Behao. Res. The-. Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 223-221, 1993

Printed in Great Britain Pergamon Press Ltd.

BOOK REVIEWS

RICHARD STERN and LYNNE DRUMMOND: The Practice of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1991). xvi + 248 pp. f17.95 Paperback; &45.00 Hardback.

This is the latest addition to the growing list of books on cognitive behaviour therapy. This is, however, different from most of these, which are edited volumes. The two authors are both practising therapists, and teachers of therapy, and their credentials are impressive. The book is intended as a ‘tool kit’ for the management of patients, using behavioural and cognitive techniques.

The book deals with a wide range of problems for which the techniques in question are appropriate. The techniques are described briefly, but clearly; numerous case illustrations are given, which are instructive. There are a number of attractive drawings, done by Mandy Assin, which clarify aspects of the text. There is also a chapter on medication, a very welcome feature. Two other valuable features of the book are the glossary of terms at the beginning, and the chapter on assessment. This chapter is very good indeed for therapists who are in training and could be a valuable teaching aid. There is also a useful chapter on treating chronic patients. Finally, all chapters have brief, point-by-point, summaries which aid learning.

Stern and Drummond have produced a book which is certainly a valuable contribution to this field. However, it is in many ways a preliminary text, a primer, and therefore has to be used with its limitations in mind. Perhaps inevitably, there is some oversimplification; and the book does not seriously address theoretical issues. The reader should not consider this book, good though it no doubt is as an introduction, as adequate reading on the application of cognitive and behavioural techniques. In the reviewer’s view, it is a good starting point and a good handbook, to be supplemented by other reading. As the authors themselves point out, the professional who uses this volume will also need to receive expert supervision. In this role, as a text to aid trainees, this book is excellent value-particularly at the paperback price.

P. DE SILVA

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Evaluation of Methods for ihe Treatment of Mental Disorders, WHO, Geneva (199 1). vi + 74 pp. SW. fr. 10.00.

This compact and readable book is one of the WHO Technical Report Series. It presents the deliberations of a scientific group convened to discuss the evaluation of psychiatric treatment methods. Although mental and psychosocial disorders represent up to a third of all contacts with the health services worldwide, there was little agreement on the criteria used to assess different treatments and it was the group’s purpose to redress this. The report is initially concerned with general issues related to the treatment of psychiatric disorders. It raises some interesting points, such as the limitations of the ‘gold- standard’ double-blind placebo-controlled trial and the political overtones of costing treatment. The treatment of specific psychiatric disorders is then addressed; current treatments are described, together with criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of treatment, and areas requiring further research. Thus for example in agoraphobia, meta-analysis suggests that behavioural treatments are superior to drug treatments. However, there have been few direct comparisons between the most effective behavioural and the most effective drug treatments, and this is suggested as an area for further research. The particular format of the book makes it a useful brief ‘state of the art’ and as such it would be useful both for professionals and for students approaching examinations.

ANNE WARD

R. L. Wco~ (Ed.): Neurobehavioural Sequelae of Traumatic Brain Injury, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ (1990). xv + 359 pp. f29.95.

This edited collection of chapters is based on a conference held in Washington in 1989 which focused on the neurobehavioural sequelae of brain-damage and their potential treatment to facilitate the reintegration of brain injured people into the community. According to Wood, a ‘neurobehavioural’ approach to brain injury integrates principles taken from cognitive and behavioural psychology in addition to the neurosciences, into a treatment mode1 of specific benefit to traumatically brain-injured people whose needs include achieving better behavioural control, relearning functional skills and improving their social adaptability. Thus it implies that traditional approaches to rehabilitation must be modified in the knowledge of the neurological damage involved and the capacity remaining, in order to achieve the desired behaviour change. Assessment procedures must therefore also be tailored specifically to addressing the patterns of behaviour change seen following traumatic brain injury (TBI). These points are well covered in the book which is divided into six sections. In addition to the epidemiology of disability following TBI, these cover the identification and description of neurobe- havioural sequelae, understanding their nature, psychological and pharmacological treatment methods, and evaluation of treatment outcome studies. The chapters do not present new experimental data deriving from the authors’ own research. Rather, they are review chapters and as such provide good, albeit brief, summaries of current work in the field, and also introduce new assessment devices. Particularly useful is the coverage given to identifying post-traumatic behaviour problems, discussion of the European Head Injury Evaluation Chart, an outline of neurological predictors of behavioural disorders, a review of behavioural techniques that might be applied helpfully with this client group, a neuropsychological mode1 for understanding behaviour change, guidelines for developing cognitive remediation programmes, and an overview

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