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Worrying—Perspectives on theory, assessment and treatment
874
Book Reviews
that better educated therapists---being more strongly opposed to sex with clients than the less educated ones---are at the same time abusing clients more, is still unfounded. There remains a lot of darkness in this obscure field of our profession. Jehu has shed some light with a seminal contribution, for which he is to be complimented. For some readers it will serve as merely useful information, for others it may function preventively as a warning or deterrent. This book is a must for every novice in our young profession. MAURITS KWEE REFERENCES Aghassy, G. & Noot, M. (1990). Seksuele kontakten binnen psychotherapeutische hulpverleningsrelaties. Den Haag: Vuga Uitgeverij. I
J. SAI'crROCK,A. MINN~'r and B. CAMPBELL: The Authoritative Guide to Self-Help Books. Guilford Press, New York (1994). 432 pp. Two parallel worlds of psychological publications have lived together uncomfortably for decades, with writers of academic publications remaining deliberately oblivious to the dominant status of the non-academic, mainly self-help, books which fill shelves and shelves in most bookshops. Self-help books are always present in lists of bestsellers, and some of them have sold in vast numbers. Academic books on the other hand, rarely sell more than 2,000 or so, and most of those go to captive libraries. The sales prove the existence of a large thirst for non-technical books, but the range of books is so broad that making a sensible selection, or defensible recommendation, is extremely dit~cult. Hence, a guide to self-help books immediately strikes one as an excellent idea, and so it is. Many psychologists, especially clinicians, are asked to recommend non-technical readings but tend to flounder in the face of the large choice and some notoriously foolish popular books. This new guide is modelled on consumer reports and provides an extensive list of available books, synopses and the results of surveys of opinion conducted on respectable professionals. Much of this is useful but some of the omissions are surprising, as are some of the recommendations. As expected, the "Highly Recommended" category includes the books by Burns (Feeling Good), Seligman (Learned Optimism), Tavris (Anger), Albert and Emmons (Your Perfect Right) and Leach (Your Baby & Child). The "Not Recommended" category includes books on sexuality by "Dr. Ruth," Hubbard on self-fulfillment, Vincent Peale on positive thinking, Moran on dieting, and so forth. So, a good idea but not satisfactorily carried out. If future editing improves the selections and especially the rating system, the guide will become indispensable. In the meantime this guide can be used to good purpose. The long lists of books, classified by subject, are a handy, helpful resource. S. RACHMAN III
G. DAVE'/and F. TALUS (Eds): Worrying--Perspectives on Theory, Assessment and Treatment. Wiley, Chichester (1994). xv + 311 pp. £24.95. This book deafly succeeds in its intended aim of providing an up-to-date review of research on worry. There are twelve chapters consisting of both theory and practice of an interesting field which is relevant not only to anxiety disorders but to psychological health in general. The expert contributors give evidences to the notion of worry as a distinctive phenomenon with its specific psychological processes that may contribute to the development and maintenance of the problem. An assessment of worry is presented throughout different stages in life----childhood, adulthood and old age, and across different anxiety disorders. An especial attention is given to differentiate worry in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and obsessions. This section includes the latest developments in cognitive and behavioural treatments and gives an illustrative case example of GAD. There is also a section that describes self-report measures of worry with its normative data and psychometric properties. In sum, this is a very good book that can be well recommended to any practitioner but especially for those in psychology, medicine, nursing and psychiatry. LIGIA M. ITO
A. F. DI~MOCK (Ed.): Cruel Legacy: An Introduction to the Record of Deaf People in History. Scottish Workshop Publications, Edinburgh (1993). 102 pp. This book effectively combines history with education. The author (profoundly deaf) documents the beliefs and attitudes of the hearing towards the deaf from the earliest mention by Aristotle (384-322BC) to present day times. The book crosses continents in its search for a thorough understanding of the historical background of the treatment (or indeed mistreatment) and education of the deaf throughout the ages. At times the book instils disbelief on the part of the reader and outcry at the stories of cruelty and torturous teaching of oralism. The reader becomes aware of the damage caused by imposing a hearing people's mode of communication on deaf people. The book also refers to deaf people who have become successful and renowned despite prejudices and suppression. They serve to act as invaluable positive role models for any deaf person who reads the book, as indeed does the author. This book is essentially an insightful documentation of the history of deaf people within society--it should be read by the deaf and the hearing alike. It is packed with information and shocking stories. For anyone working in the field of deafness it is a must in order to gain an insight into the deaf legacy--a cruel one indeed. DEBORAH A. LEE
