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This volume consists of papers presented at the meetings of the recently organized Section on Psychotherapy of the American Psychiatric Association, and of contributions from some other schools which could not be heard at the meeting. Moreover, psychiatrists from various countries (Austria, England, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and South America) survey the field in their countries of origin. Obviously, a review can hardly do justice to this multifaced collection of thirty-one essays, supplemented by the remarks of invited discussants.
The reader is treated to a whole spectrum of methods and schools of psychotherapy, most of them narrated by authoritative representatives. In this way we are offered an encyclopedia of present-day psychotherapy. This is certainly most informative, and so are the brief presentations from various countries. The general level of presentation can be described as high and, as befits such a typically eclectic collection, devoid of impassioned partisanship.
Some contributions show more interest in theoretical principles than in the practical implications of the method presented: for instance, the penetrating but much too brief presentation by Binswanger, the master of existential analysis. Other authors give a detailed description of their technique: for example, Rogers in his discussion of client-centered therapy and Gutheil and Lowy in their faithful presentation of Stekel's active analytic therapy. Thoughtful discussion of basic principles with penetrating criticism and formulation of research problems is presented mainly by Kubie and Masserman. The element of interpersonal and group relations prevails throughout most of the contributions. Thus, the theory of communication, psychodrama, group therapy, and problems of transference and countertransference are the subjects of a number of chapters.