Book excerpt: This book is an extensive, instructive account of what psychotherapy is all about, how it works, and what the psychotherapist and patient need to do to make it all happen. It not only serves to promote the preparation and readiness essential to successful psychotherapy, but it is also a training guide for those preparing to become mental health providers. The author's insights have the potential to help thousands of people who seek solutions to a variety of disturbing or even debilitating problems. Highly instructive and written in a user-friendly style, his unique presentation not only prepares but encourages the reader to experience success in working toward a happier life. Contents: Brief Answers to Typical Questions about Psychotherapy; Necessary Ingredients for 'Getting Yourself Together'; Seeking Professional Help: When? What? Who? Where?; Psychotherapy Using a 'Whole'-istic Approach; Areas of 'Whole'-istic Psychotherapy Needing Attention; Kinds and Degrees of Psychological Afflictions; Examples of Current Approaches to Doing Psychotherapy; Examples of Helpful Adjuncts to Psychotherapy; Which Psychotherapeutic Approach Is for Me? Degrees of Psychotherapist Participation; Psychological Stumbling Blocks and Reasonable Expectations; Preparation and Readiness for Terminating Psychotherapy; How to Continually Profit from Your Psychotherapeutic Experience; Closing Comments.