Psychology in the Physical and Manual Therapies.

Psychology in the Physical and Manual Therapies Kolt GS, Andersen MB, eds. Philadelphia, PA 19106, Churchill Livingstone Inc, 2004, paperback, 369 pp, illus, ISBN: 0-443-07352-X, $49.95.

The title of this excellent book accurately reflects its content. The purpose of this text is to provide rehabilitation professionals with a contemporary, evidence-based reference covering a variety of psychological topics they might encounter in their practices. The editors, Kolt and Andersen, have brought together an international group of scholars who address many important psychological issues relevant to physical therapy and the physical therapist. The editors have impressive credentials and have published many research papers, books, and book chapters and have lectured in many countries.

Kolt and Andersen have logically organized the information in their text into 3 sections. Section 1 addresses psychological principles as they apply to injury, illness, and rehabilitation. This section deals with topics such as psychological antecedents and responses to injury and illness. Section 2 (my favorite section) addresses the integration of psychological principles into physical and manual therapy. Section 2 lays out the importance of the therapist-client relationship. Section 2 also discusses ways to build a positive therapist-client relationship, and why this is important in optimizing treatment outcomes. This section also contains several case studies that help illustrate important points. Section 3 addresses the psychological challenges of working with different patient populations. The 8 authors in this section discuss several broad categories of conditions that physical therapists typically treat, including: traumatic brain injury and stroke; spinal cord injury; cardiovascular and respiratory conditions; injury from sport and exercise activity; arthritides; functional somatic syndromes; personality disorders; and terminal illness.

The editors saw to it that this book was written without a great deal of psychology jargon. Kolb and Andersen also kept the style in each chapter rather uniform, greatly increasing the readability of the text. For instance, at the beginning of each chapter, the editors have placed a sidebar outlining its content. Also, the author of each chapter begins with his or her own introductory section.

This text would be very appropriate as required reading for physical therapy students in a professional (entry-level) program or for licensed physical therapists who would like to have a practical and clinical reference on the psychological conditions that they might encounter in some patients. Physical therapists in clinical practice would welcome a text such as this because it could help explain some patients' behavior. The case studies presented by the authors help clarify many of the concepts presented in the text. This book is very well referenced throughout, with complete, up-to-date citations. I found Psychology in the Physical and Manual Therapies enjoyable reading.

Joseph Lucca, PT, PhD, GCS 

University of Delaware 

Newark, Del

Dr Lucca is Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy. He is a board-certified Geriatric Physical Therapist and maintains an active private practice.