Oxford University Press Seldom does an edited book reach the level of quality of this 552-page volume. The contributors have produced 22 chapters of relevant material, nicely organized, clearly written, and well founded in professional and scientific research. The contributors offer a variety of perspectives, and the opposing viewpoints in the debate over memories of childhood trauma are represented. References follow each chapter and there is a good index at the end. The core of the controversy about repression and whether or not there is such a process is dealt with in Part I in two chapters representing the opposing views. Next, Part II reviews the research and the concepts that characterize the most current knowledge about human memory. Part III does the same for trauma and rounds out the framework for understanding how these bodies of thought and understanding relate to each other. Part IV deals with evaluation and treatment. In these chapters, clinicians carefully describe treatment of patients with memories of traumatic events. The therapeutic approaches include psychoanalysis, psychodynamic, hypnotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and, finally, an eclectic approach. The legal ramifications of these divergent views are discussed in four chapters in Part VI. The most poignant is the chapter by Schetky on the treatment of child victims in the legal system. The final chapter in Part VI puts the whole debate, the state of knowledge, and the legal realities into perspective for the future of the science and the professions. This book is about as good a one-volume resource for the diverse viewpoints and relevant science and practice concerns in responding to memory and trauma as is available anywhere. Reviewed by Ralph Underwager, Institute for Psychological Therapies, Northfield, Minnesota.
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