American Psychological Assn.
The collaborative psychotherapist; creating reciprocal relationships with medical professionals.
Ruddy (Hunterdon Family Practice Residency, New Jersey), Borreson (family medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswich, New Jersey), and Gunn (New Hampshire/Dartmouth Family Practice Residency, Concord) offer practicing psychotherapists step-by-step guidance on how they can work with their medical colleagues on a routine basis. Coverage includes an overview of the barriers to, advantages of, and disadvantages of such collaboration; the skills and practices psychotherapists need to become more collaborative; psychotherapeutic and collaborative strategies for using intensive collaboration with challenging patients; and clinical examples of collaboration with adult and child patients and interviews with collaborative health care professionals which demonstrate how collaborative care can alter the treatment process, outcomes, and patient and professional satisfaction. A number of reproducible forms are included in the appendices. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Cultural competence in trauma treatment.
Brown has been in practice as a clinician and forensic psychologist in Seattle since 1979, and has taught at Southern Illinois U., the U. of Washington, and the Washington School of Professional Psychology. Drawing on her extensive clinical experience and recent research, she offers an introductory examination of how psychotherapists can develop their capacity to deliver culturally competent treatment to survivors of trauma. After discussing culturally competent models of trauma treatment, she looks at a variety of factors in the experience of and recovery from trauma exposure — age, gender, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, disability, displacement, health, and spirituality — and then discusses strategies for engaging and supporting family, friends, and communities of trauma survivors both inside of and collateral to the therapy process, as well as vicarious traumatization and its effects on psychotherapists. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Dieting, overweight, and obesity; self-regulation in a food-rich environment.
Writing for psychologists and medical professionals, Stroebe (social psychology, Utrecht U., the Netherlands) considers various factors and consequences of weight gain and obesity, and proposes his own goal conflict theory as a means of understanding the problems and making some headway with solutions. He examines the definitions of being overweight and obesity; why they are serious problems in several countries (especially the US and UK); gender, class, race, and ethnicity differences; physiological aspects; genetic risk factors; and various psychological theories. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Emotion-focused couples therapy; the dynamics of emotion, love, and power.
Aiming their study at both practitioners and students alike, Greenberg (Psychotherapy Research Clinic at York U.) and Goldman (Argosy U.) maintain that the secret to getting results in couples therapy is by igniting strong emotions in clients. This book focuses on how therapists should use anger, sadness and fear to explore the development of romantic relationships, and how emotional patterns in childhood form the foundation of these relationships through the remainder of the clients' lives. Case studies effectively illustrate how the arousal of deep-seated and intense emotions can be used in meet clients' goals in therapy when the right questions are asked. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Hallucinations; the science of idiosyncratic perception.
Aleman (cognitive neuropsychology, Gronigen, The Netherlands) and Larøi (cognitive psychopathology, Liège) offer a comprehensive overview of the phenomenon of hallucinations. They examine both psychological and neurological causes, difficult because different conditions seem to involve different neurotransmitters. Hallucinations from schizophrenia, drugs, Parkinson's disease, head injuries and other causes are discussed. The authors suggest both cognitive and medical treatments. An appendix gives the clinician assessment guidelines. While this book is intended for mental health professionals it is clearly enough written that a lay person could find much useful information. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Law & mental health professionals; Kansas.
This publication is intended as a resource for mental health professionals and attorneys dealing in mental health law in the state of Kansas and is part of a series with a volume devoted to each state. Legal topics pertinent to the profession are addressed in individual chapters, each describing the legal standards and processes within which a mental health professional would be operating. Arrangement is in eight sections on legal credentialing, business matters, limitations on and liability for practice, families and juveniles, other civil matters, civil and criminal trial matters, criminal matters, and voluntary or involuntary receipt of state services. Five appendices publish tables of cases, statues, rules of court, administrative rules and regulations, and references to Constitution. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Law & mental health professionals; Massachusetts, 3d ed.
Brant focuses on state law but includes federal statutes and policies when necessary, updating recent case law and interpretations for this edition. He focuses on the needs of mental health professionals and their interactions with clients, starting by describing the licensure and regulation of professionals from psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses to social workers, school counselors, therapists and hypnotists. He describes business law as it applies to individual practice and other working situations, limitations and liabilities in practice, legal issues of families and juveniles, civil and criminal matters, voluntary and involuntary receipt of state services, and miscellaneous civil matters such as competency to vote or sign a will. The result is both accessible and comprehensive. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Polarities of experience; relatedness and self-definition in personality development, psychopathology, and the therapeutic process.
Dr. Sidney J. Blatt, who received a Ph.D. in personality development and psychopathology from the University of Chicago in 1957, is considered one of the most thorough and experienced authorities in modern psychology. In this book, Dr. Blatt examines the contrasting theories of relatedness and self-definition, and how the human mind wrestles with these polarized concepts throughout life. Dr. Blatt's theories are considered particularly groundbreaking and controversial since many of his ideas can be directly applied to psychotherapy, replacing current DSM guidelines regarding mental disorders and their related symptoms. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The q-sort in character appraisal; encoding subjective impressions of persons quantitatively.
In this expansion of his long out-of-print 1961 monograph, Block (psychology, U. of California, Berkeley) traces the development, rationale, empirical support for, and implications of this widely-used technique for standardized characterization of personality in clinical and research settings. He also addresses criticisms of his approach and alternative approaches to usage. Appendices include the major versions of Q-sort instruments in use: e.g., the California Adult Q-set, Child Q-set, and Environmental Q-sort; English and Spanish versions of the Child-Rearing Practices Report (for parents;); the Adjective Q-set for Nonprofessional Sorters; plus instructions on creating a Q-sort deck using Microsoft Word. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Studying psychology in the United States; expert guidance for international students.
This book is aimed at international students who are considering studying psychology at the graduate level in the US, as well as their supervisors, advisors, and administrators. Through 14 chapters, psychologists and international students provide advice on the advantages and disadvantages of studying in the US, how to find university resources and financial help, and dealing with visa and work permits, in addition to cultural issues, teaching, and conducting research, and deciding whether to pursue employment in America. Hasan and Fouad work in counseling psychology at universities in the US, and Williams-Nickelson is a counseling psychologist and associated with the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students, which hosts a listserv from which the book originated. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
