About the Author

Simon H. Budman, PhD, Innovative Training Systems, Newton, MA, and Harvard Medical School

Reviews

"In today's world of managed care when many therapists are looking for a brief therapy approach they can feel comfortable with, this book is perfect....It is also an excellent choice for undergraduate and graduate courses." --John L. Walter, Consultations, Chicago "The First Session in Brief Therapy is an exciting, lively hands-on learning experience. Grounded in scholarly, well-documented theoretical concepts, peppered with case material and question-answer dialogue with experienced therapists, it will be a valuable tool for mental health clinicians of all disciplines in any treatment setting....When you read this book you will feel as if you have had an hour of expert clinical supervision from many of the best teachers in the field of brief therapy." --Judith L. Feldman, M.D., Harvard Community Health Plan


"About half the book consists of verbatim clinical excerpts. The therapists appear to be highly skilled and these illustrations of the work of practitioners of varying backgrounds and personalities will be of value to the reader interested in developing a brief psychotherapeutic technique of his own." --"The Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis"
"Budman, Hoyt, and Friedman have successfully solicited chapters describing the theory and practice of almost all the contemporary approaches to brief therapy....The editor's own opening and concluding chapters help pull together the mass of material contained in the book....Both beginning and advanced practitioners of brief psychotherapy will benefit from this book....It is a major contribution to effective clinical practice and will have enduring value to the field." --"Families in Society"
"An excellent sampler in brief therapies. The editors state that their intention is to provide a casebook for what brief therapists do. They do this and much more....Defies my usual impression of edited books as disjointed and without common thread...In today's world of managed care where many therapists are looking for a brief therapy approach they can feel comfortable with, this book is perfect. It provides the essence or feel for all the current time-limited or brief therapy models from which to choose. It is also an excellent choice for undergraduate and graduate courses for a survey of the field of brief therapy." --"Journal of Family Psychotherapy"
"This is a broad survey of the many approaches to brief, or time-limited, psychotherapy, with an emphasis on the initial session. It is rich with excerpts from initial sessionsconducted according to different brief therapy models, and it includes contributions from many of the prominent contributors to the literature on time-limited approaches." --"International Journal of Group Psychotherapy"
.,."goes beyond what one would expect from the title. The books does, indeed, provide a fascinating look at the first session in brief therapy...in general (chapters) are very readable and would be very useful to practitioners and students of brief therapy...The editors do an excellent job of integrating and summarizing the different approaches...This edited volume contains a great deal of information about brief therapy. By providing short chapters from a number of therapists, with a built-in example of the first session, the authors have encouraged a concise, practice-oriented approach to describing some of the most widely known brief therapies." --"Contemporary Psychology"
"This volume, edited by 3 current gurus in the field, offers exposure to the underlying principles of the most commonly used methods of short-term treatment...Some authors are more readable than others, but overall this is an excellent text for graduate students or clinicians already in practice." --"Readings"