International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice
ISSN: 1365-1501 (Print) 1471-1788 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ijpc20
Psychotherapy and Counselling in Practice, A Narrative Framework Professor Michael King To cite this article: Professor Michael King (2004) Psychotherapy and Counselling in Practice, A Narrative Framework, International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 8:1, 65-65 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13651500310003840
Published online: 13 Sep 2010.
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Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ijpc20 Download by: [University of Pennsylvania]
Date: 06 November 2015, At: 22:29
# 2004 Taylor & Francis
International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice 2004
Volume 8
Pages 65 /67
65
Book Reviews
Downloaded By: [informa internal users] At: 15:13 7 September 2010 Downloaded by [University of Pennsylvania] at 22:29 06 November 2015
Psychotherapy and Counselling in Practice, A Narrative Framework Digby Tantum, Cambridge, 2002, xvi / 317 pages When I am asked to provide a personal reference for someone whose work I respect, I am tempted to write, ‘‘she is excellent, everything you could wish for – employ her before someone else beats you to it’’. Arguably, this contains all the essentials that a prospective employer needs – she’s good, so go for it. However, pithy remarks are not always appreciated. One requires detail on exactly how she is good and where her bad points lie. Does she always turn up to work and has she had any unnecessary sick leave? As if one could judge. So it is with book reviews. I am tempted simply to say ‘‘Digby Tantum’s is a great book / buy it while it’s still in print’’, but I shall forgo that temptation and explain why it’s good. The author describes psychotherapy in its entirety and debates how psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and counsellors might best deliver it. Like many single-author books, it is fluent and consistent. It is also written with passion. Tantum has reflected at length on the essential core of psychotherapy. He is sceptical of claims not underpinned by evidence. In particular, he is unconvinced by the claims of psychoanalysis, particularly the utility of interpretation, but also points up the limits of cognitive behaviour therapy, which is gradually becoming the therapy of choice, regardless of the presenting problem. He regards psychotherapy as a process that remoralises clients by addressing the concerns they bring to therapy as well as their values, and by recognising that they are guided by their emotions and the emotional meaning of the therapy. He emphasises the role of narrative and how it displays each person’s search for meaning. He discusses existential psychotherapy with its preoccupation with man’s essential anxieties about death and place in the universe. He reminds us of the power of the therapist and how progress is made only by levelling the exchange into a joint exploration of meaning and emotion conducted by two equals. His hypothetical case descriptions are illuminating in that they as often reveal the bumbling efforts of therapists as the struggles of clients. Tantum makes a great deal of the distinction between therapies that relieve symptoms and those that explore deeper issues and attempt to change fundamentally the way people live and find happiness. He demonstrates what all psychotherapies have in common, how they differ and where they might best be applied. One is impressed yet again by the newness of psychotherapy in human history. The myth that we now consult psychotherapists and counsellors for our troubles when in former times we sought out the clergy or other religious figures looks weak against this review. Although priests listened, in the end they advised and
directed within the narrow spiritual constraints that were theirs to do. What is different here is an effort to understand rather than advise, to explore motivations and values rather than prescribe good behaviour, and a refusal to judge. Or at least that is what good psychotherapy should be. Few books of this type are page-turners / this one is and I would recommend it to all therapists of whatever experience, who wish to reflect regularly on what they do and what it means for the people who consult them. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Royal Free & University College Medical School, London, UK.
Professor Michael King
DOI: 10.1080/13651500310003840
Wine: A Scientific Exploration Edited by Merton Sandler and Roger Pinder Taylor & Francis, London 2002. ISBN: 0-415-24734-9. £65.00 This is a most impressive volume. It begins with a quote from Benjamin Franklin: ‘‘There are more old drunkards than old doctors’’. Certainly something worth considering! It is a 320page hard-cover book, which includes 14 chapters and 20 contributors. International contributors come from Australia, Canada, Israel, UK and USA. It includes authoritative views including the history of wine, issues such as wine tasting, choice, improvements, presentation, keeping wines / but, importantly, the relationship of wine to health. The history of wine as a medicine makes interesting reading and takes in Ancient Egypt, India, China, Greece, Rome, Mesopotamia, the Arab and Jewish worlds, Medieval medicine, Europe, and Australia. Further chapters include the archaeology and origins of wine production, saving of the vine from Phylloxera which is apparently a never-ending battle, wine and heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases, wine and cholesterol and atherosclerosis, effects on the cell and its role in illness prevention, constituents of wine, technology of winemaking, identity and parentage of wine grapes, wine and migraine, and as protection in macular degeneration, and the antimicrobial effects of wine. The dangers of wine are well known but the beneficial effects need more attention. A report on a study which examines the health histories of men and women aged 55 / 64 years from 18 countries found that regular alcohol consumption, more particularly wine, lowered the incidence of heart disease by 30 /40%. They claim from meta-analysis
