Review of Interpersonal psychotherapy of depression.

Reviews the book, Interpersonal psychotherapy of depression by Gerald L. Klerman, Myrna M. Weissman, Bruce J. Rounsaville, and Eve S. Chevron (1984). The authors state their intention to "describe the theoretical and empirical basis for interpersonal psychotherapy of depression," and also "offer a guide to the planning and conduct of the therapy." They do both, and waste no words. The book is organized into three parts. In the first part, the authors present an overview of the theory of the interpersonal approach of the use of interpersonal psychotherapy for depression, objectively offer both favorable and unfavorable findings from completed studies, and outline several studies in progress. The chapters in Part Two clarify how one conducts interpersonal therapy of depression. Part Three addresses the combination of psychotherapy with pharmacotherapy and the professional requirements of the therapist. This book is clearly written, well referenced, and easily understood by beginners who might not have the perspective, as well as by busy veterans who want to learn something new without plowing through mountains of theory and data. It would be useful for students in training, and extremely valuable to the legions of relatively inexperienced front-line mental health center therapists who are required to use time-limited approaches with depressed patients, often without having much structure for what they are doing. More experienced therapists who treat ambulatory depressed patients will add to their clinical skills and enjoy the process. The authors have turned their manual into a useful book that competes most favorably with other texts on short-term approaches to therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A perilous calling: The hazards of psychotherapy practice.

Reviews the book, A perilous calling: The hazards of psychotherapy practice by Michael B. Sussman (1994). In this book, the author presents chapters by therapists from various disciplines (e.g., psychology, social work, psychiatry) that examine the "hazards" that lay hidden in the practice of psychotherapy. The author contends that doing psychotherapy "poses significant dangers to clinicians" (p. 1). He believes that there are forces both internal and external to the therapist that may take their toll on the therapist's well-being. Sussman makes the point that while other overtly dangerous professions (e.g., firefighter) warn prospective candidates of the perils of their field, novice psychotherapists are not prepared for what awaits them. Psychotherapists, then, enter the profession unprepared for, if not blind to, possibilities that not only make them less effective in their work, but might actually harm themselves and their families. Sussman sees a real human cost to not preparing clinicians to be aware of, and deal with, these hazards. The book is divided into six parts that range from the therapist's personal development to renewal. Along the way the reader encounters professional, ethical and legal issues, clinical dilemmas, the emotional impact of the work, and the ailments of the therapist. Within each particular area are rather personal, and at times idiosyncratic, chapters from a variety of psychotherapists. There are chapters that deal with AIDS, the Holocaust, body shame, and being a female therapist. Most of the chapters have a distinctly clinical orientation, while a few come across as philosophical discourses. There is one chapter by an expert witness in the Margaret Bean-Bayog case who warns of the dangers of the press on one's career. The wide scope of the chapter topics, at times, gives the book a disjointed feel and the sense that it is trying to tackle too many issues at once. Overall, this book provides a new slant on what is involved in the practice of psychotherapy. It raises some important questions about the field and how we prepare for its impact on our lives, for the practice of psychotherapy surely does affect the practitioner. Sussman and some of the chapter authors make a good case for increasing communication about potential hazards and developing strategies and training methods that will minimize their effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Retelling a life: Narration and dialogue in psychoanalysis.

Reviews the book, Retelling a life: Narration and dialogue in psychoanalysis by Roy Schafer (see record 1992-97655-000). Although most of the chapters in Retelling a life have been printed previously, they have been edited so that the work reads seamlessly, even as it covers an extraordinary range of topics of interest to analysts: self-interest; female psychology; training analysis; theories of the "self; projective identification and enactment; Freud's legacy; the differences between psychoanalysis and psychotherapy; the desirability of talking directly to patients; and the larger issues of metapsychology, epistemology, and narration that give the book its title and backbone. It is always clearly written with useful clinical illustrations so that it may prove accessible to a lay reader looking to sample the work of a sophisticated, contemporary psychoanalyst. For the experienced therapist or analyst, the advantage of reading this book all the way through is that one ends up knowing pretty well how Schafer would approach a particular problem; he becomes a familiar voice in one's mind. Schafer's discussion of "the self" is well worth reading. Summarizing greatly, he thinks we do best to consider one "person" who narrates multiple self narratives. Order is brought to bear by reducing the narrative data to "storylines" so that particular narrations can be recognized as "versions of the same basic story" (e.g., of imprisonment, rebirth, odyssey, or oedipal rivalry). What Schafer is attempting to do--as before in A new language for psychoanalysis (1976)--is to provide a modern, philosophically correct basis for psychoanalytic practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Cognitive therapy with schizophrenic patients.

