Short-term psychotherapy, although brief, is not ephemeral. In the decade or two of its existence, it has grown into a sturdy tree, and a sign of its maturity is the fact that it is now the subject of an increasing number of overview articles summarizing its literature and findings. Yet it remains a young and vigorous discipline. Its pioneers have not been elevated to a pantheon of venerable but mute immortals; on the contrary, they are to be found at the forefront of the field, actively contributing to the development of its theory and practice. This volume is ample testimony to their continued creativity. Dr. Sifneos has lectured and written extensively about short-term anxiety-provoking psychotherapy (STAPP). Based on psychoanalytic principles, STAPP aims to resolve pathological psychic conflicts and help those suffering from them to learn new ways of being in their most intimate relationships. It does so by actively focusing the patients' sights on their Oedipal problems, and its effectiveness (given a proper selection of subjects by specific criteria) has been amply documented in controlled clinical studies.