To get to the heart and soul of a process as rich and complex as psychotherapy takes tremendous experience and expertise. Plain Old Therapy is the product of a very wise scholar and a very sensitive practitioner who succeeds in bridging the deepest of psychological perspectives with cutting-edge research in a remarkably accessible manner. The pages in this marvelous book are filled with timeless truths. In this sense, there is nothing really plain nor old about Plain Old Therapy. It should be read by every therapist, from the beginning student to the most seasoned practitioner.
Professor Jeremy Holmes
Jon Allen manages to be both maestro and man of the people. His prose is accessible, fresh, and vivid. He is simple without being simplistic, renders complexity comprehensible, has the common touch but is never commonplace. One is constantly thinking "that's so obvious, why hadn't I thought of that before". He is not afraid to tackle the big therapy questions—trauma, ethics, mindfulness, spirituality, what really makes a difference to patients? It's all done with humour, humility and wisdom, but above all the responsive interpersonal sensitivity, aka mentalizing, that is the essence of the book's message. Long-toothed or tyro, buy it, read it—and notice how much better your patients are for it.
Christine A. Courtois
Jon Allen has done it again. He's written another book that presents information that is both sophisticated and accessible to the reader (lay person and professional alike). This book presents an explanation of complex posttraumatic symptoms and conditions that make them understandable while it offers hope for their resolution. Dr. Allen's commonsense approach is de-mystifies what can be daunting symptoms and a challenging treatment process. It offers direction and reassurance and stresses the therapeutic relationship as a basis for the teaching and modeling of emotion-regulation skills and mentalization.
Kenneth I. Pargament
To get to the heart and soul of a process as rich and complex as psychotherapy takes tremendous experience and expertise. Plain Old Therapy is the product of a very wise scholar and a very sensitive practitioner who succeeds in bridging the deepest of psychological perspectives with cutting-edge research in a remarkably accessible manner. The pages in this marvelous book are filled with timeless truths. In this sense, there is nothing really plain nor old about Plain Old Therapy. It should be read by every therapist, from the beginning student to the most seasoned practitioner.
Fredric Busch
Dr. Allen provides a valuable description of the forms of attachment, including how they manifest in child-caregiver interactions and adult relationships.
Professor of Psychology at Bowling Green State Uni Kenneth I. Pargament
To get to the heart and soul of a process as rich and complex as psychotherapy takes tremendous experience and expertise. Plain Old Therapy is the product of a very wise scholar and a very sensitive practitioner who succeeds in bridging the deepest of psychological perspectives with cutting-edge research in a remarkably accessible manner. The pages in this marvelous book are filled with timeless truths. In this sense, there is nothing really plain nor old about Plain Old Therapy. It should be read by every therapist, from the beginning student to the most seasoned practitioner.
Julian D. Ford
Dr. Allen provides an extremely engaging and useful call for therapists to reflect carefully before they underestimate the value of "plain old therapy" when working the clients who have experienced relational psychological trauma. But what he describes is much more than just plain old therapy, it is a complex (but eminently practical) distillation of the core principles and practices that make all the newer "evidence-based" therapies effective—above all a vital (and in Dr. Allen's words, "humbling") reminder to therapists to first mentalize, then empathize, and only then (if at all) rely on therapeutic techniques.
