The Practice of Counselling and Psychotherapy (2025) by Denis O’Hara, Jim Schirmer, Michael Ellwood, and Kate Witteveen. The University of Queensland. ISBN: 9781742724065

This review examines The Practice of Counselling and Psychotherapy (O’Hara et al., 2025), an open-access introductory text developed by educators from The University of Queensland’s Master of Counselling program. The book presents counselling and psychotherapy as fundamentally relational practices, integrating philosophical, theoretical, neurobiological, systemic, and professional perspectives within a coherent framework. Particular strengths of this book include its treatment of common factors research, the role of hope in therapeutic change, neurobiological literacy for practitioners, integrative case formulation, and strong pedagogical design. The text successfully balances accessibility with conceptual depth, rendering it especially suitable for students and early-career practitioners. While a more sustained discussion of contemporary professional and regulatory issues within the Australian context would further strengthen its relevance for practising counsellors and psychotherapists, the volume nevertheless represents a significant contribution to counselling and psychotherapy education.