The Art and Science of Assessment in Psychotherapy offers an extended symposium on principles and practice in psychotherapy and counseling. Guided by a belief that comparative study will spur critical reflection and innovation, the contributors' presentations encompass a wide range of therapeutic orientations, settings and interests. Twelve distinguished practitioners of widely used approaches within psychotherapy describe the methods they use in their assessments and how these have developed. They also discuss the uses and limitations of the therapies they offer.

The approaches covered include psychoanalytic psychotherapy, in-patient psychotherapy, family therapy, group psychotherapy, psychodrama, cognitive-behavior therapy, couple therapy and focal therapy. Additional chapters look at assessment in the light of psychotherapy research, question how far assessment can be separated from treatment, and ask whether the use of questionnaires and special tests aid or detract from interviewing as a method of assessment.