Healthy type A persons can be considered prototypes of the competent coper. Highly motivated and achievement-oriented they need treatment not because of any deficiencies in coping resources, but because of the high personal costs these men and women sustain when they use their abundant energy indiscriminately. Such an abuse of coping ability often results in emotional and physical distress. With the publication of this book, Ethel Roskies has provided behavioral therapists with a systematic, theoretically lucid, and carefully researched guide to stress management for the healthy type A. Her thorough, practical approach to the successful handling of stress is unusual in its emphasis on the hows and whys of the program strategy, paving the way for therapists to arouse and sustain motivation for change in their overly competent clients. Roskies' program is the result of 10 years of testing and development with healthy type A managers and professionals. Session-by-session descriptions of the program content and the inclusion of client materials make the program usable by any professional with a basic knowledge of behavior therapy techniques. More than a ''how to do it manual,'' the volume addresses such crucial topics as differences and similiarities between stress management and other forms of treatment; who should be treated through stress management, and for what purposes; creating and sustaining the need for change in a hard to reach population; and the handling of difficult clients and situations.

This breadth of coverage makes the book of interest to practitioners utilizing stress management techniques for other populations and problems.