Michael Jacobs was for many years director of the counselling and psychotherapy programme at the University of Leicester. He is one of the pioneers of psychodynamic counselling and therapy in Britain. He has written and edited over sixty books including Sigmund Freud (SAGE, 2nd edition, 2003) and D.W. Winnicott (SAGE, 1995). He has been a visiting professor at Leeds and Bournemouth Universities and has a Ph.D, his thesis being on psychoanalytic criticism of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He has retired from practice as a therapist and supervisor, and as a teacher and trainer, but maintains a keen interest in the development of psychodynamic thinking and practice.

The book provides excellent coverage of key psychodynamic concepts in an accessible format for those at the beginning of their training. The new edition includes recommendations for further reading and exercises, which were missing in the earlier edition.

• Chapter 1: Introducing the Psychodynamic ApproachChapter 2: The First SessionChapter 3: After the First SessionChapter 4: The Importance of Time and BoundariesChapter 5: The Middle Phase of Counselling: Reaching DeeperChapter 6: The Middle Phase of Counselling: The Centrality of the Therapeutic RelationshipChapter 7: Breaks and Endings