"The Essential Internet" is a brief user-friendly guide to the Internet written specifically for psychotherapists and other mental health professionals. It is intended as a beginning text for readers with little previous exposure to the Internet. Anthony LaBruzza, a psychiatrist and author of "Using DSM-IV: A Clinician's Guide to Psychiatric Diagnosis", in plain language helps the reader to understand what the Internet is and how it came to be. He provides chapters on all the essential features of the Internet including e-mail, FTP, Gopher, Archie, Veronica, Jughead, Web browsers, search engines, and the World Wide Web. Throughout the text, Dr. LaBruzza refers readers to Web pages and other Internet resources for further information. He has compiled an extensive directory of Internet sites relevant to mental health professionals of diverse backgrounds. In addition, there is a comprehensive glossary that defines and explains terminology. An introduction by clinical psychologist Howard Benditsky, PhD, enriches the text with many examples of the use of the Internet in professional practice.