Introduction to Therapeutic Communities

David Kennard is Head of Psychology and Psychotherapy at The Retreat, York, and Director of the Tuke Centre for Psychotherapy and Counselling. He is also a group analyst, and has written extensively on group therapy and therapeutic communities. Previously, he was Regional Tutor in Clinical Psychology in Trent, Clinical Psychologist at Rampton Hospital and at Littlemore Hospital.

• PART ONE: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITIES. 1. Different origins, common attributes. 2. The rise and fall of moral treatment. 3. Democracy, psychoanalysis and planned environment therapy. 4. Psychiatry meets the second world war: the hospital as a therapeutic community. 5. From innovation to application: therapeutic communities for people with severe personality disorders. 6. The therapeutic community approach in the care of the mentally ill. 7. Concept-based therapeutic communities for drug abusers. 8. Anti-psychiatry and alternative asylum. 9. The future of therapeutic communities. PART TWO: WORKING IN A THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY. 10. The first day: an imaginary narrative. 11. Staff roles and some dos and don'ts for beginners. 12. Questions of training by Jeff Roberts, The Group Analytic Practice, London. PART THREE: FURTHER INFORMATION. Key professional organisations in the United Kingdom. Therapeutic communities in the United Kingdom. Rest-of-the-world contacts for further information. Recommended reading. References.

Reviewed with Therapeutic Communities: Past, Present and Future by Penelope Campling and Rex Haigh'The book is thoughtfully written, covering the arguments which have been put for and against therapeutic communities (do they liberate their clients or brainwash them?) and detailing core concepts and practices. Some therapeutic community variations are explained, especially the major differences between the democratic model, used mainly for personality disorder, and the concept-based model, aimed at drug abusers. The first edition has become an authoritative text, widely cited and accessible to lay and professional readers alike; this version looks set to continue that role.'