Review of Handbook of play therapy, volume 2: Advances and innovations.

Reviews the book, Handbook of play therapy, volume 2: Advances and innovations by Kevin J. O'Connor and Charles E. Schaefer (1994). This book offers a collection of chapters written by leading experts which addresses the developments in play therapy since 1983. In completing the volume, Editors Kevin J. O'Connor and Charles E. Schaefer sought to offer a multi-disciplinary approach to play therapy. Additionally, the editors stated in their preface that they worked to make this new volume "informative, thought provoking, and clinically useful." Indeed, the editors have succeeded admirably in achieving their stated objectives. The book's organization and emphasis on clinical relevance make it a fit companion to their earlier classic (Schaefer & O'Connor, 1983). The Handbook is very well-organized with an excellent selection of chapter topics. The chapters follow essentially the same format and are integrated well within the book. The editors deserve credit for synthesizing diverse theoretical approaches and techniques into a coherent whole. The individual chapters are clearly written and quite readable. The figures and tables are readily understandable and augment the chapters' content. Clinicians and researchers interested in play therapy and child psychotherapy will enjoy this volume. Although the majority of chapters discuss play therapy with children, two chapters discuss play therapy applications with adults. Accordingly, therapists interested in these approaches will profit from this work. The volume certainly appeals to multi-disciplinary audiences such as psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, pastoral counselors, and educators. The text is extremely appropriate for a graduate course in play therapy. Finally, the book can be read from beginning to end or the reader can select particular chapters in the handbook and sample various clinical approaches. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Play in child development and psychotherapy: Toward empirically supported practice.

Reviews the book, Play in child development and psychotherapy: Toward empirically supported practice by Sandra Russ (see record 2003-88219-000). Clinical child psychologists have used play as a vehicle for psychotherapy for over 75 years. However, current demands of managed care systems emphasize the need for time limited and empirically supported treatments. Although play techniques are commonly incorporated by psychologists of various theoretical orientations, Sandra Russ points out in this book the disparity between the theoretical role of play in psychotherapy and the actual evidence supporting these techniques. The first four chapters of the book provide literature reviews of the history, theory, and research on pretend play, considering both normative and clinical populations. The next three chapters focus more specifically on the current developments in understanding play from research and practice perspectives. Finally, Russ considers future objectives for researchers and practitioners who seek to expand and enhance the utility of play techniques in child psychotherapy. Russ's book clearly provides a basis for understanding the current state of the child play therapy field while strongly emphasizing the need for additional research. This book may be useful for practitioners who strive to provide empirically supported treatments because it provides theoretical and available research perspectives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Countertransference in psychotherapy with children and adolescents.

Reviews the book, Countertransference in psychotherapy with children and adolescents edited by Jerrold R. Brandell (see record 1992-97833-000). Books on child analytic work are rare, and books on countertransference in child treatment are basically nonexistent, despite the proliferation of writing on countertransference in work with adults. Thus, Jerrold Brandell's edited volume is a welcome and long-overdue addition to the literature. Although the book is not strictly about analysis, it is analytically informed. Brandell's stated goal is to advance the principle that "countertransference is a ubiquitous factor in child and adolescent treatment, and that its recognition, understanding, and management are essential to effective psychotherapy." This is indeed a worthy if not essential undertaking, and the collection of articles in Brandell's book advances this goal. Brandell prefaced the chapters with his own thorough historical literature review of countertransference in both adult and child work. He then subdivided the book into two sections, with the first containing two classic articles an countertransference and the bulk of the book devoted to the following "scientific situations" in child psychotherapy: racial and cultural issues, depressed and suicidal children and adolescents, infant-family treatment, severely disturbed adolescents, eating disorders, abused children and adolescents, parent loss and divorce, borderline children and adolescents, life-threatening illness, and substance-abusing adolescents. This book is a very good resource for child analysts and therapists, especially those who espouse a more relational or intersubjective point of view. It is suitable both for inexperienced analysts and as a reminder to more seasoned ones of the importance and pervasiveness of countertransference issues in our work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychotherapy tradecraft: The technique and style of doing therapy.

