8/18/2019 6aca97005c68f1206823815f66102863

1/1

Manual Therapy 11 (2006) e10

Book review

Rosemary A. Payne (Ed.), Relaxation Techniques, third

ed., Elsevier, Churchill Livingstone, ISBN 044307447X,

2005 (288pp.).

This book on relaxation techniques can be regarded

as an overview of most (if not all) of the relevant

relaxation approaches used in the treatment of stress-

related problems. As such, it is a standard work for all

health professionals, students and lay-people who wish

to increase their understanding of the causes and impact

of these kind of problems. In its extent, this work

provides more than a simple introduction to the

concepts of relaxation. Besides extensive theoretical

information on most techniques, it also provides

information on practical applications.

After an introductory section, the two main groups of 

relaxation techniques are covered in sections two and

three. In these sections, somatic methods of relaxation

(progressive relaxation, passive muscular relaxation,

behavioral relaxation training, the Mitchel method, the

Alexander technique, physical exercise, breathing, etc.)

and cognitive approaches (self-awareness, autogenic

training, cognitive behavioral approaches, etc.) are

introduced and discussed. Each chapter on a technique

includes an introduction and rationale, and a descrip-

tion of the procedure, including the information and

formulations therapists should use for their trainees.

Interestingly, the author includes a brief paragraph on

pitfalls in each chapter.

This third edition adds some rewritten and extra

chapters to both previous editions. It includes now a

chapter on research results relating to specific techniques

and on relaxation therapy in general. Though such an

inclusion is worthwhile, the reader should be aware that

a non-systematic analysis of the literature does not

represent evidence of effectiveness.

Health professionals, who already possess an earlier

version, will appreciate the additional aspects of this

third version. For those not familiar with the previous

editions, it may prove to be a worthy addition to their

library.

Erik Cattrysse

Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

E-mail address:   Erik.Cattrysse@vub.ac.be.

ARTICLE IN PRESS

www.elsevier.com/locate/math

doi:10.1016/j.math.2006.05.003

mailto:Erik.Cattrysse@vub.ac.behttp://www.elsevier.com/locate/mathhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_2/dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.math.2006.05.003http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_2/dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.math.2006.05.003http://www.elsevier.com/locate/mathmailto:Erik.Cattrysse@vub.ac.be