Peer supervision groups, in which psychotherapists meet regularly to give and receive help with difficult cases and other issues in private practice, are an important component of many therapists’ professional lives, but only a few journal articles have discussed them. This first and only book on the topic addresses some of the problems of conventional supervision and investigates the experience of being in a peer group. Drawing from the author’s own experience and his interviews of thirty-four members of twenty different peer groups, the book describes in detail the varying structures, topics, and interactions in a peer group situation. The author also gives guidelines for organizing and conducting an effective group.

Leading gestalt therapist Michael Kriegsfeld led therapy groups around the world. Gestalt therapy focuses on conflicts between aspects of the self, and the attempt by patients to avoid responsibility for their choices and behavior. When Kriegsfeld died suddenly in 1992, he left 170 three-hour-long videotapes of his work with groups in the United States and Europe. Through excerpts from these tapes, Lee Kassan provides examples of Kriegsfeld’s methods that will be of use to every therapist regardless of his or her field.

Divided into five main sections, Who Could We Ask? The Gestalt Therapy of Michael Kriegsfeld delivers a revealing, personal portrait of Kriegsfeld. Kassan explains Kriegsfeld’s theory of the gestalt model as an alternative to the medical model that dominates the therapy field today.

How do patients experience psychotherapy? What qualities do they value in a therapist? What makes them leave before the process is complete? Sixty patients discuss in detail what worked and what didn’t work in their therapy. Their candid responses will help therapists understand their own mistakes and avoid premature terminations. Patients looking for a therapist will be educated in what to look for and will know what constitutes good therapy.

Therapists are always willing to write and talk about cases, but somewhat reluctant to expose themselves and their experiences. In this book, however, sixty psychotherapists of various backgrounds, disciplines, and levels of experience talk openly about themselves and their work.

The book covers such subjects as fees, schedules, cancellations, medication, termination, the effects of managed care, supervision, attitudes toward patients, and questions about unethical colleagues, to name a few. Every therapist is curious about what other professionals do, feel, and believe. Patients also want to know what their therapists think and feel when working with them, and what it’s like to be a psychotherapist. Both kinds of readers will find answers here.

This volume summarizes a study designed to assess the outcomes of early identification and schooling for a group of highly gifted children. The subjects were graduates of one of America’s most selective educational institutions, the Hunter College Elementary School (HCES). This book proposes that the reported reflections of individuals in their 40s and 50s, who were selected at approximately age 4 for special instruction on the basis of high IQ scores, can provide insight into the long-term outcomes of educational decisions concerning the identification and education of gifted children.