Reviews the book, Psychotherapy tradecraft: The technique and style of doing therapy by Theodore H. Blau (see record 1988-97142-000). This book begins with an introduction by Blau which defines the concept of "tradecraft" and is followed by eleven chapters divided into three sections. The first section is made up of four chapters concerned with becoming a psychotherapist. The second section of the book includes six chapters about actually conducting therapy. The third section of the book consists of one chapter about the stress of psychotherapy practice and includes a very helpful list of the signs of stress and burnout as well as specific suggestions designed to prevent or reduce stress. The book is certainly well written and well organized. The copies of various office forms, psychotherapy vignettes used to explain various treatment techniques, and specific examples of therapist responses, all provide helpful information for novice therapists. It is very likely that the book is most appropriate for graduate students and inexperienced practitioners. It will probably be of greatest interest to those professionals entering private practice or, who as teachers and supervisors, want to train others to do so. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Handbook of cognitive behavioural therapies.

Reviews the book, Handbook of cognitive behavioural therapies edited by Keith S. Dobson (1989). This book is not what I would normally consider a handbook, lacking the breadth I expect in such a book. It is, rather, an edited text with a number of interesting articles that would be most useful for covering approaches in a course on psychotherapy and behaviour change. These include a good chapter on cognitive assessment by Segal and Shaw, comprehensive chapters on five different types of cognitive therapy by leading proponents of the approach, plus a chapter on methods with children, and finally a theoretical chapter by Mahoney. There are also helpful introductory and concluding chapters by Dobson. In his concluding chapter on the present and future of the approach, Dobson provides an interesting summary of issues, covering theory growth and revision, cognitive assessment, therapy expansion and evaluation, and the exploration of developmental bases of adult disturbance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Combating destructive thought processes: Voice therapy and separation theory.

Reviews the book, Combating destructive thought processes: Voice therapy and separation theory by Robert W. Firestone (see record 1997-97377-000). This book presents a persuasive and highly integrative approach, not only to the practice of psychotherapy, but also to the human dilemma. The author combines psychodynamic and cognitive models, and makes an innovative advancement by adding an existential framework. the book comprises 18 chapters, divided into five sections covering topics such as the roots of psychopathology; voice therapy in comparison to psychoanalysis and cognitive therapy; the application of voice therapy; the nature of guilt and addiction; death anxiety; and broader social concerns. The reviewer found the organization of this book somewhat problematic, both in terms of the sequence of chapters and the topics covered. He also found that many generalizations were stated as fact and many issues deserved further elaboration. However, he contends that readers may find that the information presented in this book will clarify complex psychotherapeutic issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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 Five therapists and one client.

Reviews the book, Five therapists and one client by Raymond J. Corsini (see record 1993-97589-000). To address the question of how the course of therapy would differ depending on the therapist's basic orientation, Corsini created a fictitious client with relatively minor but persistent problems. Therapists from five major systems of psychotherapy were chosen to write very specifically about how they would treat this client. The five systems include Adlerian, person-centered, rationale-emotive, behavioral, and eclectic. The book is divided into six chapters with one chapter for each of the five systems and an introductory chapter in which the problems of the client are given. This is an informative book for professionals, students, and those who are simply interested in the process of psychotherapy and human growth. The book provides very practical, basic information about the therapeutic process from five different perspectives as well as deeper theoretical insight into these respective approaches. Even the sophisticated reader will find much of value in Corsini's book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Parent-child interaction therapy.

