Talk Is Not Enough: How Psychotherapy Really Works

by Willard Gaylin

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Author: Willard Gaylin

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Hardcover:
ISBN 10: 0316303089
ISBN 13: 978-0316303088

Although more people than ever are in psychotherapy, confusion about what it is, who needs it, and who doesn't still exists. Drawing on over thirty years of experience as a psychotherapist, analyst, and teacher, Dr. Gaylin addresses the fundamentals of the therapeutic process:

How does therapy work? Can "talking" truly precipitate a change in behavior? Why do therapists rely so heavily on childhood experiences? Does the past really affect the present?

Gaylin speaks plainly but profoundly about the art of therapy, what the roles of the patient and therapist should be, and what it takes, on the part of each, for a patient to get better. The result is an enlightening tour through one of the most misunderstood sciences of our time.

As insurance companies limit the number of therapy sessions they will cover and people look for quick-fix "cures" for their psychological ailments, Dr. Gaylin explains the importance of long-term therapy. This book has a natural audience of people in therapy. Current estimates put this number at 15 million.

From Publishers Weekly

In an attempt to provide insight into the basic principles underlying disparate theories of mental functioning and the treatment of personality disorders, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Gaylin (Feelings, etc.), cofounder of the Hastings Center, focuses mainly on the psychoanalytic method. He contends that techniques such as free association and dream interpretation, the investigation of the way past experiences affect present behaviors, and the analysis of defense mechanisms together facilitate the treatment of character neuroses and disorders. Further, any effective treatment relies on the relationship between patient and therapist as a means to allow the patient to reconnect with the emotions underlying relationships with other people. Gaylin argues persuasively that in the effort to change behavior, intellectual insight (what he calls "knowledge") alone cannot galvanize the motivational factors necessary for successful therapy: "a direct quantitative relationship between knowing the good and doing the good does not exist." Writing for the general reader, he relies on a collection of anecdotes rather than on statistical data to illustrate the potential for treating psychological suffering through talking about it. While Gaylin's argument may not move those who are convinced that the best "cure" for mental distress and the best method for changing behavior by way of emotion lies in drug treatment, those interested in seeking psychotherapy should find insight in his book. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

What a great book! Gaylin, a cofounder of the Hastings Center and a practicing psychotherapist, has written a clear and focused explanation of psychotherapeutic practice. In simple language accessible to lay readers, Gaylin describes what psychotherapy is, how it differs from other types of psychological treatments, its goals, and the process of the therapy itself. Drawing on his own experiences and those of his colleagues and predecessors, Gaylin illustrates the different steps in the process. The history of psychoanalysis is briefly covered, and Gaylin also assesses who typically can and cannot be helped by this type of therapy. He concludes with a discussion of what the roles of patient and therapist should be, the different schools of psychotherapy--what they have in common and how they differ--and what questions to ask a prospective therapist. While many recent titles in this subject area are aimed at the therapy practitioner (e.g., Inside Therapy, LJ 9/15/98) or focus on tracing the history and development of discrete branches of psychotherapy (e.g., What Is Psychotherapy?, edited by Jeffrey K. Zeig and Michael Munion, Jossey-Bass, 1990; Developments in Psychotherapy, edited by Windy Dryden, Sage, 1996), Gaylin's book stands nearly alone (along with Dennis Brown and Jonathan Pedder's hard-to-get Introduction to Psychotherapy, Tavistock, 1991, and Robert Langs's Rating Your Psychotherapist, 1989. o.p.) as a broad-based overview of the field for the potential consumer. Gaylin is less focused on the contemporary state of psychotherapy than Brown and Pedder and more conversational than Lang. An excellent book for anyone in or thinking of therapy and for anyone with questions about this much misunderstood field; recommended for all public libraries.
-David E. Valencia, Federal Way Regional Lib., Seattle
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Talk Is Not Enough: How Psychotherapy Really Works