Reviews the book, Cognitive therapy with schizophrenic patients by Carlo Perris (see record 1989-97536-000). The author wrote this book with the purpose of presenting cognitive psychotherapy as a part of a successful holistic, cognitive behavioral program implemented at small community-based treatment centers, and as individual therapy with relatively young patients suffering from a schizophrenic disorder. The program de-emphasizes the medical model and introduces a 24-hour psychosocial milieu treatment model conducted over at least 9 full months, in which the patient is responsible for goal-setting, interpersonal problem solving, and medication schedule, with little family intervention. Throughout the text, the author writes about cognitive psychotherapy. The words "cognitive psychotherapy" not "cognitive therapy" would seem to be most appropriate for the tide of the book. For some therapists and researchers, specific information on cognitive therapy includes more details on tasks and measures of performance ranging from arousal, attention, and concentration through recognition, recall, immediate, delayed, long-term, and short term and executive functions, that is, the information processing approach. One of the attractions of the book is that readers first learning about cognitive psychotherapy are offered an opportunity to explore the future use of cognitive psychotherapy with schizophrenic patients and other patient groups. For psychotherapists, mental health workers, graduate, and undergraduate students, Cognitive Therapy with Schizophrenic Patients, is a thorough introduction to a new treatment strategy for schizophrenia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychognosis and psychopedics.

Comments on how psychology is badly in need of a new and more precise term to describe the intimate interpersonal activity between psychologist and emotional upset client. The author states that psychiatrists generally and many clinical psychologists prefer the term "psychotherapy" for the activity involved, possibly because of the association of the term "therapy" with medical treatment; though etymologically the term "psychotherapy," meaning "service of the soul," might be most appropriately preempted by pastoral psychology. According to the author, the contention recently advanced by a committee of the AMA that, since "therapy" is a medical function, psychotherapy can be legitimately performed only by licensed physicians, stretches a tenuous metaphor to the breaking point and seems to demonstrate the prepotency of economic considerations over both logic and social responsibility. Lastly, the author states that the use of terms like psychognosis and psychopedics for diagnosis and psychotherapy, though awkward at first, would further both conceptual clarity and the delineation of the psychologist's (and the delimitation of the physician's) professional responsibility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Between conviction and uncertainty: Philosophical guidelines for practicing psychotherapists.

Reviews the book, Between conviction and uncertainty: Philosophical guidelines for practicing psychotherapists by Jerry N. Downing (see record 2000-08722-000). In this book, the author aims to provide a meta-analysis of the array of theories available to the practicing psychotherapist: that is, to provide a "theory about theories" in the hope of giving the psychotherapist a guide for better understanding what it is that goes on in therapy. Downing begins by working through several basic questions. First, he considers what therapists actually know about therapy. Downing concludes that theories of psychotherapy are likely to continue to evade scientific proof, mainly because they do not easily lend themselves to disproof. This bleak view of what we actually know about what we do in psychotherapy leads Downing to reflect on what it is that we could possibly discover or know about therapy, and here his inquiry turns epistemological. Downing suggests that therapists are guided by a kind of epistemology in action. That is, therapists may best be described as loosely following an organizing scheme throughout a therapy. Downing refers to these six schemes as lived modes of knowing. Downing then discusses each of the six, providing illustrations of what they might mean in practice. Downing presents a plausible account of what may occur in therapy and of how many therapists may work. However, his argument seems to be unnecessarily drawn out. Unfortunately, rather than lend support and inform, the breadth of topics and issues obscures his project. And, beneath it all, we are left wondering what we actually know about psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Empathy reconsidered: New directions in psychotherapy.

