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In this book, Levin and Gunther approach the task of teaching the fundamentals of doing psychotherapy by using their experience in studying the nature of learning. They lay out insight or “pearls” of wisdom that they have accumulated from their research and clinical experience, and encourage the reader to pick up whichever ones speak to him/her—either because the insight is interesting, because it addresses a current clinical problem, or because he/she is ready to think about this particular idea. By encouraging the reader to be spontaneous in perusing the book and playing with the bits of information it contains, they model a fundamental aspect of what they are trying to teach: the establishment of an atmosphere in which the patient is encouraged to start at the point where he/she is and to talk freely. By taking this approach, the therapist helps the patient settle into the best position to learn from therapy.
Levin and Gunther are probably excellent seminar leaders. They have a vast store of knowledge about psychotherapy. Their clinical experience and insight come through clearly in their discussions. Even if one does not agree with all their conclusions, most are soundly reasoned and based on clinical experience. They display a pragmatic, sensible, comfortable use of clinical knowledge and psychoanalytic and biological theory. They are succinct and generally stick to ordinary language; they have tried to organize the book so that the therapist/reader can turn to chapters of interest depending on his/her current clinical problems or state of professional development.
The authors present some interesting ideas in the course of their elaborations on the fundamentals of psychotherapy. For example, I found myself puzzling over their discussion of confidentiality in the chapter entitled “Pearls about the Therapeutic Relationship.” In my mind, the importance of confidentiality lies in the analyst's obligation to protect the patient's communications. Therefore, it was sta