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The profession of psychotherapy has a richer tradition of literature on theory than on technique and still less exists in the vein of how to go about building a practice. It is therefore most welcome to see the publication of this detailed and candid book by Brett Kahr, How to Flourish as a Psychotherapist, in which he provides the reader with a comprehensive and revealing description of how to build and maintain a successful psychotherapy practice. In his introduction, Kahr acknowledges the contribution made by Nina Coltart in her book How to Survive as a Psychotherapist (1993) and states his aim to explore what allows a psychotherapist to flourish rather than simply survive. In doing so he communicates enthusiasm, dedication and a tremendous breadth of interest, offering copious insight and advice, which is always welcome in a profession that can seem mysterious due to its confidential nature. Kahr, like Coltart before him, never pretends to offer anything other than a very personal view of the profession. This is neither a researched topic nor a manual, but rather takes the form of a collegial sharing of experience that at times is like a memoir. He also shows a similar spirit of generosity in the way he shares so much of his early career, including the difficulties encountered on the way. In lively conversational style he offers fascinating and humorous scenarios and anecdotes from different stages of his career. One such example is his experience of addressing an audience of two in a Jewish women's book group in Golders Green: ‘Addressing the United Nations’ (p. 114).
Kahr presents a developmental model based on his own life-time journey from his starting point as a nervous, but dedicated, undergraduate, and he gives the sense of having evolved through his work like an artist who develops and improves with age. Drawing on his own experience and that of his colleagues and students, he charts the path from pre-training, through training, starting up a practice, bu