Book review: Contemporary Psychotherapists Examine Themselves

Abstract

Dr. Wolff asked 28 questions of 43 psychotherapists and in this volume reproduces the transcript of 22 of these interviews and parts of 14 others. This small and biased sample tells little about psychotherapy but a good deal about some psychotherapists, which is the purpose of the book. The therapists in general, appear to take the following attitudes: the best kind of therapy is the kind they themselves are doing; while there is probably some merit in the theories and methods of others, this is doubtful; what is required, although nobody is doing it, is good basic research. In terms of prevalent attitudes, the reviewer noted a general favorable attitude towards Adlerian thinking and a general upsurge of interest in group therapy