Psychosocial Treatment Of Schizophrenia

Praise for the Clinician's Guide to Evidence-Based Practice Series "A major stumbling block to the adoption of evidence-based practice in the real world of clinical practice has been the absence of clinician-friendly guides suitable for learning specific empirically supported treatments. Such guides need to be understandable, free of technical research jargon, infused with clinical expertise, and rich with real-life examples. Rubin and Springer have hit a home run with the Clinician's Guide to Evidence-Based Practice Series, which has all of these characteristics and more." —Edward J. Mullen, Willma and Albert Musher Chair Professor, Columbia University State-of-the-art, empirical support for psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia Part of the Clinician's Guide to Evidence-Based Practice Series, Psychosocial Treatment of Schizophrenia provides busy mental health practitioners with detailed, step-by-step guidance for implementing clinical interventions that are supported by the latest scientific evidence. This thorough, yet practical, reference draws on a roster of experts and researchers in the field who have assembled state-of-the-art knowledge into this well-rounded guide. Each chapter serves as a practitioner-focused how-to reference and covers interventions that have the best empirical support for the psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia, including: Cognitive behavioral therapy Assertive community treatment Critical time intervention Motivational interviewing for medication adherence Psychoeducational family groups Illness management and recovery Easy-to-use and accessible in tone, Psychosocial Treatment of Schizophrenia is an indispensable resource for practitioners who would like to implement evidence-based, compassionate, effective interventions in the care of people with schizophrenia.

Praise for the Clinician's Guide to Evidence-Based Practice Series "A major stumbling block to the adoption of evidence-based practice in the real world of clinical practice has been the absence of clinician-friendly guides suitable for learning specific empirically supported treatments. Such guides need to be understandable, free of technical research jargon, infused with clinical expertise, and rich with real-life examples. Rubin and Springer have hit a home run with the Clinician's Guide to Evidence-Based Practice Series, which has all of these characteristics and more." Edward J. Mullen, Willma and Albert Musher Chair Professor, Columbia University State-of-the-art, empirical support for psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia Part of the Clinician's Guide to Evidence-Based Practice Series, Psychosocial Treatment of Schizophrenia provides busy mental health practitioners with detailed, step-by-step guidance for implementing clinical interventions that are supported by the latest scientific evidence. This thorough, yet practical, reference draws on a roster of experts and researchers in the field who have assembled state-of-the-art knowledge into this well-rounded guide. Each chapter serves as a practitioner-focused how-to reference and covers interventions that have the best empirical support for the psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia, including: Cognitive behavioral therapy Assertive community treatment Critical time intervention Motivational interviewing for medication adherence Psychoeducational family groups Illness management and recovery Easy-to-use and accessible in tone, Psychosocial Treatment of Schizophrenia is an indispensable resource for practitioners who would like to implement evidence-based, compassionate, effective interventions in the care of people with schizophrenia.

A fully revised and updated edition of this unique and authoritative reference The award-winning A Guide to Treatments that Work , published in 1998, was the first book to assemble the numerous advances in both clinical psychology and psychiatry into one accessible volume. It immediately established itself as an indispensable reference for all mental health practitioners. Now in a fully updated edition,A Guide to Treatments that Work, Second Edition brings together, once again, a distinguished group of psychiatrists and clinical psychologists to take stock of which treatments and interventions actually work, which don't, and what still remains beyond the scope of our current knowledge. The new edition has been extensively revised to take account of recent drug developments and advances in psychotherapeutic interventions. Incorporating a wealth of new information, these eminent researchers and clinicians thoroughly review all available outcome data and clinical trials and provide detailed specification of methods and procedures to ensure effective treatment for each major DSM-IV disorder. As an interdisciplinary work that integrates information from both clinical psychology and psychiatry, this new edition will continue to serve as an essential volume for practitioners of every kind: psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, counselors, and mental health consultants.

Pharmacological and Psychosocial Treatments in Schizophrenia provides a succinct clinical overview of key areas pertinent to the holistic treatment of people with schizophrenia and, in particular, puts firmly back onto the agenda the importance of psychosocial treatments. The latest data concerning the newer antipsychotic agents and clinical guidelines for their use are reviewed. The real emphasis, however, is on the psychosocial interventions for specific aspects of schizophrenia symptomatology and disability that have been shown to offer major benefits to recovery in the disorder, and yet have failed to have a high profile in the literature, as more effective biological treatments have become available. This book offers practical guidance on effective strategies for use in both clinical settings and in the family context, placing the patient (and their family) once again at the centre of therapeutic endeavours. Encouraging professionals to offer a broader therapeutic approach, this book will offer real hope to therapists, patients and families of what can be achieved if psychosocial interventions complement the many psychopharmacological treatments available today. Key topics include: female patients, treatment resistance, the substance abuser patient, family intervention, helping the patient at work, managing violent behaviour, first episode psychosis and rating scales in schizophrenia.