Reviews the book, Empathy reconsidered: New directions in psychotherapy by Arthur C. Bohart and Leslie S. Greenberg (see record 1997-08439-000). What, exactly, do we mean by empathy? And what role does it play in how psychotherapy works? These are the questions that Arthur Bohart and Leslie Greenberg address in their edited book, Empathy reconsidered. While definitive answers are not arrived at, the considerations have resulted in a book that ought to be required reading for anyone who wants to understand or practice psychotherapy. This is a book that should be read by graduate students in clinical or counselling psychology, psychotherapy researchers, and psychotherapists. It is not an easy read; it is definitely not a "how-to" manual. Rather, it is challenging and thought-provoking. The dedicated reader, however, will be rewarded. Ultimately, the greatest reward that this book offers is the view that maybe psychotherapy is the distillation of an essential human process which is facilitative of human growth; that maybe all forms of psychotherapy are effective as a result of empathic processes; that maybe what we should be directing our energies toward is ensuring that we are empathically engaging our clients, not whether we are implementing irrelevant varieties of therapeutic techniques. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Handbook of experiential psychotherapy.

Reviews the book, Handbook of experiential psychotherapy edited by Leslie S. Greenberg, Jeanne C. Watson, and Germain Lietaer (1998). The editors note in their introductory comment that the "influence of the humanistic approaches to psychotherapy has waned since their prominence in the sixties and seventies" (p. ix). What this book makes eminently clear, however, is that experientially oriented therapies have not disappeared in the shadow of more recent developments in theory and practice. This book is well written, well organized, and rich in content. Furthermore, it fills an important gap in the literature. In a climate dominated by the search for "scientifically validated treatments," for-profit mental service providers, and praxis dominated by issues of efficacy, concern for the fundamental underlying process responsible for positive human change tends to be relegated to the background. This volume not only highlights the contributions experiential/third-force psychotherapy has made and continues to make to our appreciation of these fundamental processes, but also manages to combine and balance interesting theoretical discussion with clinically useful practical material. While this volume is no "cookbook of experiential therapy," the authors respect the practical demands facing practitioners and provide useful examples of applying some of the basic tenets of the "third force" to a range of specific issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of From research to clinical practice.

Reviews the book, From research to clinical practice, edited by George Stricker and Robert H. Keisner (1985). The intended audience for this edited volume "will probably be practicing psychotherapists...[with] a minimum knowledge of the research area but a ready familiarity with clinical concepts" (p. xv). In addition, the editors suggest to the chapter authors that a successful chapter should provide new meaning for the term "scientist professional" by providing a feedback loop between research and practice. The authors also state that the theoretical focus of this volume is psychodynamic. The book is divided into four areas each preceded by a brief overview. The following areas are covered: Basic issues, social psychology, developmental psychology, and special topics. Overall, I found the chapters to be informative and well written. I think some practitioners may find this book overly academic in tone and may question whether enough of the chapters are sufficiently relevant to busy, practicing clinicians. This is not a book on spotting golden research nuggets between the covers of the volume. Instead, this book requires careful mining of considerable content in order to find sparkling applications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Intensive group psychotherapy.

Reviews the book, Intensive group psychotherapy by George R. Bach (1954). According to the reviewer, as a new addition to the rapidly increasing body of literature on group psychotherapy, this volume contains a number of unique features that will certainly command the attention of clinical and social psychologists. It is first of all a concrete and highly practical presentation of group psychotherapy as practiced privately with neurotic patients. The reviewer states that in this respect, it should fill a growing need for work dealing with private group treatment, a field that seems to have some interesting social implications. In addition to this more practical feature, this book is unusual because it is one of the first in this area which includes an attempt to apply the technical developments in group dynamics evolved by the social psychologists directly to the therapeutic treatment of character disorders, hysterics, and other neurotic patients frequently encountered in private practice. The reviewer states that the greatest direct appeal of this book will certainly be the clearly written first half which deals with practical problems of group therapy. The second half of the book opens with an extensive and interesting discussion of a theory of "contact psychology" and group life. In this reviewer's opinion, this book will be of interest both to group therapists and to students seeking material that bridges the gap between clinical and social psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Models of brief psychodynamic therapy.

