You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Psychoanalysts are much involved in the teaching of psychiatry to medical students, residents, and, increasingly in recent years, to general practitioners, pediatricians, and other medical specialists. Moreover, in the expansion of old and the creation of new community psychiatric facilities, we are being subjected continually to overt and insidious pressures for faster methods of treatment not requiring thorough knowledge of psychoanalytic principles or thorough training in psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy. Indeed it is advocated in some circles that the nation's mental health needs can be met largely by rapidly 'trained' cadres of semiprofessional and nonprofessional workers who would be directed and 'supervised' by psychiatrists.
To counteract such regressive blandishments it is most helpful to have a standard textbook of psychiatry that respects the complexity of psychological, biological, and sociological determinants of human behavior—a text that emphasizes the need for thorough training of the therapist before he treats. Noyes and Kolb have given us such a book. It is one of the few textbooks that presents a systematic summary of psychoanalytic theory and the principles of psychoanalytic treatment. Throughout the book the authors indicate the value of psychoanalytic knowledge in the understanding and treatment of any patient. They are most explicit about rigorous psychoanalytic training as a prerequisite to the practice of psychoanalysis.
The volume brings us up to date on valuable contributions in the areas of genetics, biochemistry, and drug therapy. The standard sections on such subjects as psychoses and neuroses are delineated instructively. Commendable too are the handling of the history of psychiatry, the chapters on psychopathology, etiology, and examination of the patient, and the carefully selected bibliographies at the end of each chapter.
A text of this scope cannot possibly cover every subject to every reader's satisfaction. For exa