This short text forms part of a series of books on systemic thinking and practice. It represents a précis of the treatment approach employed in a recent study comparing couples therapy with antidepressant medication in the acute management of depression. In their introduction, the authors suggest that the book has two objectives. First, to provide information and knowledge required for training in couples therapy. Second, to record the techniques used in the depression study to allow comparison with and/or inform future research trials of this therapy. Although this is a tall order for such a brief text, I think that the book goes a considerable way towards these two stated goals and its five chapters make interesting reading for novice and experienced therapists alike.

Anyone wishing to explore whether a partner or significant other can be of help to someone who is depressed will find sections of this text worthwhile. It provides useful and accessible ideas about how to formulate and intervene in such situations. However, the relative brevity of the overview on the conceptualisation of depression and the descriptions of the techniques used mean that the text may not function as a training manual in its own right. Novice therapists would need to supplement this book with training workshops, practical demonstrations or other opportunities for skill development in order to feel confident that they could faithfully apply the therapy model. That said, the strength of this text is that it does manage to meet some of the needs of therapists of all levels of expertise. Experienced practitioners who are more familiar with the philosophy and techniques of the therapy will enjoy reading about the acknowledged similarities and differences in the authors' therapeutic styles and hypothesising about the impact on the process and outcome of therapy.