Essential Psychotherapies: Theory and Practice

Comprehensive and user-friendly, this widely adopted text presents systematic expositions of the 12 most important forms of psychotherapy being practiced today. Covering traditional treatments as well as influential models that have been developed relatively recently, the volume gives students and practitioners a solid grasp of foundational theories and methods. Eminent authorities describe their respective models in unusually coherent chapters to facilitate easy comparison of basic theoretical and practical concerns. Each chapter also includes a detailed case illustration that brings key concepts to life.

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Provides extensive, systematic expositions of 12 currently practiced forms of psychotherapy, including influential treatments which have been developed relatively recently, such as brief, cognitive, family, relational, and integrative psychotherapies; as well as more traditional treatments, such as psychoanalytic, existential- humanistic, and person-centered psychotherapies, Gestalt, group, and behavior therapy, and Transactional Analysis. To facilitate comparison, the chapters follow common guidelines which include the origins, current status, and assessment and intervention methods of each approach, along with its foundational concepts of personality and psychopathology. Illustrative case material is employed throughout. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Alan S. Gurman, PhD, is Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Family Therapy Training at the University of Wisconsin Medical School. He has authored or edited a number of highly acclaimed books, including Clinical Handbook of Couple Therapy and Theory and Practice of Brief Therapy. A past editor of the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy and past president of the Society for Psychotherapy Research, Dr. Gurman is a pioneer in the development of integrative approaches to marital therapy, and has received numerous awards for his contributions to the family therapy field. He practices psychotherapy in Madison, Wisconsin.

Stanley B. Messer, PhD, is Professor II and Dean of the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University. He is coauthor of Models of Brief Psychodynamic Therapy: A Comparative Approach and coeditor of several volumes, including Theories of Psychotherapy: Origins and Evolution, History of Psychotherapy: A Century of Change, Hermeneutics and Psychological Theory, and Psychoanalytic Therapy and Behavior Therapy: Is Integration Possible?. Dr. Messer has also written many articles on psychotherapy integration, brief psychodynamic therapy, and evidence-based practice, among other topics, and has conducted empirical research on the process of psychotherapy. He was Associate Editor of American Psychologist and is currently Associate Editor of the online journal Pragmatic Case Studies in Psychotherapy. Dr. Messer practices psychotherapy in Highland Park, New Jersey.