The Mind-Body Interface in Somatization: When Symptom Becomes Disease represents a unique contribution to the clinician's tool chest for diagnosing and treating psychosomatic illness. Beginning with a discussion of contemporary disease classification, the authors clarify matters greatly by talking in terms of chronic and situational somatization, showing that chronic patients use illness as a way of life while situational patients somatically respond to existential crises, and revealing how both are rooted in the mind-body interface. Drawing on elements of personality theory, the authors discuss the core conflicts and character structure inherent in both types of somatization and suggest treatment options appropriately geared toward the needs of each. Book jacket.
Unlike other texts on the subject, this book aims to provide a well-integrated approach to the diagnosis and treatment of the pervasive effects of the mind/body splitting that lead to somatoform disorders.
There is growing scientific evidence that how we experience our bodies can powerfully influence whether we get sick, how we get sick, and how we manage illness. Somatic awareness--the ability to perceive, interpret, and act on the basis of internal bodily sensations--is at the cutting edge of the mind-body interface. Such awareness is a key factor in many forms of self-regulatory therapy, including relaxation and biofeedback. Grounded in the existing research, this book identifies the somatic experiences associated with health and well-being and describes how awareness of these states can be a powerful clinical tool. Integrating empirical data, case examples, and pointers for practice, Bakal uses a psychobiological framework to build a much-needed bridge between traditional and alternative health care approaches. The book first enumerates the physiological, cognitive, and emotional variables that underlie internal bodily experience, presenting research that closely links specific subjective states to improved health and healing. Somatization symptoms are then shown to result from an insufficient awareness of inner physical states: Many individuals only "notice" the body when their reactions reach symptomatic or illness levels. Bakal describes the clinical applications of these findings for such anxiety- and pain-related disorders as migraine, unexplained dizziness and shortness of breath, benign chest pain, and asthma. Thought-provoking findings on placebos and self-regulation are discussed, and the book suggests ways that somatic awareness may enable patients to actively harness the placebo effect and achieve significant symptom control. Broadening the scope of the discussion to include immune system illnesses, Bakal shows how reducing bodily tension, fatigue, and stress through somatic awareness may play a significant role in the clinical management of arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and cancer. The book's final chapter looks at therapeutic touch, biofeedback, and breathing retraining. A brief overview of each modality is provided, and general principles are delineated for how patients can be guided to develop and use conscious awareness of somatic states to promote their physical well-being. Synthesizing scientific data from many different areas of research, the book makes the dimensions of somatic awareness understandable to clinicians in a range of settings. Its clear, accessible style will enhance its appeal to a broad audience of health psychologists, behavioral medicine specialists, and other mental health and medical professionals interested in holistic health care approaches.
Emphasizing the concepts and technologies of clinical psychophysiology in providing an evidence-based empirical approach to problems of patients in primary care medicine, this text has a bio-psychosocial perspective.
Diagnostic Essentials of Psychopathology: A Case-Based Approach by Cheree Hammond brings together dozens of fictional cases which represent a range of human experiences, featuring people of different ages, ethnicities, genders, ability levels, and religions. Each disorder has several cases associated with it to capture the truly unique nature of working with various client intersections, and half of the cases provide the correct "answers" or diagnosis to allow students to check their understanding of this process. Some cases focus on a diagnosis, others with analysis, and others let the student practice on their own as a way to further student reflection and learning. This casebook is specifically written for disciplines that are grounded in a humanistic approach (Counseling, Social Work, Counseling Psychology). The author provides a framework for using the medical model that is presented in the DSM-5.
While most abnormal psychology texts aim solely for magnitude, The Oxford Textbook of Psychopathology aims for scope and depth. Its exceptional collection of authors not only reflects the reality of the heterogeneous nature of psychopathology, but it allows the reader to be exposed to a variety of notions about the favored approaches, the most crucial issues, and the most informative forms of discourse. As a volume focused on understanding underlying psychopathology with extensive coverage of personality diagnosis, it is a valuable tool for mental health workers, clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, and graduate students.
