Resources: Review - Work within a therapeutic community

It covers every aspect of the therapeutic way of working in great detailand gives good examples of practice and theory. It also lays out theprinciples that underpin ways of working within a therapeuticenvironment. These include the need for primary provision, the use oftransitional objects, the importance of food, therapeutic communication'subcultures, gender issues and the need for endings and beginnings.There are also informative chapters on the role of supervision andworking with violence and aggression.

However, the downside to the book is that there are no examples ofworking practice post 2000. Given the significant changes the caresystem has undergone during the last five years, including theintroduction of the national minimum standards and more rigorousinspections, it would have been beneficial to see how the CotswoldCommunity had managed to marry the therapeutic task with suchissues.