The art and science of assessment in psychotherapy

While professional training in psychotherapy and counselling vary considerably in the attention they pay to assessment, courses, conferences and workshops devoted to the subject are attracting an audience eager for more demonstration and discussion. In this work 12 practitioners of psychotherapy describe the methods they use in their assessments and how these have developed.The approaches covered include: psychoanalytic psychotherapy; in-patient psychotherapy; family therapy group psychotherapy; psychodrama; cognitive-behaviour therapy; couple therapy; and focal therapy. Additional chapters look at assessment in the light of psychotherapy research, question how far assessment can be separated from treatment, and ask whether the use of questionnaires and special tests aid or detract from interviewing as a method of assessment. The book offers a comprehensive, practical review of a key professional issue which should be of interest to all practising psychotherapists and counsellors.