More than 74 million women in this country will seek therapy at some time in their lives.. Many will simply turn to the phone book to find a therapist; others will seek referrals from friends, relatives, or doctors. A better approach to the issue of starting therapy is to become an informed consumer. This book explains what therapy is, describes the different schools of therapy and kinds of therapists, and goes on to explain how to establish a working relationship with a therapist.

GETTING HELP starts by defining psychotherapy and examining women's involvement with it. Included are brief descriptions of many schools of therapy (from Freud to Rogers to psychodrama) and a critique of each school based on its responsiveness (or lack thereof) to womens special needs. Equal space is allotted to alter-natives to therapy (such as est or consciousness-raising groups), psychotropic drugs, and hospitalization..

A full third of this supportive and reassuring book is devoted to the mechanics of finding a therapist and making therapy a reward-ing experience for the client. It is a definitive volume which pre-sents a full picture of therapy-evaluating the vast amount of information available, detailing what the client can expect from a therapist, covering clients' rights, and more.

Written by two practicing therapists and founding members of Associates in Feminist Therapy in Cambridge, Massachusetts, this is an excellent book for women by women.