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In view of the obvious need for an up-to-date text on psychiatric therapies for the instruction of medical students and beginning specialists, as well as for the use of candidates reviewing for the American Board in Neurology and Psychiatry, this book should be assured a wide acceptance.
In the preface the author explains, “It was with these needs in mind that the decision was made to focus the emphasis of this book upon modern treatments in psychiatry. Since there are many excellent psychiatric text books which concentrate mainly upon the phenomenology and dynamics of all psychiatric disturbances, no attempt has been made here to duplicate this readily available source material.”
Herein one finds a concise presentation of the theoretical background of the therapies of past years, as well as the most recent concepts and methods of application, with the emphasis on adult disorders rather than on adolescent or child psychiatric problems. The various psychoanalytic techniques and somato-therapies, including the use of psychoactive drugs, are presented in sections devoted to the discussion of each type of therapy in terms of its history, its indications and contraindications, its method of application, and its aims and possible results. The categories of mental disorders are listed according to the American Psychiatric Association's standard classifications.
The text is arranged in twenty-one sections, and some idea of the scope of coverage may be gained by noting that, in addition to the survey of general supportive, psychodynamic and somatic therapies of the disorders, there are definitions and discussions which bring into focus the composition of the therapeutic team of workers, the value of