ISSN: 1365-1501 (Print) 1471-1788 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ijpc20
Psychotherapy and Counselling in Practice, A Narrative Framework Professor Michael King To cite this article: Professor Michael King (2004) Psychotherapy and Counselling in Practice, A Narrative Framework, International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 8:1, 65-65 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13651500310003840
Published online: 13 Sep 2010.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 17
View related articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ijpc20 Download by: [University of Pennsylvania]
Date: 06 November 2015, At: 22:29
# 2004 Taylor & Francis
International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice 2004
Volume 8
Pages 65 /67
65
Book Reviews
Downloaded By: [informa internal users] At: 15:13 7 September 2010 Downloaded by [University of Pennsylvania] at 22:29 06 November 2015
Psychotherapy and Counselling in Practice, A Narrative Framework Digby Tantum, Cambridge, 2002, xvi / 317 pages When I am asked to provide a personal reference for someone whose work I respect, I am tempted to write, ‘‘she is excellent, everything you could wish for – employ her before someone else beats you to it’’. Arguably, this contains all the essentials that a prospective employer needs – she’s good, so go for it. However, pithy remarks are not always appreciated. One requires detail on exactly how she is good and where her bad points lie. Does she always turn up to work and has she had any unnecessary sick leave? As if one could judge. So it is with book reviews. I am tempted simply to say ‘‘Digby Tantum’s is a great book / buy it while it’s still in print’’, but I shall forgo that temptation and explain why it’s good. The author describes psychotherapy in its entirety and debates how psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and counsellors might best deliver it. Like many single-author books, it is fluent and consistent. It is also written with passion. Tantum has reflected at length on the essential core of psychotherapy. He is sceptical of claims not underpinned by evidence. In particular, he is unconvinced by the claims of psychoanalysis, particularly the utility of interpretation, but also points up the limits of cognitive behaviour therapy, which is gradually becoming the therapy of choice, regardless of the presenting problem. He regards psychotherapy as a process that remoralises clients by addressing the concerns they bring to therapy as well as their values, and by recognising that they are guided by their emotions and the emotional meaning of the therapy. He emphasises the role of narrative and how it displays each person’s search for meaning. He discusses existential psychotherapy with its preoccupation with man’s essential anxieties about death and place in the universe. He reminds us of the power of the therapist and how progress is made only by levelling the exchange into a joint exploration of meaning and emotion conducted by two equals. His hypothetical case descriptions are illuminating in that they as often reveal the bumbling efforts of therapists as the struggles of clients. Tantum makes a great deal of the distinction between therapies that relieve symptoms and those that explore deeper issues and attempt to change fundamentally the way people live and find happiness. He demonstrates what all psychotherapies have in common, how they differ and where they might best be applied. One is impressed yet again by the newness of psychotherapy in human history. The myth that we now consult psychotherapists and counsellors for our troubles when in former times we sought out the clergy or other religious figures looks weak against this review. Although priests listened, in the end they advised and
directed within the narrow spiritual constraints that were theirs to do. What is different here is an effort to understand rather than advise, to explore motivations and values rather than prescribe good behaviour, and a refusal to judge. Or at least that is what good psychotherapy should be. Few books of this type are page-turners / this one is and I would recommend it to all therapists of whatever experience, who wish to reflect regularly on what they do and what it means for the people who consult them. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Royal Free & University College Medical School, London, UK.
Professor Michael King
DOI: 10.1080/13651500310003840
Wine: A Scientific Exploration Edited by Merton Sandler and Roger Pinder Taylor & Francis, London 2002. ISBN: 0-415-24734-9. £65.00 This is a most impressive volume. It begins with a quote from Benjamin Franklin: ‘‘There are more old drunkards than old doctors’’. Certainly something worth considering! It is a 320page hard-cover book, which includes 14 chapters and 20 contributors. International contributors come from Australia, Canada, Israel, UK and USA. It includes authoritative views including the history of wine, issues such as wine tasting, choice, improvements, presentation, keeping wines / but, importantly, the relationship of wine to health. The history of wine as a medicine makes interesting reading and takes in Ancient Egypt, India, China, Greece, Rome, Mesopotamia, the Arab and Jewish worlds, Medieval medicine, Europe, and Australia. Further chapters include the archaeology and origins of wine production, saving of the vine from Phylloxera which is apparently a never-ending battle, wine and heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases, wine and cholesterol and atherosclerosis, effects on the cell and its role in illness prevention, constituents of wine, technology of winemaking, identity and parentage of wine grapes, wine and migraine, and as protection in macular degeneration, and the antimicrobial effects of wine. The dangers of wine are well known but the beneficial effects need more attention. A report on a study which examines the health histories of men and women aged 55 / 64 years from 18 countries found that regular alcohol consumption, more particularly wine, lowered the incidence of heart disease by 30 /40%. They claim from meta-analysis