Mental health and substance use disorders affect approximately 20 percent of Americans and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Although a wide range of evidence-based psychosocial interventions are currently in use, most consumers of mental health care find it difficult to know whether they are receiving high-quality care. Although the current evidence base for the effects of psychosocial interventions is sizable, subsequent steps in the process of bringing a psychosocial intervention into routine clinical care are less well defined. Psychosocial Interventions for Mental and Substance Use Disorders details the reasons for the gap between what is known to be effective and current practice and offers recommendations for how best to address this gap by applying a framework that can be used to establish standards for psychosocial interventions. The framework described in Psychosocial Interventions for Mental and Substance Use Disorders can be used to chart a path toward the ultimate goal of improving the outcomes. The framework highlights the need to (1) support research to strengthen the evidence base on the efficacy and effectiveness of psychosocial interventions; (2) based on this evidence, identify the key elements that drive an intervention's effect; (3) conduct systematic reviews to inform clinical guidelines that incorporate these key elements; (4) using the findings of these systematic reviews, develop quality measures - measures of the structure, process, and outcomes of interventions; and (5) establish methods for successfully implementing and sustaining these interventions in regular practice including the training of providers of these interventions. The recommendations offered in this report are intended to assist policy makers, health care organizations, and payers that are organizing and overseeing the provision of care for mental health and substance use disorders while navigating a new health care landscape. The recommendations also target providers, professional societies, funding agencies, consumers, and researchers, all of whom have a stake in ensuring that evidence-based, high-quality care is provided to individuals receiving mental health and substance use services.

Inevitably, every psychotherapist has some experience with severely disturbed patients. Consequently, they will turn with excitement to this important new book which is a stunning attempt by two knowledgeable, persevering psychotherapists to present their understanding and sound therapeutic approach to these difficult and challenging patients. The authors argue that the treatment of choice is clearly psychotherapy and that such treatment can be successful and as long lasting for schizophrenic patients as it is for neurotic patients, but the journey may be longer and it may take more time to traverse.The task of therapy is to untangle the past from the present to make the future conceivable. The volume provides a thorough historical overview of the theoretical and clinical approaches to the problem of schizophrenia, including the views of leading contemporary clinicians on the topic. In general, the major clinical controversies have been regarded as issues of whether to focus on past, present or future; reality or fantasy; affects; exploration or relationship; whether the therapist should be active or passive; and how to handle regression. The authors argue that these are the wrong issues. They say that the task of therapy is to untangle the past from the present to make the future conceivable. Reality and fantasy are intertwined and must both be dealt with. Affects are central to all therapy, and emphasis on anger, despair, loneliness, terror, and shame are all necessary, as is the clarification of affect, and the acceptance of positive affect. Activity versus passivity is again in the wrong question; the right one is what action is helpful, when it is helpful, and when is not doing anything helpful? Regression is inevitable; should one accept it fully or try to limit it? This has no general answer other than do what is necessary (i.e., unavoidable) or most helpful to a particular patient at a particular time.

Today, more than 70 years after Eugen Bleuler introduced the term schizophrenia, the human condition so labeled continues to pose a formidable challenge to the helping professions. In recent years it may seem that this challenge can be met most successful ly by biologicalIy oriented researchers and therapists: AlI over the world neuroleptic drugs have made it possible to control disturbing symptoms and shorten hospital stays. Ever more refined technologies permit study of intricate neurophysiological and pharma cological processes that seem to underlie, if not contribute to, schizophrenic disorders. Most recently, the discovery of the endorphins promises a new therapeutic breakthrough. At the same time, a vast and growing research litera ture confirms the importance, if not primacy, of hereditary and neurophysiological fac tors in the etiopathogenesis of these disorders. And yet, as Loren Mosher notes in this volume, after 2 decades of almost universal usage of neuroleptics, it is now dear that they do not cure schizophrenia. It is also c1ear that they have serious, sometimes irreversible toxicities, that recovery may be impaired by them in at least some schizophrenics, and that they have little effect on long-term psychosocial adjustment.