A Safe Place: Laying the Groundwork of Psychotherapy

Rating:
Summary: Fairly interesting quick read
Review: "Scratch most people," says Havens, "and you will usually find one conviction: no one quite understands how much there is to put up with" (p. 97).

If you're in psychotherapy, learning to conduct therapy, or just interested in therapy, here's an interesting read.

Havens interweaves case studies with theory and lets us in on his thought processes as a therapist. This is a valuable thing for both psychotherapists (in training or otherwise... and shouldn't psychotherapists always be in training?) and their clients.

Havens follows Freud and Sullivan but mentions them as much for their limitations as for their accuracies.

The book provides intriguing insight into how therapists think about therapy, how they go about creating a "safe psychological place" for the people they work with. Reads like a novel (or series of stories) with thoughtful commentary interspersed. The reader comes away reassured that therapists are fallible, therapists have questions, and therapists care.