Book Review: Morag Myself or Mother Hen: In Search of a Therapist

This book is written and edited by experienced therapists providing the reader with practical insight into six different therapeutic approaches.

One real life situation is described in detail and analysed and commented on. These accounts provide the reader with direct access to the thinking and personal styles of each practitioner. They also give the reader a wide and informed appreciation of the enormous range of ways in which therapy may approach a particular situation.

The way in which this information was gathered into a volume is intriguing and telling. This client was originally interviewed by Michael Jacobs. Once her participation in the project was confirmed she received a copy of the transcript. With her approval it was then sent to the six therapists. The therapists were told that having read the material they would have the opportunity to ask further questions of the client through the editors. Moira Walker then met with Morag "at least twice at most four times" conducting interviews which took several hours. "Many thousands of words were transcribed with the agreement of the client before being sent off to the individual therapists." As the therapists returned their assessments of the clients along with their account of how they would work with her, the material was given to the client to read. When all six assessments had been received the client met with the editor to discuss the content of the final chapter together before the editor wrote it.

This way of presenting one's work does pose a challenge to both the therapists and the therapies. This is for two reasons. The first and obvious reason is the lack of face-to-face contact with the client. The second and unusual reason is that the client has direct access to what the therapist thinks of her and her presenting situation and is given the opportunity to respond to this. The editor also offers her professional opinion.

What is of special interest to Journal readers is the chapter on Existential Psychotherapy written by Arthur Jonathan. While it is important to be included in this work, the required format was not the best way to illustrate this approach's particular emphasis on "open relationship". Considering this, Arthur Jonathan's willingness and skill in presenting this mode of therapy is admirable.

I was interested in the structure and thought behind this book and though there are strengths and weaknesses in any attempt to demonstrate the way in which different therapists from different schools might work with the same client, I still found myself asking the following question: to what extent can a client and therapist meet and interact on paper? For me the comments made by both the client and the editor demonstrate this. It appears that they seem to have established the most rapport which, though not surprising, does illustrate my point. The essential ingredient in therapy is the human face-to-face interaction and the development of the resulting relationship.

Jennifer Hay