Reviews the book, Parent-child interaction therapy by Tom L. Hembree-Kigin and Cheryl Bodiford McNeil (see record 1995-98294-000). This book outlines an important, relatively new behavior therapy method with children called Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). PCIT is a technique that explicitly aims at developing mutual parent and child skills in an affectionate relationship, while retaining the traditional emphasis upon positive social behaviors and (mostly) noncoercive disciplinary efforts. According to the reviewer, the authors have done a very sound job of producing a helpful manual that points in advance to the resolution of common problems in dealing with behaviorally disturbed children and their parents. Although there are some caveats, this book important contribution to the child treatment literature will be beneficial to psychotherapists of all persuasions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Short-term dynamic psychotherapy: Evaluation and techniques.

Reviews the book, Short-term dynamic psychotherapy: Evaluation and techniques (2nd edition) by Peter E. Sifneos (1988). The book focuses specifically, if not exclusively, on short-term anxiety-provoking psychotherapy (STAPP). This mode of treatment is restricted to patients whose psychopathology results from an oedipal conflict, who have had meaningful relationships with another during early childhood, who have the capacity to relate flexibly and expressively with the psychotherapist, who have above-average intelligence and psychological sophistication, and who are motivated for change and not simply symptom relief. The book is organized into three sections: four chapters concern the psychiatric evaluation, seven relatively brief chapters review and illustrate techniques for doing STAPP, and two chapters focus on the results of treatment. In general, this is not a volume for the beginning reader of short-term treatment. It does not overview the entire field but details only one specific type of treatment, which is appropriate for only a limited group of patients. Additionally, the reader will need some understanding of dynamic theory in order to appreciate fully the book's sophistication. These points aside, the book affords the reader an opportunity to see one type of short-term treatment in detail with realistic and sound case material presented in a comprehensible and informative manner. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Saying goodbye: A casebook of termination in child and adolescent analysis and therapy.

Reviews the book, Saying goodbye: A casebook of termination in child and adolescent analysis and therapy edited by A. G. Schmukler. This is a puzzling, intriguing, and evocative book. I was pleasantly surprised to read a book about child analysis--albeit how to end the process with children. This is an important book for clinicians. Notwithstanding this reviewer's expectations to determine the differences between psychotherapy and analysis and when and where to apply them, we are given the vicissitudes of this very vulnerable enterprise of the therapeutic intervention and what is terminable in this process. Its contribution is substantial in understanding developmental growth, individuation, and our vulnerabilities. The authors have given us a justifiable use of psychoanalysis with children and adolescents that serves as a counterpoint to the problems inherent in managed mental health and the need for a pluralistic delivery system. Overall, this is a worthy book in the teaching and in the doing of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of What works for whom? A critical review of psychotherapy research.

Reviews the book, What works for whom? A critical review of psychotherapy research by Anthony Roth and Peter Fonagy (see record 1996-98691-000). This book presents a comprehensive review of the status of psychotherapy research. The authors look at the evidence dealing with both efficacy and effectiveness of psychotherapy for the more common DSM-IV disorders. All of the chapters are geared toward the goal of providing the practitioner with a list of treatments for which there is empirical support. The reviewer notes that the amount of information covered in this text is extensive and provides sufficient evidence for the efficacy of psychotherapy for many of the diagnostic categories. Despite an overemphasis on cognitive/behavioral treatments, the authors do present the best of the research in psychodynamic therapy. The reviewer recommends this volume to both to researchers and practitioners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The Blackwell handbook of early childhood development.

Reviews the book, The Blackwell handbook of early childhood development edited by Kathleen McCartney and Deborah Phillips (see record 2006-04286-000). This book can serve as a useful guide for advanced undergraduate students to approach child development research at a deeper level than that of a typical textbook. Although some chapters lack sufficient depth for the advanced psychology graduate student, a large portion of the handbook will provide the novice reader with the opportunity to get acquainted with current issues in the science of early child development, and may introduce the intermediate reader to useful background knowledge in unfamiliar fields of interest. The chapters in this handbook series as a whole also serve as a highly useful source of information for lecture preparations for faculty teaching outside their core area of concentration. Chapters are consistently brief, clear, and well written. Overall, this book offers a valuable intermediary reading option between the simplicity of a standard textbook and the detailed accounts of books on specific developmental spheres. (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)