Handbook of Group Psychotherapy: An Empirical and Clinical Synthesis edited by Addie Fuhriman and Gary M. Burlingame. Published by  Wiley & Sons, New York, 1994;  588 pages; £45.50.

This weighty volume has as its primary focus the empirical basis of group psychotherapy. It is an impressive and scholarly work that should prove an invaluable resource and guide to researchers in the field. The book aims to provide a comprehensive review of those theoretical and clinical issues that are grounded in a substantial body of empirical literature, and challenges a ‘conceptual’ literature (representing by far the majority of published articles) that pays no heed to, and fails to integrate, empirical data. The status of this volume is greatly enhanced by including amongst its contributors some of the leading figures in group psychotherapy research.

The book is organized into four parts: conceptual and methodological foundations; structural entities in group psychotherapy; therapeutic components of the group ecosystem; and special applications and populations. In Part 1 the editors track the multiple origins and historical roots of group psychotherapy, providing an evolutionary map to locate the emergence of major research themes. The startling paucity of reference to developments in group psychotherapy in Europe is sobering and is a likely reflection of the relative lack of research reporting outside America. An overview of outcome research to date confirms the efficacy of group treatment and shows an increasing experimental rigour in research design and analysis. This is, however, accompanied by disconcerting, recent trends that indicate a raised profile for cognitive/behavioural (a model which does not particularly harness group-specific factors) research data with specific client populations, and a diminishing focus on interpersonal models and on the group as a dynamic/therapeutic entity. Chapter 2 provides a guide to methodological issues and a very handy flowchart mapping out design and analysis considerations for the researcher. The editors manage to enliven their painstaking and thorough evaluative review with a keen sense of the complexity of the fi