Developed by Garry Prouty and his associates over a period of 30 years, Pre-Therapy is a method for anyone wanting to work with people whose ability to establish and maintain psychological contact is imparied temporarily or permanently, by illness or injury, whether organic or psychological in origin. This book presents the most complete and up-to-date formulation of Pre-Therapy philosophy, theory and practice. Applications of the method with the most difficult client groups - those described with severe psychosis and others with profound learning disabilites - are illustrated by all three authors, with detailed accounts from Dion Van Werde and Marlis Portner. Pre-Therapy has changed the practice of psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, social workers, counsellors and carers in mainland Europe; now this book introduces its revolutionary ideas to English-speaking readers.

Being old is different in many ways: different from what we anticipated in younger years, different from other chapters in our lives, and, nowadays, different from what it has been in the past. Above all, is a totally new individual experience and different for each person. To look at the complexity of these differences is the aim of this book. In "Being Old is Different" some basic person-centred principles and their implementation in everyday care are described; the themes that become relevant in the last chapters of life, and their impact on care for old people, are highlighted.The book aims to demonstrate why the Person-Centred Approach is particularly useful in this field; how it can be transferred into practice; how it helps to improve the life quality of old people and, at the same time, make work more satisfying for carers. Marlis Portner's book is not about specific nursing or therapy methods but about fundamental principles, which are valuable in different areas of care. The term 'carer', therefore, is used here for all those who, professionally or voluntarily, work with old people, and the term 'care' embraces nursing as well as therapeutic and supportive activities.