Psychoth Rapies

An in-depth look at a much misunderstood practice, offering a fresh viewpoint on how this science can be a universally effective route to our better selves.

A comprehensive overview of the art and science of psychotherapy and a set of practice guidelines for psychiatrist developed from a report by the Joint Task Force on Standards and Guidelines for Medical (Psychiatric) Psychotherapy of the OPA and OMA.

"Working in mental health puts us in touch with the complexity, depth, creativity and turmoil of the human mind. We are at the emotional coal face, privileged to be encountering the fundamental unknowability and strangeness of the internal world. How much we make of this opportunity depends on how open or closed we are to the experience. Our patients communicate their disturbance powerfully and the working environment can be challenging and exhausting without meaningful understanding. To explore one's own mind, and to be receptive and knowledgeable about the unconscious processes that underlie all mental activity, allows us to learn from this experience. Working in this area then becomes more creative, enjoyable, productive, and of lower personal risk. It feeds rather than depletes"--

Acclaimed for its clear writing and stellar contributors, this authoritative text is now in a revised and updated fourth edition. The book explains the history, assessment approach, techniques, and research base of each of the 12 most important psychotherapies practiced today, along with its foundational ideas about personality and psychological health and dysfunction. The consistent chapter format facilitates comparison among the various approaches. Every chapter includes engaging clinical vignettes and an extended case example that bring key concepts to life, as well as suggested resources for further learning. New to This Edition *Incorporates important developments in clinical practice and research. *Entirely new chapters on CBT, third-wave CBT, couple therapies, and interpersonal and brief psychodynamic therapies; all other chapters fully updated. *Increased attention to multiple dimensions of diversity, the evidence-based practice movement, psychotherapy integration, and applications to physical health care.

Seminars in the Psychotherapies presents an overview of the major established psychotherapies for psychiatrists who are developing their therapeutic skills. Clinical examples are used throughout to highlight how theory can be applied to practice and to illustrate how different theoretical concepts are linked.

Following the publication of the Handbook of the Brief Psychotherapies (Wells & Giannetti, 1990), the editors began to conceptualize the idea of a collection of case studies encompassing a number of the commonly en countered clinical problems that have been treated with such ap proaches. The Casebook of the Brief Psychotherapies is the result. The Case book details clinical interventions with client populations as diverse as substance abusers, torture victims, the physically handicapped and other exceptional groups, and the economically disadvantaged with emotional and behavioral problems, as well as individuals experiencing sexual dysfunction or eating disorders. In addition, topics such as be reavement, depression, anger, and many crucial aspects of marital and family therapy are discussed by eminent clinical practitioners. Although the cases draw heavily upon cognitive behavioral and strategic structural formulations, psychodynamic, interpersonal, and experiential ap proaches are also included. The Casebook is clinically oriented, with a minimum of theory. Am ple case material and commentary allow the reader to experience direct ly the application of brief therapy to specific client problems. What emerges from this compendium of approaches and problems is a tap estry of action-oriented, problem-solving, skill-building, rational ap proaches to therapy that balance the client's ability to change with the demands and limits of time.

The last two decades have seen unprecedented increases in health care costs and, at the same time, encouraging progress in psychotherapy research. On the one hand, accountability, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency have now become commonplace terms for providers of mental health services whereas, on the other hand, an increasingly voluminous literature has emerged supporting the effectiveness of a number of types of psychotherapies. There now exists the possibility for the design and delivery of mental health services that-drawing upon this literature-more closely approximate empirically established data concerning the appropriateness and effectiveness of psychotherapy. The Handbook of the Brief Psychotherapies is intended to capture one major thrust of this movement: the development of a group of empirically grounded, time-limited therapies all sharing a common interest in the clinical utilization of a structured focus and an emphasis on time and action. For many years, professional self-interest, competing theoretical para digms, and the vagaries of practice, wisdom, and clinical myth have influenced the practice of psychotherapy. A critical questioning of the resulting, predomi nantly nondirective, open-ended, and global therapies has led to a growing emphasis on action-oriented, problem-focused, time-limited therapies. Yet, ironically, this interest in the brief psychotherapies has not so much involved a radical departure from traditional therapeutic modalities as it has emphasized a new pragmatism about how time, action, and structure operate in life as well as in therapy.