Brilliant, enlightening, practical. A gem of a book.

British Journal of Guidance and Counselling

 

This is one of a very small number of books that manage to describe simply, but not simplistically, what analytic work involves.

British Journal of Medical Psychology

 

One of the most reliable (and readable) guides to what is involved in counselling… Jacobs' well-organised and comprehensive summaries of the main theories and his illustrations of psychodynamic counselling drawn from his own work will inspire students and trainees on counselling and therapy courses. They will also interest (and create envy) in more experienced readers.

Professor Andrew Samuels, Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex

 

Michael Jacobs writes about counselling in such a lucid, related, succinct and fluid way! This book is a delight to read. Having endorsed the fourth edition, I can now commend the substantial new features of this revised fifth version. These include a new and up-to-the-minute take on what constitutes the therapy relationship, and a suggestive and creative understandings of the value of defences and resistances. The intersections between psychodynamic and other approaches are thoughtfully presented. The book is surely a ‘must’ for training courses but more experienced practitioners will also learn a thing or two. I did.

Michael Jacobs’s textbook for students and practitioners of psychodynamic therapy became a huge success upon its initial publication, and it remains the gold standard to this day.  Written with welcome clarity, deep compassion, and with both a clinical and a practical intelligence, Jacobs will be the perfect guide for trainees in this increasingly important field of endeavor.