This volume grew out of a 1994 focus group dialogue with a group of African American women attending the American Psychological Association meeting. In their experiences as graduate students, clinical trainees, psychotherapy patients, and supervisors, these clinicians had experienced a dearth of literature relevant to the special issues encountered in doing psychodynamic psychotherapy with African American women. The resulting book is a collection of fourteen chapters by African American women mental health professionals (twelve psychologists and two social workers) on various aspects of psychodynamic therapy with African American women. While the book's origins suggest that the original intent was to supply a needed body of writings for any mental health professionals working with African American women, the tone of the writing often seems geared toward educating non-African American therapists and supervisors.

The first four chapters deal with the new multiculturalism and psychodynamic theory, the interweaving of cultural and intrapsychic