Handbook of Community Psychiatry and Community Mental Health.

Abstract

Dr. Bellak considers community psychiatry as the third revolution in the history of psychiatry; the first was the attempt to help rather than to chain the mentally ill, the second was the development of psychoanalysis. Although he calls community psychiatry a<i>revolution</i>, Bellak states it<i>evolved</i>primarily as a result of the insights of psychoanalysis to which it is intrinsically bound.Bellak's introduction is a disconcerting, somewhat incoherent, attempt to denigrate all organic approaches and to elevate the psychodynamic approach to primary importance. How this can be reconciled with service for the community is slipped over casually. The contributors to this<i>Handbook</i>have been well chosen for their outstanding contributions. Louisa P. Howe has written a thoughtful article on "The Concept of the Community," and Portia Bell Hume's contribution on "Principles and Practice of Community Psychiatry" is excellent. Viola Bernard has written a detailed stimulating chapter on "Education for