Books received

BATEMAN, ANTHONY, BROWN, DENNIS & PEDDER, JONATHAN. Introduction to Psychotherapy. An Outline of Psychodynamic Principles and Practice. London:  Routledge, 2000, 3rd ed. Pp.  xiv + 265. Pbk. £15.99.

This is the third edition of a classic textbook first published in 1979 and updated with the addition of a new contributor, Anthony Bateman. All three authors, Bateman, Brown and Pedder are psychoanalysts and psychiatrists with a long experience of teaching in the NHS. Both Dennis Brown and Jonathan Pedder have recently retired from the NHS whilst Anthony Bateman is a consultant psychotherapist at St. Ann's Hospital in Tottenham, London. He has, together with Jeremy Holmes, written another classic, Introduction to Psychoanalysis. Contemporary Theory and Practice in 1995. Introduction to Psychotherapy will be regularly updated to provide an overview of the increasing and often bewildering range of psychotherapies. The authors suggest that there is an increasing rapprochement between different factions such as between cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and psychoanalytically-based psychotherapies. The book introduces interpersonal psychotherapy, cognitive analytic therapy (CAT) and conversational therapy. The last chapter, which introduces evidence-based practice and discusses cost effectiveness, is excellent; it covers general and specific methodological problems such as the shortcomings of the golden standard, the randomized controlled trial (RCT) and the dissonance between research with standardized manuals and short term therapy and actual clinical practice. The authors conclude that ‘the dodo effect’ - everybody wins and gets a prize - is prevalent in most research. Most forms of therapy seem to make a difference but the differences between therapies are not significant but are often contradictory in their different research findings. The final conclusion is that therapeutic alliance, motivation and psychological mindedness are the best predic