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La gestion de soi
238
Book Reviews
knowledge of rehabilitation and made few suggestions as to how information processing problems might be used to drive current rehabilitation practice. The book has pointed out a problem for all researchers in the area of psychopathology whether they are studying a severe and pervasive disorder such as schizophrenia or something simpler like a phobia. There is a great lack of normative data for many measures. For instance, in psychophysiology there are few data on age changes which will have an effect on the interpretation of differences in high risk children and the reactivity of a child to a phobic stimulus. This weighty tome (I use this description knowing it weighs 1.25 kg) would be a valuable addition to any library but its price precludes many individuals (apart from reviewers) from obtaining a personal copy. TIE WYKES
A. J. STUNKARD and T. A. WALDEN (Eds): Obesity--Theory and Therapy (2nd Edn). Raven Press, New York (1992), xiii + 377 pp. $74.00 The editors have assembled a distinguished author list, many of whom are the pre-eminent experts in their field. The contributions are of a uniformly high standard and have managed to marshal the expanding body of obesity research into an accessible and highly readable volume. As its title suggests, this book is divided into two sections: the first deals with basic scientific research and theoretical concepts, while the second section concentrates on the treatment of obesity. Throughout, the editors have attempted to address this book to the clinician. In considering the aetiology of obesity, contributions are not limited to the biological and psychological. There is a highly readable and informative chapter considering the origins of and treatment for obesity, from a cultural perspective. Some of the theoretical chapters may be more detailed than required by the clinician dealing with obesity only infrequently but they will be an important source of reference for the specialist. In the treatment section, a good range of therapeutic approaches are covered including: surgery, pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy. Behaviourial therapy is not given a separate chapter but the behavioural approach is incorporated into many of the therapies. I did wonder at a whole chapter devoted to the obstetric complications of obesity despite its obvious clinical relevance. The section on popular diets is illuminating and clinically useful. Encouragingly, the concept of obesity as a life long problem is emphasised and there is a chapter on relapse prevention. Due to the high proportion of American authors there are several sources of minor annoyance for the British reader. While some authors refer to Body Mass Index, others give absolute weights, usually in pounds. Some of the therapeutic approaches and public health recommendations are tailored to the American health care system. Despite these caveats this is an excellent book, which is highly recommended to those specialising in the field and which will be a useful source of reference to many general clinicans. JANE TILLER
JACQUES VAN RILLEAR: La Gestion de Soi. Pierre Mardaga, Liege (1992). 367 pp. 154 FF
This book is a good example of Saul turning into Paul. Rillaer was a devoted Freudian, but reality asserted itself and in a book I previously reviewed for Behaviour Research and Therapy (1982, Vol. 29, No. 2) he renounced and criticized psychoanalysis, and turned to scientific psychology for better information and a guide to therapy. The present book continues this trend; it deals essentially with the management of the self, the treatment of neurotic disorders, and the ways psychology can assist in improving the quality of life for those whose concepts of the self have become distorted. The book will be a great surprise for most French readers, who on the whole have avoided contamination with empirical and experimental approaches characteristic of the English-speaking nations; the addiction of the French to Freud, Lacan & Sartre is notorious, and psychology as a science hardly exists in France any longer--least of all in the domain of personality research, or that of clinical psychology. Rillaer's approach comes like a breath of fresh air; no doubt it will cause pneumonia for any French psychologists incautious enough to read him! It comes as no surprise that the great majority of references is in English, with only a few French ones interpolated; hardly any are in German, although more excellent research in behaviour therapy is carried out there than in any country outside the United States. Rillaer's general approach is probably most similar to that of Rachman, pragmatic rather than theoretical, wide-ranging in its inclusiveness, and therapy-directed in its endeavour. Little of what he has to say would surprise readers of this journal, but it is well put together, well presented, and cogently argued, with special reference to theories of the self. He begins with a section on the management of the self, goes on next to the interdependence of self-control, adversity, and the development of activities which provide positive reinforcement (activites epanouissaules). The third section deals with the principles of scientific research into efficient behaviour, and the fifth with the strategies that have been found useful in modifying ways of perceiving, thinking, feeling and acting. In sum, a good book summarizing much of what is known about the management (gestion) of the self. H. J. EYSENCK
MOIRA WALKER: SurlJil)ing Secrets: The Experience of Abuse for the Child, the Adult, and the Helper. Open University Press, Buckingham (1992). ix + 211 pp. £11.99 "When we talk about a child who has been abused, we are also talking about a person who grows up carrying those experiences inside" (p. l). This statement conveys the essence of this book about the experiences of adult survivors of abuse.
