Since the earliest medical, philosophical, and literary texts in ancient civilizations, madness has posed some basic issues: how to separate sanity from insanity, to distinguish mental and bodily illnesses, and to specify the variety of internal and external forces that lead people to become mentally ill. This book explores the answers to these questions that have emerged over time and concludes that current portrayals are not much improved compared to those that emerged thousands of years ago. The puzzles that madness presents are likely to remain unresolved for the foreseeable future and perhaps forever.
This new edition continues its tradition as the most readable, scholarly, and practical introduction to psychodynamic theory and practice available. This invaluable "one-stop" reference will prepare you to teach students and treat patients more effectively with its truly integrative psychodynamic approach.
“Filled with insights into the social, historical, and economic forces responsible for the overmedicalization of human unhappiness and distress.” —George Graham, Metapsychology In this surprising book, Allan V. Horwitz argues that our current conceptions of mental illness as a disease fit only a small number of serious psychological conditions and that most conditions currently regarded as mental illness are cultural constructions, normal reactions to stressful social circumstances, or simply forms of deviant behavior. “Thought-provoking and important . . . Drawing on and consolidating the ideas of a range of authors, Horwitz challenges the existing use of the term mental illness and the psychiatric ideas and practices on which this usage is based . . . Horwitz enters this controversial territory with confidence, conviction, and clarity.” —Joan Busfield, American Journal of Sociology “Horwitz properly identifies the financial incentives that urge therapists and drug companies to proliferate psychiatric diagnostic categories. He correctly identifies the stranglehold that psychiatric diagnosis has on research funding in mental health. Above all, he provides a sorely needed counterpoint to the most strident advocates of disease-model psychiatry.” —Mark Sullivan, Journal of the American Medical Association “Horwitz makes at least two major contributions to our understanding of mental disorders. First, he eloquently draws on evidence from the biological and social sciences to create a balanced, integrative approach to the study of mental disorders. Second, in accomplishing the first contribution, he provides a fascinating history of the study and treatment of mental disorders . . . from early asylum work to the rise of modern biological psychiatry.”— Debra Umberson, Quarterly Review of Biology
This classic work is a monumental, integrated view of man's search for an understanding of the inner reaches of the mind. In an account that is both exhaustive and exciting, the distinguished psychiatrist and author demonstrates the long chain of development—through the exorcists, magnetists, and hypnotists—that led to the fruition of dynamic psychiatry in the psychological systems of Janet, Freud, Adler, and Jung.
Offering a sophisticated introduction to a contemporary psychodynamic model of the mind and treatment, this book provides an approach to understanding and treating higher level personality pathology. It describes a specific form of treatment called "dynamic psychotherapy for higher level personality pathology" (DPHP), which was designed specifically to treat the rigidity that characterizes that condition. Based on psychodynamic object relations theory, DPHP is an outgrowth of transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP) and is part of an integrated approach to psychodynamic treatment of personality pathology across the spectrum of severity -- from higher level personality pathology, described in this volume, to severe personality pathology, described in a companion volume, Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality: Focusing on Object Relations. Together, they provide a comprehensive description of an object relations theory-based approach to treatment of personality disorders, embedded in an integrated model of personality. As a guide to treatment, Handbook of Dynamic Psychotherapy for Higher Level Personality Pathology provides a clear, specific, and comprehensive description of how to practice DPHP from beginning to end, presented in jargon-free exposition using extensive clinical illustrations. The authors offer a comprehensive description of psychodynamic consultation that includes sharing the diagnostic impression, establishing treatment goals, discussing treatment options, obtaining informed consent, and establishing treatment frame. Throughout, the book emphasizes fundamental clinical principles that enable the clinician to think through clinical decisions moment-to-moment and also to develop an overall sense of the trajectory and goals of the treatment. Among the book's benefits: Takes a diagnosis-driven approach, presenting a clear model of both the psychopathology and its treatment; Explains underlying theory and basic elements of DPHP for those first learning dynamic therapy; Offers an integrated, innovative synthesis of contemporary psychodynamic approaches to personality pathology and psychodynamic psychotherapy; Describes goals, strategies, tactics, and techniques of the treatment to demonstrate its flexibility over a relatively long course of treatment; Provides sophisticated discussion of integrating dynamic psychotherapy with medication management and other forms of treatment. DPHP offers a broad range of patients the opportunity to modify maladaptive personality functioning in ways that can permanently enhance their quality of life. Handbook of Dynamic Psychotherapy for Higher Level Personality Pathology provides experienced clinicians with a hands-on approach to that method, and is also useful as a primary textbook in courses focusing on the technique of dynamic psychotherapy or in courses on psychodynamics.
It is difficult to improve on a classic, but the fifth edition of Psychodynamic Psychiatry in Clinical Practice does just that, offering the updates readers expect with a deft reorganization that integrates DSM-5® with the author's emphasis on psychodynamic thinking. The individual patient is never sacrificed to the diagnostic category, yet clinicians will find the guidance they need to apply DSM-5® appropriately. Each chapter has been systematically updated to reflect the myriad and manifold changes in the 9 years since the previous edition's publication. All 19 chapters have new references and cutting-edge material that will prepare psychiatrists and residents to treat patients with compassion and skill. The book offers the following features: * Each chapter integrates new neurobiological findings with psychodynamic understanding so that clinicians can approach their patients with a truly biopsychosocial treatment plan.* Excellent writing and an intuitive structure make complicated psychodynamic concepts easy to understand so that readers can grasp the practical application of theory in everyday practice.* The book links clinical understanding to the new DSM-5® nomenclature so that clinicians and trainees can adapt psychodynamic thinking to the new conceptual models of disorders.* New coverage of psychodynamic thinking with relation to the treatment of patients on the autism spectrum addresses an increasingly important practice area.* Posttraumatic stress and dissociative disorders have been combined to allow for integrated coverage of primary psychiatric disorders related to trauma and stressors. A boon to clinicians in training and practice, the book has been meticulously edited and grounded in the latest research. The author firmly believes that clinicians must not lose the complexities of the person in the process of helping the patient. Psychodynamic Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, Fifth Edition, keeps this approach front and center as it engages, instructs, and exhorts the reader in the thoughtful, humane practice of psychodynamic psychiatry.
