Herbert A. Schreier, M.D., is Chief of Psychiatry at Children's Hospital Oakland in Oakland, California. He trained in child psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and was a Commonwealth Foundation Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. His current clinical and research interests include community response to disasters, socially inept children, and the genetics and treatment of Tourette's Syndrome and bipolar disorders in childhood.

• Foreword by Roy Meadow, M.D. Preface. Part 1: Description of the Problem. Defining the Syndrome. The Challenge of Discovery and the Reluctance to Act. The Extent of the Problem. The Risk of Misdiagnosis. Part 2: Understanding the Dynamics of MBPS. The Perversion of Mothering: The Danger of Being Ignored. Why Women? Why Medicine?. "So Help Me Doctor ...": The Physician and the Imposter. Surrender in the Family: Dynamic Issues Involving Older Children. Part 3: Managing the Problem. Psychotherapeutic Work With MBPS Parents. Psychological Testing of MBPS Patients. Legal Issues and MBPS. Management of MBPS. Epilogue. Appendices. Bibliography.

"It is a must for anyone who is likely to work with Muchausen by proxy syndrome clinically, particularly for health visitors, counsellor and psychologically minded GPs in primary-care settings as well as specialist paediatric services ... The material is well referenced and indexed and the general quality of the book is excellent. It promises to become the standard textbook on the subject for the time being." - British Journal of Guidance and Counselling