This is a practical description of the form of therapy generally known as "humanistic", based on the human potential movement of the sixties and seventies which now incorporates a number of related methods. It outlines the background and history of this approach, the main figures who were responsible for the formation of its ideas and practice and the present place it has in the field of psychotherapy.

There is a section in which therapists from differing backgrounds express their own views of their work and how they apply this in their relationship with their clients.

The book closes with a discussion of the main issues facing humanistic psychotherapy.