It is very welcome to see another book specifically about Body Psychotherapy.  As this mainstream branch of psychotherapy matures we see more and more books specifically about this topic; and, on the whole, they are getting better and better.  This one holds a great deal of promise.  Unfortunately spoilt a little by the opening 10 pages.  The editor and prime mover of this book, Ventling, in the first of the chapters she writes (which is really an introduction to the book but is actually entitled “Psychotherapy of patients with incurable disorders”) has a somewhat inaccurate synopsis about what body psychotherapy is and the history of body psychotherapy, with a somewhat simplistic and ‘lite’ treatment of deeply significant topics like transference, countertransference and the therapeutic relationship and no mention of issues of touch, ethics, somatic understanding, and other issues of significance within body psychotherapy.  Having got that over or having got over that, she just begins to get into her main topic, that of the title, and then the chapter ends.  In listing some of the “Chronic Somatic Diseases We May Deal With” she also omits one of the most common, hypertension, and also one of the most controversial, ME (myalgic enchephalomyelitis).  
        However, the rest of book is, on the whole, much better presented and she is on much more solid and interesting ground in the next chapter “Confronting Multiple Sclerosis”: A challenge for a bioenergetic therapist”.  Here she presents a very frank and detailed case history of a woman with (unrecognised) MS who was in long-term therapy with her.  It really draws one into the therapy, and the problems faced as a therapist who is faced with a chronically ill client.
        Another instance of MS is dealt with in the next chapter “Multiple Sclerosis: The psychosomatic consequence of unsuccessful bonding: A viewpoint” by Michael Munzel, who presents a hypothesis as to the etiology of the disease.  As intimated, he believes it is due to improper early child-parent bonding and whilst his argument is very interesting and is based on a solid body of case-work and histories, it is a little too theoretical and needs - as he freely admits - much more research.  It also falls into the commonly-held but fundamentally mistaken assumption that by looking at common factors one can hypothesis the origin.  This is not good science, and so he is now looking for, and asking for, case examples to support his hypothesis, which is potentially misleadingly dangerous.
        The book then switches tracks and the next chapter is “Turning Curse to Blessing: Living with Diabetes” by Noëmi Holtz, interesting because the therapist has also experienced the client’s illness, and more so because of the sociological issues explored which surround this.  Here some of the transferential and countertransferential issues are refreshingly explored in a number of sharply defined client vignettes, as are some of the issues specific to the illness itself.  This is really worth reading if you have a diabetic client.
        Vincentia Schroeter, a therapist herself, writes about infertility and ectopic pregnancy from a very personal perspective and how she coped with shock, anger, sadness, acceptance and resolution. Issues which are pertinent for almost everyone.
        The book moves (almost inevitably) into HIV-positive clients, followed by three chapters about working with cancer patients from different perspectives.  The author of the first chapter, Rainer Mahr, explores being “thrown off balance” - both personally and professionally - by the (then) new issues of working with an HIV-positive client.  This is an illuminating and powerfully described case history where the therapist is involved upto and after the client’s death.  
        Otto Hofer-Moser, in the first chapter about cancer, “The existential spiritual dimension in the therapy of a cancer patient”, steps somewhat refreshingly outside of the field of traditional body psychotherapy (and also of traditional medicine) and into a detailed case history of a woman who eventually dies of breast cancer: but their journey went much further and touches, in a very grounded and invigoratingly unmystical way, on the deeper mysteries of in-depth body psychotherapy.  Another cancer case report follows, a chapter from the editor Ventling, and here again she shows her capacity from depth and empathy in dealing with atypical terminal cancer.  Wolf Büntig is a German body psychotherapist, the founder and director of ZIST, who writes about “Learning from Cancer Patients” and this long chapter concludes a fascinating core for the book: being richly illustrated and soundly researched.  
        The final chapter, “Accompanying patients to the end of life: Effects on the body of the psychotherapist,” by Marie-Claude Audétat, looks at somatic reactions that arise for the therapist in working with chronic illness and death in their clients.  Her more traditional (non-body-oriented) and somewhat non-European (French-Canadian) and approach is an interesting counterpoint to the rest of the book and deals with the issues of somatic countertransference in therapist and in carers - the often neglected and ignored stalwart workhorses of palliative care.  
        A short epilogue on “writing as healing” by the editor concludes the book.  Overall it is flavoured slightly by a bioenergetic perspective and whilst good attempts have been made to make it cross the various modalities to other forms of body psychotherapy (and there are many, and also attempts to cross the Atlantic), they don’t fully balance out and the somewhat limiting bias remains to flavour the impact of the weak first chapter.  Otherwise it is refreshingly European, albeit written in English, and thus of great potential interest to our transatlantic colleagues, showing something of what can be done, albeit in body psychotherapy, without managed care.  One nice feature, hopefully to become much more standard, is the printing of an e-mail address for each author, thus inviting further dialogue with them.
Courtenay Young

Courtenay Young is a psychotherapist of 20 years standing, who has worked in psychiatric and social-work situations as well as having been resident psychotherapist at the Findhorn Foundation in north-east Scotland for over 16 years.  He was General Secretary of the European Association of Body-Psychotherapy (EABP) for six years (1995-2001) and is currently the President of EABP.  He is also a founder member of the ‘sister’ organisation, the USABP. He represents Body-Psychotherapy internationally at the European Association of Psychotherapy (EAP) and was partially responsible for getting Body Psychotherapy “scientifically validated” by the EAP.  He has just launched the EABP Bibliography of Body-Psychotherapy on CD-ROM and is completing a book, “Under the Skin” - a manual of psychophysiology for Body Psychotherapists and Body Workers.  e-mail: courtenay@courtenay-young.com