Reviews the book, Models of brief psychodynamic therapy by Stanley B. Messer and C. Seth Warren. This book is suitable for supplementary reading in a graduate psychotherapy course, and is intended for graduate students in the field of clinical and counseling psychology. It is also intended as a concise reference work on brief psychodynamic therapies for clinicians who are or wish to practice in the newer mode of limited goals and limited sessions. The authors consider drive theory based psychotherapy treatment, as well as integrative and eclectic models of brief psychodynamic therapy. In consideration of each of the various approaches, Messer and Warren have primarily concerned themselves with four issues as a focal point of their analysis: (a) the theory of pathology involved; (b) the development of a clinical focus; (c) patient selection considerations, including indications and contraindications; and (d) typical techniques associated with the treatment involved. This text is an excellent addition to the literature, primarily for adjunct reading in graduate courses on psychotherapy. It also affords the opportunity for psychodynamically oriented clinicians to address a need for an overview and grounding in brief treatment models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The process of psychotherapy.

Reviews the book "The process of psychotherapy," by H. V. Ingham and L. R. Love (see record 1954-07599-000). In the preface the authors state "This book is an attempt to describe the ways in which a psychotherapist works. . . . Anyone engaged in psychotherapy is concerned with both an understanding of people and an appreciation of the ways of dealing with them. Certainly much more consideration has generally been given to a presentation of dynamic theory or to using the advantages of combining both fields than to efforts at describing how psychotherapy is conducted." The authors have been singularly successful in avoiding raising and discussing problems either of "dynamic theory" or the relation of theory to psychotherapeutic practice. It is difficult to evaluate this book because we are not told for whom it is intended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The psychology of existence: An integrative, clinical perspective.

Reviews the book, The psychology of existence: An integrative, clinical perspective by Kirk J. Schneider and Rollo May (see record 1994-98741-000). There are three goals of this book: 1) to introduce the present generation of graduate students to the richness and value of existential psychotherapy, 2) to show how existential principles and treatments can be integrated with other clinical perspectives and treatments, and 3) to provide a critical link between these goals of integrating existential theory with other clinical perspectives and therapies and showing how existential principles and treatments are applied in real cases. Dividing the text into three parts, the authors present the historical roots of existentialism and recent and future trends in existential-integrative psychology. In addition, they address therapeutic applications. The reviewer concludes that this book is a creative contribution to therapy literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Words were originally magic.

Reviews the book, Words were originally magic by Steve de Shazer (see record 1994-97917-000). This book is written from both a philosophical and clinical perspective. It deals with the importance of language in psychotherapy. The author sets the foundation relative to language structure, meaning, and therapeutic change modalities in preparation for the discussion of brief problem focused psychotherapy. Case examples from actual therapy sessions are then presented in illustration of therapy process and outcome. The reviewer believes that this book has significant relevancy for current practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Existential applications to practice: Can existentialism integrate psychotherapy?

Reviews the book, The psychology of existence: An integrative, clinical perspective by Kirk Schneider and Rollo May (see record 1994-98741-000). In light of what they see as a growing interest in existential psychology among training clinicians and researchers, Schneider and May have authored a text which introduces the existential movement and outlines clinical applications of existentialism in psychotherapy. The text's most significant contribution is the latter—the presentation of a guiding clinical framework for conducting the "existential- integrative approach" in psychotherapy. While many personality and psychotherapy texts include introductory chapters about existentialism, few discuss how therapy cases are conceptualized and conducted from an existential therapeutic orientation. This text is an important contribution to the clinical psychology training literature. In traditional clinical training programs, existential approaches to psychotherapy are often overlooked, because such approaches are viewed as purely philosophical rather than clinically applicable. Schneider and May challenge this view. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Principles of industrial psychology.

Reviews the book, Principles of Industrial Psychology (see record 1955-01700-000). Although "the book is designed as an introductory survey of the entire field of industrial psychology," the reviewer notes that the authors omit many topics. The book presents in substantial fashion those aspects of industrial psychology as the authors perceive it to be. The style of presentation is characterized by critically evaluating research studies reported in the literature and emphasizing the necessary statistical concepts and techniques related to selection of employees. The heavy statistical involvement may make this book a little too difficult for the typical undergraduate student who is not a psychology or statistics major. The reviewer concludes that Principles of Industrial Psychology is an interesting book for a sophisticated audience. It may be misunderstood by typical undergraduates and it may not be too appealing to the man in industry who wishes to apply some principles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The integrative power of cognitive therapy.