The Mind-Body Interface in Somatization: When Symptom Becomes Disease represents a unique contribution to the clinician's tool chest for diagnosing and treating psychosomatic illness. This book breaks new ground by asking and answering many of the key questions that trouble every practicing clinician: Why do patients use somatization? Can we predict who will be a somatizer? Is there an underlying process involved? Why are these patients so difficult to treat? Beginning with a discussion of contemporary disease classification, The Mind-Body Interface in Somatization clarifies matters greatly by talking in terms of chronic and situational somatization, showing that chronic patients use illness as a way of life, while situational patients somatically respond to existential crises, and revealing how both are rooted in the mind-body interface. Drawing on elements of personality theory, the authors discuss the core conflicts and character structure inherent in both types of somatization and suggest treatment options appropriately geared toward the needs of each. The Mind-Body Interface in Somatization describes how chronic somatization can be addressed by cognitive-behavioral therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, while situational somatization can be managed with short-term existential psychotherapy. Concluding with a discussion of medications that may be helpful to the somatizing patient, this volume represents an original approach to explaining what goes on in the mind of the somatizer.
Introduces the principles and applications of cognitive analytic therapy (CAT) Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) is an increasingly popular approach to therapy that is now widely recognised as a genuinely integrative and fundamentally relational model of psychotherapy. This new edition of the definitive text to CAT offers a systematic and comprehensive introduction to its origins, development, and practice. It also provides a fully updated overview of developments in the theory, research, and applications of CAT, including clarification and re-statement of basic concepts, such as reciprocal roles and reciprocal role procedures, as well as extensions into new areas of expertise. Introducing Cognitive Analytic Therapy: Principles and Practice of a Relational Approach to Mental Health, 2nd Edition starts with a brief account of the scope and focus of CAT and how it evolved and explains the main features of its practice. It next offers a brief account of a relatively straightforward therapy to give readers a sense of the unfolding structure and style of a time-limited CAT. Following that are chapters that consider the normal and abnormal development of the Self and that introduce influential concepts from Vygotskian, Bakhtinian and developmental psychology. Subsequent chapters describe selection and assessment; reformulation; the course of therapy; the ‘ideal model’ of therapist activity and its relation to the supervision of therapists; applications of CAT in various patient groups and settings and in treating personality type disorders; use in ‘reflective practice'; a CAT perspective on the ‘difficult’ patient; and systemic and ‘contextual’ approaches. Presents an updated introduction and overview of the principles and practice of cognitive analytic therapy (CAT) Updates the first edition with developments from the last decade, in which CAT theory has deepened and the approach has been applied to new patient groups and extended far beyond its roots Includes detailed, applicable ‘how to’ descriptions of CAT in practice Includes references to CAT published works and suggestions for further reading within each chapter Includes a glossary of terms and several appendices containing the CAT Psychotherapy File; a summary of CAT competences extracted from Roth and Pilling; the Personality Structure Questionnaire; and a description of repertory grid basics and their use in CAT Co-written by the creator of the CAT model, Anthony Ryle, in collaboration with leading CAT practitioner, trainer, and researcher, Ian B. Kerr Introducing Cognitive Analytic Therapy is the definitive book for CAT practitioners and CAT trainees at skills, practitioner, and psychotherapy levels. It should also be of considerable interest and relevance to mental health professionals of all orientations, including clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, mental health nurses, to those working in forensic and various institutional settings, and to a range of other health care and social work professionals.
The body is a cultural vessel, giving voice to the unspoken words of the soul and transforming the nuances of distress into a script of symptoms that echoes across diverse cultural landscapes. Within the intricate tapestry of human experience, certain threads stand out, weaving a story that defies boundaries and spans the globe. Somatization Across Cultures unfurls these threads, illuminating the diverse landscape of somatisation disorders and their interplay with culture, identity, and healing practices. As you embark on this literary voyage, prepare to traverse continents and minds, exploring the profound connection between the physical and the psychological, the cultural and the clinical. Part of the Oxford Cultural Psychiatry series, this volume brings together the various somatisation syndromes: their description, presentation, assessment, and management in one place. It is a fascinating read for any psychiatrist, physician, clinical psychologist, public health specialist, nurse and other healthcare professional, as well as any sociologist, anthropologist, and policymaker, and anyone else interested in this area of psychiatry.
Be Guided by the Evidence... Somatoform disorders are more common than many clinicians realize and are often underdiagnosed and poorly managed. This practical guide provides a comprehensive overview of all somatoform disorders. It aims to enable the mental health practitioner to properly diagnose and manage the disorders as well as to provide the appropriate advice to colleagues of other medical disciplines. Somatoform Disorders offers: * Detailed coverage of the concepts of each disorder: diagnosis, classification, co-morbidities and course and outcome * An outline of clinical, biological and psychosocial research in the area * An overview of clinical management and future perspectives * The unique series format of systematic reviews followed by commentaries Somatoform Disorders is the ninth volume of the WPA Series "Evidence and Experience in Psychiatry. The book is an unbiased and reliable reference point for all psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health nurses and policy makers.
