Psychohistoriography: A Post-Colonial Psychoanalytical and Psychotherapeutic Model By Frederick W. Hickling Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 2012. £25.00 (pb). 234 pp. ISBN: 9781849053570

The book appears to be a reprint of one published by Carimensa, University of West Indies in 2007, which is the copy sent to me for review. The author, Frederick Hickling, is well known for his innovative work at Bellevue Mental Hospital in Jamaica and his work in theatre. The first chapter, a verbatim print of Dr Hickling's inaugural lecture when he was appointed Professor of Psychiatry at the University of West Indies in 2002, forms an effective introduction to the rest of the book which describes the technique of ‘psychohistoriography’ and forms of psychotherapy derived from it.

The book is written in a forthright style that suits the basic underlying themes - the penetration of racism into the psychiatric system and the way psychological exploration in large group settings can be mobilised to evolve a system of therapy when it is set against the historical background of the people concerned. While drawing from Fanon and other writers, many of the ideas and observations set out in this book come out of group work and storytelling conducted initially with people in the Caribbean, including patients in Bellevue Hospital, expanded during work with people in the USA, the UK and Canada. Dr Hickling effectively challenges traditional Western views about the genesis of ‘mental illness’. Although the theory of what he calls ‘European-American psychosis’ may not be to everyone's liking, it certainly makes the point that the domination of the non-Western world by the West has had a profound effect on the disciplines of psychology and psychiatry. What I found most interesting and helpful in this book were the detailed descriptions of ‘cultural therapy’ applicable to working with people from Black and other minority ethnic groups in Western settings.

The book is informative, easy to read and enjoyable; it is of general interest but is specifically useful for professionals in the mental health field working with people from Black and other minority ethnic backgrounds. However, I think it could have done with some editing: there is a fair amount of repetition across the chapters - in one instance, a whole paragraph is repeated - and some re-ordering of paragraphs and chapters may have helped. But the illustrations of group work by artist-psychiatrist Jaswant Guzder are a definite plus.