Reviews the book, The integrative power of cognitive therapy by Brad A. Alford and Aaron T. Beck (see record 1997-97373-000). This book makes a case for Cognitive Therapy (CT) as the integrative paradigm for psychotherapy. The writing instructs the reader in Cognitive Therapy and advocates its superiority to other approaches, especially the so-called psychotherapy integration movement of the Society for Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI), to integrate the diversity that is contemporary psychotherapy. The authors want to show us the way into the twenty-first century, and there are far worse guides for us to follow. CT is comprehensive in theory and technique, and it is sensibly grounded in empirical findings and to a lesser extent in cognitive psychology. Nonetheless, some will be reluctant to grant a monopoly to Beck and his successors. All should read this book and decide on which side of the issue to stand. At the very least, the reader will learn about CT or have previous learning consolidated, and will engage in a provocative debate about the nature and future of psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Tests and assessment.

Reviews the book Tests and Assessment (1985) by Jacqueline Schakel. From its broad title, this book might be classified as a general textbook on assessment for anyone who is learning about testing procedures. Indeed, in the preface, the authors present their book as a text for undergraduate courses on testing in general psychology, and for graduate courses in counseling, vocational, educational, and industrial psychology as well as for "students in counselor education, guidance and counseling, educational administration and other disciplines." Although the book does have some useful general sections on tests and assessment, it is clear that the real audience for this book is less extensive than the authors state. The examples used, tests reviewed, and issues discussed are chiefly for students in personnel and guidance or vocational psychology. If you are such a student or teach assessment courses to students in these programs, read on. Parts of this book may interest you. If you are a school psychologist or teacher of school psychology, you will find this text limited. The overall organization of the book could have been improved by reviewing the theories of person-environment interaction (upon which the authors claim to base their treatment of assessment) before their discussion of specific assessment tools and integrating a discussion of this theoretical basis throughout the book. In summary, this book does not offer the broad treatment of assessment issues and the focus on the kinds of assessment required in schools which are necessary to school psychologists. It provides some useful reviews of tests for guidance and vocational decision making, some concise explanations of assessment concepts, and a well-written section on some specific testing controversies that may be useful to students in the counseling field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The inescapably ethical character of psychotherapy.

Reviews the book, Ethics and values in psychotherapy by Alan C. Tjeltveit (see record 1999-16017-000). Many psychologists are aware of the ethical and inescapably value-laden nature of psychotherapy (cf., Kurtines, Azmitia, & Gewirtz, 1992). Despite this awareness about values, however, much confusion persists about the nature and management of values in practice. Tjeltveit's text seeks to address such questions among many others. This fine book is one of the first works to comprehensively integrate the research regarding values inescapability with broader ethical theory and philosophy and its potential impact on psychology. In his extensive review, Tjeltveit explores the meaning of "psychotherapist as ethicist," the varied definitions of values, the relationship between science and ethics, the ethical nature of therapy goals and practice, and implications of these issues for public philosophy and professional ethics (p. 18). Tjeltveit's text is an extremely significant contribution to the discipline, because it is one of the first works to explicitly discuss the value-infused nature of psychotherapy and the consequences that this brings to individual practice, professional standards, and societal expectations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Ego defenses: Theory and measurement.

Reviews the book, Ego defenses: Theory and measurement by H. R. Conte and R. Plutchik (see record 1994-98641-000). This book comprehensively examines one of the most influential concepts in psychotherapy and counseling, that of defenses and their role in the therapeutic process. It is very well-written and exhaustive in the sense that covers a wide range of issues related to defenses from conceptual and theoretical to issues of clinical application and measurement. Stemming out of a psychoanalytic/psychodynamic perspective the authors revisit the area of defenses and provide an all encompassing presentation of the major issues surrounding the importance, function and usefulness of defenses in psychotherapy and counseling. The book is divided in two parts. The first examines theoretical and conceptual issues surrounding ego defenses and provides several theories and models for comprehending ego defenses. The second concentrates on the methods used to measure, evaluate and objectify ego defenses. The editors' effort to include a wide spectrum of authors who present different conceptualizations, theoretical approaches, and a variety of measurement methodologies is successful and should be commended. The only reservation the reviewer holds about this book is related to the fact that the concept of ego defenses is closely related to insight oriented therapies and approaches and to a constructivist epistemology of human nature. As such, it would prove useless to these clinicians who adhere to behavioral or existential epistemological perspectives to explain and comprehend human nature. All in all, this book is a necessary addition to all those—academics, clinicians and researchers—who in one way or another deal with emotions, human functioning, and psychotherapeutic change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)