Advances in Mental Health Research – serie

This book aims to unpack not only the philosophical and psychological need to understand ourselves but also how, through an exploration of historical archives and artistic creativity, we can build self-identify and self-esteem to improve a sense of wellbeing for ourselves and those for whom we care. It will give examples for developing mental health and wellbeing interventions for charities, private care and the NHS, and will also offer an evidence base for the use of creativity and historical resources in mental health care. The book gives a practical use for archives particularly as more are being digitalised and becoming widely available.

Mental illness is prevalent in society with a quarter of individuals having a diagnosable mental illness. A growing percentage of these individuals develop severe disorders which incapacitate them and may leave them unemployed, lonely, isolated and untreated. In recent years, there has been a movement away from therapy, and a heightened emphasis on medicalization. This book argues that medication alone does not take away the deep emotional pain of feeling isolated and lonely, and considers the modification of the client’s social relationships as a critical ingredient in any treatment. Group Therapy for Adults with Severe Mental Illness explores a non-traditional application of treatment known as the group-as-a-whole model. This approach to group work derives from the Tavistock tradition, in which emphasis on the whole group versus any specific member makes the group a safe place to risk sharing and confronting painful issues. This text highlights the efficacy of utilizing this model in the treatment of severely mentally ill consumers in various settings including jails, nursing homes and group homes. Included in the book:-case studies using the Tavistock method-the power of group-as-a-whole work in educating mental health professionals and graduate students-the use of the model to enhance creative expression in the arts-the use of the model to understand larger social systems This text will be of value to mental health professionals, researchers and educators interested in the treatment of severely mentally ill populations in institutional settings, and individuals with a specific interest in group psychotherapy.

Despite widespread use, Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) is a topic of much debate, often receiving criticism from academic and professional sectors. In this book international academics, researchers and therapists are brought together to examine the current evidence of the clinical efficacy of NLP techniques, considering how NLP can be effective in facilitating change, enrichment and symptom relief.Lisa Wake and her colleagues provide a critical appraisal of evidence-based research in the area to indicate the benefits of the approach and identify the need for an increase in randomized well-controlled clinical trials. Contributors also explore how NLP has been used to treat various disorders including: post-traumatic stress disorder phobias addictions anxiety disorders mild depression. Illustrated throughout with clinical examples and case studies, this book is key reading for practitioners and researchers interested in NLP, as well as postgraduate students.

For several decades there has been an increasing move towards viewing the psychotic illnesses from a dimensional perspective, seeing them as continuous with healthy functioning. The idea, concentrating mostly on schizophrenia, has generated considerable theoretical debate as well as empirical research, conducted under the rubric of 'schizotypy'. This book offers a timely discussion of the most significant themes and developments in this research area.Divided into four key sections which represent current concerns in schizotypy research – Measurement, Brain and Biology; Development and Environment; Consequences and Outcomes; and Future Directions – chapters reflect a broad range of approaches and discuss varied theoretical perspectives on schizotypy. Topics include: cognitive and perceptual biases psychometric assessments creativity and schizotypy genetic associations. developmental perspectives Schizotypy: New dimensions will appeal to academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the area of psychotic illnesses, as well as professionals including psychiatrists and clinical psychologists who are concerned with the basis of serious mental disorder. The book will inform readers who are new to the topic and will update and expand the knowledge base of those more experienced in the field.

Suicide is considered to be the leading cause of preventable death in prisons. While there is increasingly expansive literature examining the various risk factors associated with a likelihood of eventual prison suicide, so far this has struggled to lead to successful prevention programmes. An alternative approach is needed that seeks to understand, at the individual level, what leads a prisoner to contemplate ending their own life. This book describes how the authors developed and delivered evidence-based psychological interventions for suicide prevention in prison.The authors present a compelling argument for a psychological approach to the prevention of prison suicide, drawing upon a cognitive behavioural perspective, with chapters investigating two novel psychological therapies: Cognitive Behavioural Suicide Prevention and Problem Solving Training. The methodology behind each study is presented alongside preliminary findings emerging from the evaluations, and detailed case studies are included as exemplars of the process and content of the therapies, as well as the individual and contextual challenges to be overcome. The book provides timely research into the development of a better understanding of why prisoners engage in suicide behaviour, and the preventive interventions showing the most promise for future investigation.The Prevention of Suicide in Prison will be critical reading for clinical and forensic psychologists, psychological therapists, psychiatrists and other mental health staff working within a prison context, as well as postgraduates in training and researchers studying suicide in forensic settings.

