About the Author

Jonathan Engel holds a Ph.D. in the history of science and medicine from Yale, and has written extensively about the historical development of U.S. medicine and health policy. His previous books are Doctors and Reformers- Discussion and Debate Over Health Policy 1925-1950, Poor People's Medicine- Medicaid and American Charity Care Since 1965, and The Epidemic- A Global History of AIDS. A professor of health care policy and management at Seton Hall University, he lives in New Jersey.

Reviews

"Studded with fascinating tidbits [...] The story Engel does tell is plenty interesting and his conflicting view of Freudianism well worth absorbing." - The New York Times Book Review

"A thorough yet concise history of the talking cure. [...] A capable explanation of a complicated field." -Kirkus Reviews

"An authoritative, readable book, this is highly recommended for large general libraries and collections in health and social science." -Library Journal

Medical historian Engel (public & health-care administration, Seton Hall Univ.; Poor People's Medicine: Medicaid and American Charity Care Since 1965; Doctors and Reformers: Discussion and Debate over Health Policy, 1925-1950) writes a blunt epitaph for psychoanalysis in a plainspoken survey of mental health care in the United States over the last century. Among the special topics are child guidance, alcohol, narcotics, and narcissism (therapy as self-indulgence). To make a living, psychiatrists, who are physicians first, have increasingly focused on medication, leaving psychotherapy to psychologists and social workers. Engel explains the need for and the methods of outcome research: it shows that brief cognitive-behavioral treatment with comfortably engaged therapists, along with medication when indicated, wins the laurels. Although Engel discusses religious attitudes to therapy, he gives short shrift to family and couples therapy and pastoral counseling. An authoritative, readable book, this is highly recommended for large general libraries and collections in health and social science.--E. James Lieberman, George Washington Univ. Sch. of Medicine, Washington, DC Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.