Elizabeth M. Altmaier - Böcker

Reconstructing Meaning After Trauma: Theory, Research, and Practice informs actual therapeutic work with clients who present with traumas or other life disruptions by providing clinicians with information on the construction of meaning. It includes material on diverse mechanisms of clinical change and positive-promoting processes.

The book covers identifiable treatments and specific lines of research in assisting clients in developing new meaning, such as posttraumatic growth (after sexual assault, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer, destructive natural phenomena, such as hurricanes, and refugee experiences), and finding benefit (in the context of loss-loss of health, or loss of a loved one).

Addresses a specific treatment or line of research Includes extended case vignettes at the beginning of each chapter Describes the associated theoretical background for each method Summarizes the research supporting each mechanism Concludes with a discussion of future directions for treatment, research, and theory

Promoting Positive Processes After Trauma targets one of the most damaging effects of trauma, ongoing impairment across the whole of "living." Viewing clients with trauma histories from the perspectives of their shared experiences is the foundation for the application of six strengths and virtues studied by positive psychology: hope, positive emotions, resilience, forgiveness, spirituality and religiosity, and meaning-making. The lived trauma experience of the contributing author illustrates actual means of change

Presents foundational information and newest findings from trauma and from positive psychology Covers strengths and virtues that can be directly targeted in treatment or used as ancillary treatment goals Provides further readings suitable for clients and for clinicians Concludes with an integrative exploration of the organization of positive processes and their integration into portfolios.

Navigating Life Transitions for Meaning explores the central human motivation of meaning making, and its counterpart, meaning disruption. The book describes different types of specific transitions, details how specific transitions affect an individual differently, and provides appropriate clinical approaches. The book examines the effects of life transitions on the component parts of meaning in life, including making sense (coherence), driving life goals (purpose), significance (mattering), and continuity. The book covers a range of transitions, including developmental (e.g., adolescence to adulthood), personal (e.g., illness onset, becoming a parent, and bereavement), and career (e.g., military deployment, downshifting, and retiring).

Life transitions are experienced by all persons, and the influence of those transitions are tremendous. It is essential for clinicians to understand how transitions can disrupt life and how to help clients successfully navigate these changes.

Covers cultural transitions, such as immigration and religious conversion Examines health transitions, such as cancer survivorship and acquired disability Uses a positive psychology framework to understand transitions Includes bulleted 'take-away' summaries of key points in each chapter Provides clinical applications of theory to practice

Psychology has become a global profession. Professionals are now readily able to practice in geographic areas far from where they were trained. In practice, psychology has a social contract with the public to promote human and societal welfare, all the while responsible for the constant upkeep of systems that promote, maintain, and demand quality from health care professionals. This book examines the tools needed for evaluating the crucial components of quality assurance - education, training, accreditation and designation, licensing and credentialing, ethics, mobility, and continuing professional development - from an international perspective, with a specific focus on practices in the US, Canada, the European Union, Latin America and Australia. An international team of contributors synthesizes the progress made in implementing quality assurance mechanisms across the globe and offers diverse perspectives as to how the wider international community can promote quality and mobility.

Counseling Psychology, one of the original specialties recognized in the profession of psychology, centers on and promotes clients' personal strengths during times of developmental transition or personal challenge and crisis. This tradition has led the discipline to excellence in areas such as improving vocational decision making and understanding client response during counseling. More recently, this tradition has been applied in new and exciting areas, such as understanding the role of multicultural factors among persons and society, responding to crises in life such as health threats and disasters, and enhancement of social justice in systems and communities. The Oxford Handbook of Counseling Psychology comprises chapters, all written by expert contributors, in four sections: foundations of the specialty; contextual variables such as ethnicity and social class; applications across individual, couple, family and group populations; and intersections of the specialty with new targets of client or context. Each chapter reviews the history of research, theory and application; analyzes current directions, and sets an agenda for the close future, again in theory, research and application. The handbook is a comprehensive and well written survey of many of psychology's domains of growing interest to students, professionals, and the public.

`An excellent introduction.... Readers of this journal looking for a brief but comprehensive introduction to the field of stress management will find this book to be more than adequate for this purpose. Perhaps the book's greatest strength is the way it has managed to combine insights and research from both occupational psychology and clinical psychology to tackle workplace stress. Cary Cooper would surely be pleased with the authors' efforts at what he has termed "clinical occupational" psychology' - International Journal of Social Psychiatry

This practical guide focuses on the intervention strategies which can be employed by counsellors to help individuals suffering from emotional and physiological stresses engendered in the workplace. With key points illustrated by case studies, chapters define the nature of occupational stress and provide information about the emotional, behavioural, physiological and cognitive symptoms which can occur.

The authors also discuss the factors influencing the problem: factors which can be tied to the individual, to the work setting and to the larger social context. Specific coping strategies explored are targeted both at the individual, for example relaxation training and stress management programmes, and at the workplace, for instance job redesign and career planning. Finally, methods that practitioners can use to evaluate their interventions are presented in detail.

This book helps survivors find the road to recovery and learn healthy practices that will lead to thriving, not just surviving.Survivors of childhood sexual abuse can begin a recovery journey informed by accurate understandings, not myths, and empowered by processes that help them thrive. Written for men and women by an author who is herself a survivor, this guide tells the truth about what complex trauma means for your physical and mental health. Readers will learn how to build key recovery processes into their lives, including grieving, meaning-making, forging healthy connections with others, and finding hope. This guidance is scientifically-based, in findings from positive psychology.  With self-assessments, journaling prompts, and suggested action steps to help you leave your darkness behind, this book is your essential interactive guide through the recovery journey. References and an extensive index are also included.