in 2005 with Molyn Leszcz.)  For a generation of group therapists, Yalom has been a mentor, who has challenged us to become more humble, self-aware, and human while applying theoretical knowledge and skill to helping others.  For the general public, The Schopenhauer Cure is a compelling story. It gives credence to the idea of embracing life and facing its inevitable questions and ambiguities.  Human relationships are at the intimate heart of the search for meaning, and the struggle is worth it.  As Zarathustra says, “Was that life? Well. Then, once again!” (p.332).

Reviewed by: Joan-Dianne Smith MSW, RSW, FCGPA. Joan-Dianne Smith is in private practice in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
www.jdsmiththerapy.ca , e-mail: jd_smith@mts.net