Book review: The cognitive behaviour counselling primer, by R. Branch and W. Dryden

This book adds to the series of ‘Counselling Primers’ already published by PCCS Books and builds on the success of the ‘Steps in Counselling’ editions (Sanders, 2002; Sanders, Frankland, & Wilkins, 2009). Looking back, a smile comes to my face as I recall, as a student on a person-centred counselling diploma course during the 1990s, eagerly thumbing through earlier editions of these books and finding them invaluable as learning resources. Later as a counselling tutor, I continued to enthusiastically recommend those same books for counselling trainees. However, time has moved on, as indeed have I, latterly changing therapeutic direction and qualifying as a Cognitive Behaviour Therapist and tutor. So it is with great interest I review one of the later editions to this impressive collection of books. The Cognitive Behaviour Counselling Primer is a compact introduction to cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), at just over 100 pages in length. This means it is digestible enough to consume in one sitting if required. The book clearly identifies its audience as those with no previous experience of counselling or psychology, but interested in learning about CBT. The book is written by the very accomplished Windy Dryden, along with Rhena Branch, an accredited CBT therapist, trainer and supervisor. Sanders, P. 2002. First steps in counselling, 3rd ed, Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books. Sanders, P., Frankland, A. and Wilkins, P. 2009. Next steps in counselling, 2nd ed, Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books.