Book Reviews
knowledge of rehabilitation and made few suggestions as to how information processing problems might be used to drive current rehabilitation practice. The book has pointed out a problem for all researchers in the area of psychopathology whether they are studying a severe and pervasive disorder such as schizophrenia or something simpler like a phobia. There is a great lack of normative data for many measures. For instance, in psychophysiology there are few data on age changes which will have an effect on the interpretation of differences in high risk children and the reactivity of a child to a phobic stimulus. This weighty tome (I use this description knowing it weighs 1.25 kg) would be a valuable addition to any library but its price precludes many individuals (apart from reviewers) from obtaining a personal copy. TIE WYKES
A. J. STUNKARD and T. A. WALDEN (Eds): Obesity--Theory and Therapy (2nd Edn). Raven Press, New York (1992), xiii + 377 pp. $74.00 The editors have assembled a distinguished author list, many of whom are the pre-eminent experts in their field. The contributions are of a uniformly high standard and have managed to marshal the expanding body of obesity research into an accessible and highly readable volume. As its title suggests, this book is divided into two sections: the first deals with basic scientific research and theoretical concepts, while the second section concentrates on the treatment of obesity. Throughout, the editors have attempted to address this book to the clinician. In considering the aetiology of obesity, contributions are not limited to the biological and psychological. There is a highly readable and informative chapter considering the origins of and treatment for obesity, from a cultural perspective. Some of the theoretical chapters may be more detailed than required by the clinician dealing with obesity only infrequently but they will be an important source of reference for the specialist. In the treatment section, a good range of therapeutic approaches are covered including: surgery, pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy. Behaviourial therapy is not given a separate chapter but the behavioural approach is incorporated into many of the therapies. I did wonder at a whole chapter devoted to the obstetric complications of obesity despite its obvious clinical relevance. The section on popular diets is illuminating and clinically useful. Encouragingly, the concept of obesity as a life long problem is emphasised and there is a chapter on relapse prevention. Due to the high proportion of American authors there are several sources of minor annoyance for the British reader. While some authors refer to Body Mass Index, others give absolute weights, usually in pounds. Some of the therapeutic approaches and public health recommendations are tailored to the American health care system. Despite these caveats this is an excellent book, which is highly recommended to those specialising in the field and which will be a useful source of reference to many general clinicans. JANE TILLER
JACQUES VAN RILLEAR: La Gestion de Soi. Pierre Mardaga, Liege (1992). 367 pp. 154 FF
This book is a good example of Saul turning into Paul. Rillaer was a devoted Freudian, but reality asserted itself and in a book I previously reviewed for Behaviour Research and Therapy (1982, Vol. 29, No. 2) he renounced and criticized psychoanalysis, and turned to scientific psychology for better information and a guide to therapy. The present book continues this trend; it deals essentially with the management of the self, the treatment of neurotic disorders, and the ways psychology can assist in improving the quality of life for those whose concepts of the self have become distorted. The book will be a great surprise for most French readers, who on the whole have avoided contamination with empirical and experimental approaches characteristic of the English-speaking nations; the addiction of the French to Freud, Lacan & Sartre is notorious, and psychology as a science hardly exists in France any longer--least of all in the domain of personality research, or that of clinical psychology. Rillaer's approach comes like a breath of fresh air; no doubt it will cause pneumonia for any French psychologists incautious enough to read him! It comes as no surprise that the great majority of references is in English, with only a few French ones interpolated; hardly any are in German, although more excellent research in behaviour therapy is carried out there than in any country outside the United States. Rillaer's general approach is probably most similar to that of Rachman, pragmatic rather than theoretical, wide-ranging in its inclusiveness, and therapy-directed in its endeavour. Little of what he has to say would surprise readers of this journal, but it is well put together, well presented, and cogently argued, with special reference to theories of the self. He begins with a section on the management of the self, goes on next to the interdependence of self-control, adversity, and the development of activities which provide positive reinforcement (activites epanouissaules). The third section deals with the principles of scientific research into efficient behaviour, and the fifth with the strategies that have been found useful in modifying ways of perceiving, thinking, feeling and acting. In sum, a good book summarizing much of what is known about the management (gestion) of the self. H. J. EYSENCK
MOIRA WALKER: SurlJil)ing Secrets: The Experience of Abuse for the Child, the Adult, and the Helper. Open University Press, Buckingham (1992). ix + 211 pp. £11.99 "When we talk about a child who has been abused, we are also talking about a person who grows up carrying those experiences inside" (p. l). This statement conveys the essence of this book about the experiences of adult survivors of abuse.