Reviews

Abstract

I am delighted to introduce a renewed section of Reviews in PPI. I want to thank Nick Totton for inviting me to undertake this role, and James Taylor for fulfilling this role since the launch of PPI in 2003 to 2008. I hope to expand this section in a number of ways. Firstly, I would like to extend the medium of books to include different media such as DVDs, and CD-ROMs; websites; film and theatre; and events such as exhibitions. We live in an era of multi- and expanding media and my hope and ambition are that these pages reflect this as much as possible. To this end I welcome contributions in the form of reviews of such media as well suggestions for reviews, including links to media or events. Secondly, I would like to develop more of a dialectic between and development of the elements of the subject of the journal, that is: psychotherapy and politics. As Nick outlined it in his book Psychotherapy and Politics (Totton, 2000) there is: psychotherapy in politics; a psychotherapy – or, more accurately, plural psychotherapies and analyses – of politics; and there are politics of psychotherapy; and, of course, politics in psychotherapy. To this end I welcome reviews of books and other media concerned with psychotherapy (and, by this, I include the fields of counselling and counselling psychology) from a political perspective, and those concerned with the political or social world from a therapeutic perspective. Thirdly, I would like to welcome new reviewers. I have inherited a list of reviewers and would very much like to expand this to include those from countries other than the UK and the USA so as to expand the ‘international’ in and the internationalism of PPI. To this end I welcome people contacting me about their interest in becoming reviewers for PPI and in reviewing specific books (see list below).Finally, I would like to encourage different forms of review. To this end, in addition to the traditional book or media review (of between 750 and 1000 words), I want to encourage people to submit review articles where they might develop the themes of a particular book or media; contributions which review more than one book (as in my review below), as well as shorter pieces; and reviews of articles of relevance and interest published in other journals. It is often said that we live in interesting times and it is certainly true that we live in turbulent times in a changing world and a shifting planet. I hope that this section of PPI can reflect such turbulence, disturbance and changes – for worse or better.