It pains me to give anything by Patricia McConnell less than 5 stars. However, after adopting my beagle mix, who turned out to have strong separation anxiety, this little volume was not immediately useful for my situation.
Key to this program is the ability to leave your dog with someone (or leave someone with your dog :) while working in the tiniest increments imaginable to desensitize (and perhaps counter-condition) your dog to your absence. Both leaving my dog with human company and counter-conditioning her (given her fear was so extreme she would not think of eating) did not work out for me. Thanks to the Web, I was able to find advice better suited to my circumstance. When I had no choice but to leave her for longer periods, I used one location. When I was actively working with her, I used a different location. I also implemented an "independence" program of rewarding any voluntary efforts on my dog's part to be somewhere other than glued to me.
Later, when with the help of medication her frantic state lessened, I did actually include most of the suggestions in this book in our program. After 6 months, we were able to wean off the meds. She still doesn't enjoy seeing me go, and she is still confined to limit her powers of destruction (I give her acceptable outlets for her "need to shred") but together we have survived one of the hardest trials in doggiedom.
I do agree that the level of detail in this book is exceptional, as is the section on deciding whether your dog has SA, or other issues. But you may still need to shop around for additional advice to fit your needs.