In the story, "Loves Executioner", Yalom treats an elderly woman named "Thelma" who is excessively obsessed with her, a former therapist from ten years ago named Matthew. Yalom, feeling drawn to the facets of her dilemma, decides to do everything possible to allow Thelma to overcome the obsessions that had devastated her mental health. Although Thelma's loving obsession with her therapist and her subjective experiences about life prevent her from living in the present, Yalom attempts to cure a 70-year-old woman only to discover that being an executioner of love is more complicated than what he had foreseen. First there is the first meeting between Yalom and Thelma. At first, Yalom is intrigued by her romantic obsession with Matthew and cannot understand why her noticeably younger former therapist would even want to have sexual relations with Thelma, as he describes her as "a frumpy old woman" (Yalom, 2000) . . The possibility of helping her overcome her obsession with alleviating her suffering were the reasons why Yalom ultimately decides to cure her. I thought that although Yalom had good intentions to treat her from the beginning, I think he was taken aback by her requests because she tells him from the beginning: “Eight years ago I had a love affair with my therapist. It has never left my mind since. I almost killed myself once and I think I'll succeed next time. You are my last hope." (Yalom, 2000 p. 18) A person who has been seeing therapists for over twenty years and is stuck with an obsession for ten, I thought, was quite intimidating and I think Yalom did his best to stay optimistic. If I had a patient like Thelma who told me I was her last hope and if I couldn't help her she would... middle of paper Yalom would have to somehow lose her temper, but she had limited time and had more time to work with Thelma, the therapy might have turned out differently This was without a doubt one of the most confusing and intricate stories I have ever read in Yalom's book and the overall message I took home from it. this was that love and obsessions are difficult to intellectualize and understand as objectively as we would like. Although what may logically be the best decision, love is not based on logic and the only executioner of love cannot come from the. suggestions from another person or the therapist, but rather from oneself and from within. I think this quote expresses the story best: “Love and psychotherapy are fundamentally incompatible. A good therapist fights darkness and seeks enlightenment, while romantic love is sustained by mystery and crumbles upon inspection” (Yalom, 2000 p.. 17)