Michael Karson – författare

Certain intrinsic features of early memories make them analogous to life problems and to the therapy relationship: childhood tends to imply situations that are confusing, disempowered, or impulsive, and relationships that are parental, intimate, or defining. When early memories are examined, the results can be personally meaningful to the individual and relevant to the presenting problem and to the therapy. This book recommends strategies for using early memories to enhance the working alliance, to make psychological sense of presenting problems, and to resolve treatment impasses.

Certain intrinsic features of early memories make them analogous to life problems and to the therapy relationship: childhood tends to imply situations that are confusing, disempowered, or impulsive, and relationships that are parental, intimate, or defining. When early memories are examined, the results can be personally meaningful to the individual and relevant to the presenting problem and to the therapy. This book recommends strategies for using early memories to enhance the working alliance, to make psychological sense of presenting problems, and to resolve treatment impasses.

Therapists have a lot to learn from theater professionals about helping people narrate important conflicts, understand uplifting ideas, and engage in illuminating interactions. Analysis of theater has also produced Goffman's dramaturgical vision of reality, in which people are beset with performance problems including defining situations, forming teams, casting roles, and managing discrediting information. A dramaturgical understanding of psychotherapy is articulated in this book, with a focus on living up to situational norms intrinsic to therapy and managing performance failures associated with the roles of therapist and patient. Norms derive from rules and categories—in society and in therapy—that help people know how to behave, but which also produce self-serving hegemonies of privilege and power, even in therapy. Performance theory—encompassing audience engagement, dramaturgy, gender studies, power and privilege dynamics, critical thinking, and multiculturalism—is used to investigate the "party lines" that get established in therapy and supervision, and to suggest ways to temper the deadening effects of rules and categories.

Interpret the hidden meaning of family roles to help children at risk!Because dysfunctional patterns are closed systems that serve a secret purpose, they are almost impossible to change from the outside. Patterns of Child Abuse helps you recognize the purpose behind the patterns and offers successful strategies for entering the pattern in order to help family members without joining it and becoming part of the dysfunction. Patterns of Child Abuse identifies the most common, most problematic patterns and explores their hidden meanings. Case studies and theoretical discussions demonstrate the ways family patterns are replicated in a child's psyche and the ways the grown-up child replicates the familiar family pattern, forcing the world to bend to the story within. Synthesizing systems theory, behaviorism, and psychoanalysis, Patterns of Child Abuse offers powerful insights as well as practical strategies for dealing with such complex issues as:how to comfort an abused child who cannot bear to be touched why abused children idealize their battering or neglectful parent how borderline personality organization affects individuals and their families handling the sexually powerful teenage girl, the disruptive boy, and the mother of the sexual abuse victim how family patterns operate in therapeutic context why therapists and social workers may encounter conflicts in child welfare cases when and how paradoxical interventions can work Well-written and insightful, Patterns of Child Abuse conveys a sound theoretical model and a sophisticated approach to the psychology of individuals and families for the child welfare professional.

Interpret the hidden meaning of family roles to help children at risk!Because dysfunctional patterns are closed systems that serve a secret purpose, they are almost impossible to change from the outside. Patterns of Child Abuse helps you recognize the purpose behind the patterns and offers successful strategies for entering the pattern in order to help family members without joining it and becoming part of the dysfunction. Patterns of Child Abuse identifies the most common, most problematic patterns and explores their hidden meanings. Case studies and theoretical discussions demonstrate the ways family patterns are replicated in a child's psyche and the ways the grown-up child replicates the familiar family pattern, forcing the world to bend to the story within. Synthesizing systems theory, behaviorism, and psychoanalysis, Patterns of Child Abuse offers powerful insights as well as practical strategies for dealing with such complex issues as:how to comfort an abused child who cannot bear to be touched why abused children idealize their battering or neglectful parent how borderline personality organization affects individuals and their families handling the sexually powerful teenage girl, the disruptive boy, and the mother of the sexual abuse victim how family patterns operate in therapeutic context why therapists and social workers may encounter conflicts in child welfare cases when and how paradoxical interventions can work Well-written and insightful, Patterns of Child Abuse conveys a sound theoretical model and a sophisticated approach to the psychology of individuals and families for the child welfare professional.

Principles of Forensic Report Writing explores the psychology of report writing, including the motivations of readers and writers, communicative and performative concerns, and the cognitive science that applies to the process.The book addresses foundational principles rather than mechanics and how these feed back to the assessment process. Emphasis is placed throughout on the problem of applying general research, nomothetic tests, and generally useful actuarials to specific cases.

With the ubiquity of knowledge on too many topics relevant to psychotherapy and life problems, it is difficult for therapists to muddle through and stay up-to-date. Therapists often have to choose between braving a bewildering onslaught of information and wishfully disregarding all that’s out there. What Every Therapist Needs to Know answers for therapists the practical, humble question, “What do I need to know about a topic to practice competently?”This book provides an engaging overview on the topics that working clinicians need to know about, while drawing parallels between the therapist’s professional growth and the patient’s personal growth. Foundational knowledge on learning, life, and psychology segues into the therapy topics of conflict resolution, the working alliance, the therapeutic frame, technique, and feedback. What Every Therapist Needs to Know emphasizes the application of psychological theories to the therapy itself and not just to the patient’s life.