Narratives of Art Practice and Mental Wellbeing draws on extensive research carried out with mental health service users who are also practicing artists. Using narrative data gained through hours of reflective conversation, it explores not whether art can contribute to positive wellbeing and improved mental health - as this is now established ground - but rather how art works, and the role art making can play in people’s lives as they encounter crises, relapse, recovery or ‘beyonding’. The book maps the delicate ways in which finding a means to tell our story sometimes is the creative project we seek, and offers a reminder of how intrinsically linked our life trajectories are with creative opportunities. It describes the wide range of artistic activity occurring in health and community settings and the meanings of these practices to people with histories of mental turbulence. Drawing on psychoanalytic theory, the book explore the stories and various forms of visual arts practices spoken of, and considers the art making processes, the creative moments and the objects which in some cases have changed people’s lives. The seven chapters of the book offer a blend of personal testimony, theory, debate, critique and celebration, and examine key topics of deliberation within the fields of art therapy, arts in health, community arts practice, participatory arts, and widening participation within arts education. It will be valuable reading for researchers, students, artists and practitioners in these fields.

For several decades there has been an increasing move towards viewing the psychotic illnesses from a dimensional perspective, seeing them as continuous with healthy functioning. The idea, concentrating mostly on schizophrenia, has generated considerable theoretical debate as well as empirical research, conducted under the rubric of 'schizotypy'. This book offers a timely discussion of the most significant themes and developments in this research area.Divided into four key sections which represent current concerns in schizotypy research – Measurement, Brain and Biology; Development and Environment; Consequences and Outcomes; and Future Directions – chapters reflect a broad range of approaches and discuss varied theoretical perspectives on schizotypy. Topics include: cognitive and perceptual biases psychometric assessments creativity and schizotypy genetic associations. developmental perspectives Schizotypy: New dimensions will appeal to academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the area of psychotic illnesses, as well as professionals including psychiatrists and clinical psychologists who are concerned with the basis of serious mental disorder. The book will inform readers who are new to the topic and will update and expand the knowledge base of those more experienced in the field.

Suicide is considered to be the leading cause of preventable death in prisons. While there is increasingly expansive literature examining the various risk factors associated with a likelihood of eventual prison suicide, so far this has struggled to lead to successful prevention programmes. An alternative approach is needed that seeks to understand, at the individual level, what leads a prisoner to contemplate ending their own life. This book describes how the authors developed and delivered evidence-based psychological interventions for suicide prevention in prison.The authors present a compelling argument for a psychological approach to the prevention of prison suicide, drawing upon a cognitive behavioural perspective, with chapters investigating two novel psychological therapies: Cognitive Behavioural Suicide Prevention and Problem Solving Training. The methodology behind each study is presented alongside preliminary findings emerging from the evaluations, and detailed case studies are included as exemplars of the process and content of the therapies, as well as the individual and contextual challenges to be overcome. The book provides timely research into the development of a better understanding of why prisoners engage in suicide behaviour, and the preventive interventions showing the most promise for future investigation.The Prevention of Suicide in Prison will be critical reading for clinical and forensic psychologists, psychological therapists, psychiatrists and other mental health staff working within a prison context, as well as postgraduates in training and researchers studying suicide in forensic settings.

Neurolinguistic Programming in Clinical Settings provides a theoretical framework for the clinical applications of Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) protocols in mental health. It offers evidence-based models for a range of conditions; including PTSD, anxiety and depression, grief, phobias, and binge-eating. Providing a follow up to the 2014 book The Clinical Effectiveness of Neurolinguistic Programming, this book updates the existing research evidence for NLP interventions with mental health clinical conditions. It includes further evidence for its use with somatoform disorders, anxiety and depression, and as a general psychotherapy modality. The book outlines up-to-date evidence from clinical trials that demonstrate the success rate of NLP with PTSD populations and discusses how ongoing randomised clinical trials at Kings College London are demonstrating the clinical effectiveness of NLP protocols and are becoming more widely accepted by mainstream mental health care. Written by a team of internationally academically informed clinicians and researchers, the book will be key reading for academics, researchers, and post-graduate students in the field of mental health research, psychotherapy, and counselling. It will also be of interest to clinicians and mental health professionals interested in NLP as a therapeutic modality.

