Book excerpt: In this innovative text, Carol Holmes provides students and professional psychotherapists with an historical account leading to the most up-to-date information on the core psychoanalytic concept of counter-transference and the subsequent changes that have occurred in its clinical application. This book uniquely examines the fundamental principles and practice that underpin some of the major schools of psychotherapy including psychoanalysis, existential, humanistic, integrative, systemic and communicative therapy. The author compares the philosophies that underline these diverse schools and explores their precepts in relation to the notion of counter-transference. In contrast to traditional psychoanalytic texts, the counter-transference theme of the book is examined in relation to the biased and contradictory aspect of the concept, and highlights some of the more radical and interpersonal ideas that endorse the relational and complementary qualities between therapist and client. The text offers concise and engaging introductions to the main schools of psychotherapy, and includes interviews and case study analyses from notable practitioners and trainers from these competing approaches. This book will be invaluable for those interested in understanding the importance of the hidden messages that are concealed in our communications.