Richard Nelson-Jones was born in London in 1936. Having spent five years in California as a Second World War refugee, he returned in the 1960s to obtain a Masters and Ph.D from Stanford University. In 1970, he was appointed a lecturer in the Department of Education at the University of Aston to establish a Diploma in Counselling in Educational Settings, which started enrolling students in 1971. During the 1970s, he was helped by having three Fulbright Professors from the United States, each for a year, who both taught students and improved his skills. During this period he broadened out from a predominantly client-centred orientation to becoming much more cognitive-behavioural. He also wrote numerous articles and the first edition of what is now The Theory and Practice of Counselling and Therapy, which was published in 1982. In addition, he chaired the British Psychological Society′s Working Party on Counselling and, in1982, became the first chairperson of the BPS Counselling Psychology Section. In 1984, he took up a position as a counselling and later counselling psychology trainer at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, where he became an Associate Professor. He continued writing research articles, articles on professional issues and books, which were published in London and Sydney. As when he worked at Aston University, he also counselled clients to keep up his skills. In 1997, he retired from RMIT and moved to Chiang Mai in Thailand. There, as well as doing some counselling and teaching, he has continued as an author of counselling and counselling psychology textbooks. A British and Australian citizen, he now divides his time between Chiang Mai and London and regularly visits Australia.

• PrefaceIntroducing Counselling and Therapy ApproachesFreud′s PsychoanalysisJung′s Analytical TherapyPerson-Centred TherapyGestalt TherapyCognitive TherapySolution-Focused TherapyEvaluation, Eclecticism and IntegrationGlossary

"Excellent summary of Rogers′ life and work. A thoroughly up-to-date introduction to person-centred therapy." - Brian Thorne, Emeritus Professor of Counselling, University of East Anglia, and co-founder of the Norwich Centre"The rational emotive behavior therapy chapter is quite clear and will be helpful to almost any reader." - Dr Albert Ellis, President, Albert Ellis Institute, New York City"Clear, thorough and succinctly summarizes cognitive therapy′s most important concepts and principles." - Dr Judith Beck, President, Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research, Philadelphia"The transactional analysis chapter is accurate and conveys the spirit of the classical approach very well." - Dr Ian Stewart, Director, The Berne Institute, UK"The existential therapy chapter is an excellent job...lucid and intelligent." - Irvin D. Yalom, MD, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, Stanford University Medical School