Neurolinguistic Programming in Clinical Settings provides a theoretical framework for the clinical applications of Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) protocols in mental health. It offers evidence-based models for a range of conditions; including PTSD, anxiety and depression, grief, phobias, and binge-eating. Providing a follow up to the 2014 book The Clinical Effectiveness of Neurolinguistic Programming, this book updates the existing research evidence for NLP interventions with mental health clinical conditions. It includes further evidence for its use with somatoform disorders, anxiety and depression, and as a general psychotherapy modality. The book outlines up-to-date evidence from clinical trials that demonstrate the success rate of NLP with PTSD populations and discusses how ongoing randomised clinical trials at Kings College London are demonstrating the clinical effectiveness of NLP protocols and are becoming more widely accepted by mainstream mental health care. Written by a team of internationally academically informed clinicians and researchers, the book will be key reading for academics, researchers, and post-graduate students in the field of mental health research, psychotherapy, and counselling. It will also be of interest to clinicians and mental health professionals interested in NLP as a therapeutic modality.

Body Image in Eating Disorders explores issues relating to the prevention, clinical diagnosis, and psychological treatment of distortions of body image in eating disorders. It presents a multifactorial model of indicators for diagnosis and treatment, considering psychological, sociocultural, and family indicators.Based on original empirical research with women and girls suffering from eating disorders, the book draws attention to limitations and dilemmas related to psychological diagnosis and treatment of people with eating disorders including anorexia readiness syndrome, bulimia, and bigorexia. The book proposes an integrative psychodynamic approach to the diagnosis and treatment of body image disorders and presents case studies illustrating examples of application of integration of psychodynamic therapy and psychodrama in psychological treatment of young people suffering from eating disorders. It considers risk factors including abnormal body image for the development of eating disorders and argues that psychological diagnosis of the body image is an important factor in determining the right direction of psychological treatment for people with eating disorders.Drawing on theoretical foundations and evidence-based clinical practice, the book will be of great interest to researchers, academics, and students in the fields of clinical and applied psychology, mental health, and specialists in eating disorders.The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Body Image in Eating Disorders explores issues relating to the prevention, clinical diagnosis, and psychological treatment of distortions of body image in eating disorders. It presents a multifactorial model of indicators for diagnosis and treatment, considering psychological, sociocultural, and family indicators.Based on original empirical research with women and girls suffering from eating disorders, the book draws attention to limitations and dilemmas related to psychological diagnosis and treatment of people with eating disorders including anorexia readiness syndrome, bulimia, and bigorexia. The book proposes an integrative psychodynamic approach to the diagnosis and treatment of body image disorders and presents case studies illustrating examples of application of integration of psychodynamic therapy and psychodrama in psychological treatment of young people suffering from eating disorders. It considers risk factors including abnormal body image for the development of eating disorders and argues that psychological diagnosis of the body image is an important factor in determining the right direction of psychological treatment for people with eating disorders.Drawing on theoretical foundations and evidence-based clinical practice, the book will be of great interest to researchers, academics, and students in the fields of clinical and applied psychology, mental health, and specialists in eating disorders.The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

This book brings together cutting-edge expertise from psychoanalysis, psychiatry, neuroscience and social science to shed light on the dark side of chronic depression.Considering different forms of depression on a continuum, the book develops new diagnostical considerations on depression. It includes detailed case studies from clinical psychoanalytical practice, conceptual considerations and historical analyses to current empirical and neurobiological studies on depression. The book is unique in bridging a gap between Anglo-Saxon/German psychoanalysis and French traditions in relation to clinical treatment techniques and conceptualizations of depression and trauma. Chapters present new research on the social, biographical, genetic and neurobiological determinants of severe depressive disorder and explore how these can be differentiated and expanded in the face of new cultural realities as well of new findings particularly in modern neurosciences.The book explores new understanding and discussion of treatment options for depression and will be essential reading for researchers and students in the field of depression and mental health research. It will also enrich the conceptual and clinical knowledge of psychoanalysts and psychotherapy researchers and students.

This book brings together cutting-edge expertise from psychoanalysis, psychiatry, neuroscience and social science to shed light on the dark side of chronic depression.Considering different forms of depression on a continuum, the book develops new diagnostical considerations on depression. It includes detailed case studies from clinical psychoanalytical practice, conceptual considerations and historical analyses to current empirical and neurobiological studies on depression. The book is unique in bridging a gap between Anglo-Saxon/German psychoanalysis and French traditions in relation to clinical treatment techniques and conceptualizations of depression and trauma. Chapters present new research on the social, biographical, genetic and neurobiological determinants of severe depressive disorder and explore how these can be differentiated and expanded in the face of new cultural realities as well of new findings particularly in modern neurosciences.The book explores new understanding and discussion of treatment options for depression and will be essential reading for researchers and students in the field of depression and mental health research. It will also enrich the conceptual and clinical knowledge of psychoanalysts and psychotherapy researchers and students.