Book Reviews
that better educated therapists---being more strongly opposed to sex with clients than the less educated ones---are at the same time abusing clients more, is still unfounded. There remains a lot of darkness in this obscure field of our profession. Jehu has shed some light with a seminal contribution, for which he is to be complimented. For some readers it will serve as merely useful information, for others it may function preventively as a warning or deterrent. This book is a must for every novice in our young profession. MAURITS KWEE REFERENCES Aghassy, G. & Noot, M. (1990). Seksuele kontakten binnen psychotherapeutische hulpverleningsrelaties. Den Haag: Vuga Uitgeverij. I
J. SAI'crROCK,A. MINN~'r and B. CAMPBELL: The Authoritative Guide to Self-Help Books. Guilford Press, New York (1994). 432 pp. Two parallel worlds of psychological publications have lived together uncomfortably for decades, with writers of academic publications remaining deliberately oblivious to the dominant status of the non-academic, mainly self-help, books which fill shelves and shelves in most bookshops. Self-help books are always present in lists of bestsellers, and some of them have sold in vast numbers. Academic books on the other hand, rarely sell more than 2,000 or so, and most of those go to captive libraries. The sales prove the existence of a large thirst for non-technical books, but the range of books is so broad that making a sensible selection, or defensible recommendation, is extremely dit~cult. Hence, a guide to self-help books immediately strikes one as an excellent idea, and so it is. Many psychologists, especially clinicians, are asked to recommend non-technical readings but tend to flounder in the face of the large choice and some notoriously foolish popular books. This new guide is modelled on consumer reports and provides an extensive list of available books, synopses and the results of surveys of opinion conducted on respectable professionals. Much of this is useful but some of the omissions are surprising, as are some of the recommendations. As expected, the "Highly Recommended" category includes the books by Burns (Feeling Good), Seligman (Learned Optimism), Tavris (Anger), Albert and Emmons (Your Perfect Right) and Leach (Your Baby & Child). The "Not Recommended" category includes books on sexuality by "Dr. Ruth," Hubbard on self-fulfillment, Vincent Peale on positive thinking, Moran on dieting, and so forth. So, a good idea but not satisfactorily carried out. If future editing improves the selections and especially the rating system, the guide will become indispensable. In the meantime this guide can be used to good purpose. The long lists of books, classified by subject, are a handy, helpful resource. S. RACHMAN III
G. DAVE'/and F. TALUS (Eds): Worrying--Perspectives on Theory, Assessment and Treatment. Wiley, Chichester (1994). xv + 311 pp. £24.95. This book deafly succeeds in its intended aim of providing an up-to-date review of research on worry. There are twelve chapters consisting of both theory and practice of an interesting field which is relevant not only to anxiety disorders but to psychological health in general. The expert contributors give evidences to the notion of worry as a distinctive phenomenon with its specific psychological processes that may contribute to the development and maintenance of the problem. An assessment of worry is presented throughout different stages in life----childhood, adulthood and old age, and across different anxiety disorders. An especial attention is given to differentiate worry in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and obsessions. This section includes the latest developments in cognitive and behavioural treatments and gives an illustrative case example of GAD. There is also a section that describes self-report measures of worry with its normative data and psychometric properties. In sum, this is a very good book that can be well recommended to any practitioner but especially for those in psychology, medicine, nursing and psychiatry. LIGIA M. ITO
A. F. DI~MOCK (Ed.): Cruel Legacy: An Introduction to the Record of Deaf People in History. Scottish Workshop Publications, Edinburgh (1993). 102 pp. This book effectively combines history with education. The author (profoundly deaf) documents the beliefs and attitudes of the hearing towards the deaf from the earliest mention by Aristotle (384-322BC) to present day times. The book crosses continents in its search for a thorough understanding of the historical background of the treatment (or indeed mistreatment) and education of the deaf throughout the ages. At times the book instils disbelief on the part of the reader and outcry at the stories of cruelty and torturous teaching of oralism. The reader becomes aware of the damage caused by imposing a hearing people's mode of communication on deaf people. The book also refers to deaf people who have become successful and renowned despite prejudices and suppression. They serve to act as invaluable positive role models for any deaf person who reads the book, as indeed does the author. This book is essentially an insightful documentation of the history of deaf people within society--it should be read by the deaf and the hearing alike. It is packed with information and shocking stories. For anyone working in the field of deafness it is a must in order to gain an insight into the deaf legacy--a cruel one indeed. DEBORAH A. LEE