Product reviews for Expectation

Rubin Battino has written some amazing therapy books. None more so than his co-authored Ericksonian Approaches: A Comprehensive Manual (Crown House), which features highly on many a therapist's and training school recommended reading lists. In comparison, Expectation is half the price of the aforementioned and a third of its pagination. Nonetheless, it's a very useful and concise introduction for anyone - from novice to experienced therapist - interested in the various schools of thought on Brief Therapy.

Battino qualifies his definition of 'brief' as being either a single session, at most, seeing the client up to three separate sessions. He says: "I rarely see my clients more than one or two times - usually it is just once."

Before some of you think, this may be true for none but the simplest of issues, Battino also includes a caveat. That by the client accepting that one session should work for them, that single session translates into more meaningful work being done for the client. He was also says, his sessions have no time constraints, therefore, his 'single'session might last a long time.

With 18 chapters in a relatively small tome, this book highlights a whole myriad of information, ranging from; rapport-building skills, offering advice on linguistic and postural pacing. Hypnotic language and some of the differences one might consider when adopting the'brief'approach,as well as skilfully introducing the reader to a plethora of interventions, ranging from Solution-Orientated Approaches and the work of de Shazer and Associates, Bill O'Hanlon's Inclusive Therapy, ideomotors responses, right through to NLP, and a great self explanatory section headed "When All Else Fails': As you would expect from Battino there is also a slew of Erickson-based approaches all presented in a very clear and narrative fashion.

I found myself reading a chapter, using the provided references, looking for more information, and then going back to the book And I am sure that was the author's intention - to provide a comprehensive enough introduction to each method, that if so wished, the reader had the required references to find out more.

If you are interested in Battino's own 'brief' style, then this book should probably feature high on your wish list. The almost encyclopaedic amount of knowledge, offering clear, well-written insights into many other approaches, only adds to its appeal. Okay, there is a little poetic licence used when defining the 'single session; but to be fair, Battino freely admits this and doesn't detract from the information given. Brief by name and brief by nature, nonetheless worth buying.