Only occasionally do books change the very way we think about practice and introduce concepts that have the power to redefine some of our work, the first edition of Working at Relational Depth did just that, and this second edition takes us several steps further. Entirely updated, refreshed and contemporary in its approach this is, once again, a tour de force in the literature; a further critical development in our understanding of the relationship in counselling and psychotherapy.

Working at Relational Depth in Counselling and Psychotherapy 2^nd Edition, co-authored by Mick Cooper and Dave Mearns, is a wonderful book which should be on every counsellor’s and counsellor training course’s reading list.

This book reminds us that therapy is both an art and a science. The struggle to find words to describe moments of deep healing between two people is balanced by an absorbing look at the neuroscience, developmental psychology and evidence that underpin relational depth. This is both poetry and prose which speak across the different modalities to all therapists who care about their clients.

The illustrative examples, client accounts and research meshed together into an enjoyable, informative and thought provoking read. It enabled me to realize that, fundamentally, working at relational depth means two human-beings allowing themselves to be seen exactly as they are. Human. With flaws and fears and needs and desires.