This voluminous book of 47 chapters offers a good cross section of what is burgeoing in the field of client-centered and experiential psychotherapy on the threshold of the nineties. it does not represent a single vision but gives the floor to the various suborientations: classics Rogerians; client-centered therapists who favor some form of integration or even eclecticism; experiential psychotherapists for whom Gendlin's focusing approach is a precious way of working; client-centered therapists who look at the therapy process in terms of information-processing; existentially oriented therapists... Remarkable is that - for the first time in the history of client-centered/experiential psychotherapy - the European voice rings through forcefully: more than half of the contributions were written by authors from Western Europe.Several chapters contain reflections on the evolution--past, present, and future--of client-centered/experiential psychotherapy. The intensive research into the process, which had a central place in the initial phase of client-centered therapy, is given here ample attention, with several creative studies and proposals for renewal. In numerous contributions efforts are made to build and further develop a theroy of psychopathology, the client's process, the basic attitudes and task-oriented interventions of the therapist. The chapters dealing with clinical practice typically aim at the description of therapy with specific client populations and paricularly severely disturbed clients. And finally a few fields are introduced which are new or barely explored within the client-centered/experiential approach: working with dreams, health psychology, couple and family therapy.

Pre-therapy is a method for anyone wanting to work with people whose ability to establish and maintain psychological contact is impaired temporarily or permanently, by illness or injury, whether of organic or psychological origin.

This book has been replaced by Essential Psychotherapies, Fourth Edition, ISBN 978-1-4625-4084-6.

Integrating the work of leading therapists, the book covers both conceptual foundations and current treatment applications. The volume delineates a variety of experiential methods, and describes newly developed models of experiential diagnosis and case formulation.

`This thoughtful and thought-provoking book is essential reading not only for those involved in the training of counsellors within the person-centred approach, but also for individuals who may have simplistic, dismissive or otherwise ill-informed notions of the depth of self-awareness required of the person-centred practitioner and the far-reaching challenges offered by the approach. For counsellors who define themselves as "person-centred" but who have had no substantial training, it should be compulsory reading′ - British Journal of Guidance & Counselling Person-centred counselling probably requires more training - and a greater intensity of training - than most other mainstream counselling approaches, but until now no one book has concentrated solely on the principles, practices and requirements of training person-centred counsellors. Dave Mearns has drawn on the lived experiences of both trainers and trainees to demonstrate the potential range and importance of training in this field. The material covered includes selecting and supporting trainers, selecting course members, skills development, supervision and other professional issues - essential features of all counsellor training, but of particular relevance to the person-centred approach. Written expressly for both trainees and trainers, this book also extends and develops current thinking within the approach, and will be a valuable resource for all person-centred practitioners.

`In this scholarly book, Thorne and Lambers have gathered together significant contributions to the advancement of person-centred theory and practice from leading exponents of the approach in Austria, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom.... I found the book both stimulating and challenging. The insight it offers into working with "difficult" clients is invaluable and the sections on theory stretched me in my understanding of the approach. I strongly recommend it to anyone from within or without the person-centred tradition who wants to achieve a real understanding of the approach "post Rogers" and get to grips with the vibrancy and vitality of person-centred thought in Europe' - Counselling, The Journal of

`This book offers a truly engaging "read". The writing style is good and it gives the reader a wide range of perspectives, from the meta-theoretical to the concrete practical experience of clients and counsellors.... David Rennie′s book serves to continue the development as well as the exposition of the person-centred approach to counselling′ - British Journal of Guidance and Counselling `This is a very good book... clearly within the humanistic/experiential tradition... It seems to me to be very important that this kind of research continues - it is the raw data of the counselling profession′ - Person-Centred Practice This book contains powerful new ideas about person-centred theory and practice. Supported by intensive qualitative research into the client′s experience of counselling, the book highlights the significance and pervasiveness of reflexivity - defined as self-awareness and agency within that self-awareness - and explores surprising ways in which clients contribute reflexively to the counselling process. Vivid examples highlight activities, show the therapy in action and illustrate how counsellors can use their own experiences creatively to facilitate their attunement to themselves, their clients and their relationships with them. The theoretical framework covers matters such as the use of images and metaphor, counsellor transparency and the assistance of clients′ agency. Emphasis is placed on the client/counsellor relationship through such crucial areas as the working alliance, power dynamics and metacommunication.