Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Research. Edited by Raymond A. Levy, J. Stuart Ablon, and Horst Kächele. New York:  Humana Press, 2012,  xxxii + 644 pp., $239.00 hardcover.

The variety and depth of the contributions to this edited collection is perhaps the headline of this review. As with any edited volume, despite the excellent intentions and committed involvement of the editors, the contributions will vary in quality. As might be expected, the sections on outcome and process research include some of the strongest chapters. In particular, the Rabung and Leichsenring presentation of meta-analytic evidence is transparent regarding that methodology. However, since meta-analyses are often cited as compelling evidence of treatment effectiveness, there is a critically important omission from the discussion: an acknowledgment that meta-analysis does not provide conclusive evidence of effectiveness but rather signals that there is a compelling reason to do new, larger studies: “Even in aggregate, such results (meta-analysis) should be considered more as hypothesis formulating than as hypothesis testing. The main need … is for trials that are large enough to have adequate statistical power” (Hennekens and DeMets 2009). The excellence of the meta-analysis does not compensate for an overreliance on this method. The chapters on the evidence for transference-focused psychotherapy and dynamic therapy for anxiety disorders also deserve special