Narratives of Recovery from Mental Illness presents research that challenges the prevailing view that recovery from ‘mental illness’ must take place within the boundaries of traditional mental health services. While Watts and Higgins accept that medical treatment may be a vital start to some people’s recovery, they argue that mental health problems can also be resolved through everyday social interactions, and through peer and community support.Using a narrative approach, this book presents detailed recovery stories of 26 people who received various diagnoses of ‘mental illness’ and were involved in a mutual help group known as ‘GROW’. Drawing on an in-depth analysis of each story, chapters offer new understandings of the journey into mental distress and a progressive entrapment through a combination of events, feelings, thoughts and relationships. The book also discusses the process of ongoing personal liberation and healing which assists recovery, and suggests that friendship, social involvement, compassion, and nurturing processes of change all play key factors in improved mental well-being.This book provides an alternative way of looking at ‘mental illness’ and demonstrates many unexplored avenues and paths to recovery that need to be considered. As such, it will be of interest to researchers, academics and postgraduate students in the fields of psychiatry, psychology, nursing, social work and occupational therapy, as well as to service providers, policymakers and peer support organisations. The narratives of recovery within the book should also be a source of hope to people struggling with ‘mental illness’ and emotional distress

This book uses film/video-based therapy to help build resilience in facing personal, communal, national, and global trauma triggers. Offering a rich and diverse range of perspectives on trauma, this volume advocates positive social change using therapeutic techniques in filmmaking as well as film/video-based therapy, in conjunction with expressive art therapies such as drama, dance, music, painting, drawing, and more. Chapter authors address issues in one’s home, community, country, and the world using integrative medicine and advocacy using film/video-based therapy and digital storytelling. The book highlights psychological trauma and how one can cope with the overwhelming triggers in today’s world. It represents an articulate and comprehensive analysis of the ways in which traumatic human experience impacts, and is modified by, film and video media. Representing a rich and diverse range of perspectives on trauma through the lens of a camera, the authors document important examples of moments in which artistic expression becomes human resilience.Demonstrating how the language of film can facilitate watching, processing, and discussing images of trauma in therapy, in the home, in the community, and in the world, this volume will be of interest to educators and mental health practitioners with an interest in advancing psychotherapy and counseling techniques.

This book is a study of infant mental health which blends knowledge and understanding from three perspectives: international research, theory, and intervention. The volume increases awareness of the significance of infant mental health, adding to the growing body of literature on influences upon lifestyles, communities, society, and attainment. The significance of mental health to development has come to the fore in recent years and research in neuroscience is used to explore, and to understand the complexities of the human brain. Each infant is exposed to unique influences before and after birth. Neuroscience, genetics, adverse childhood experiences, and personalities feature in the chapters as mitigating factors to attainment. Exemplars create a bridge between research and implementation of recommendations, and illustrate the myriad of influences and permutations that can enhance or hinder development. This book discusses internal influences from an infant’s biological make-up, alongside the circumstances and relationships within a family unit, as understanding these key aspects is integral to promotion of each infant’s life chances. The volume concludes by considering future approaches to nurturing infant mental health. Carefully designed to stimulate discussion and professional inquiry, this volume is an invaluable resource for researchers, academics, and scholars with an interest in infant mental health.

This book is a study of infant mental health which blends knowledge and understanding from three perspectives: international research, theory, and intervention. The volume increases awareness of the significance of infant mental health, adding to the growing body of literature on influences upon lifestyles, communities, society, and attainment. The significance of mental health to development has come to the fore in recent years and research in neuroscience is used to explore, and to understand the complexities of the human brain. Each infant is exposed to unique influences before and after birth. Neuroscience, genetics, adverse childhood experiences, and personalities feature in the chapters as mitigating factors to attainment. Exemplars create a bridge between research and implementation of recommendations, and illustrate the myriad of influences and permutations that can enhance or hinder development. This book discusses internal influences from an infant’s biological make-up, alongside the circumstances and relationships within a family unit, as understanding these key aspects is integral to promotion of each infant’s life chances. The volume concludes by considering future approaches to nurturing infant mental health. Carefully designed to stimulate discussion and professional inquiry, this volume is an invaluable resource for researchers, academics, and scholars with an interest in infant mental health.

This book examines the transformative potential of film and video as tools for fostering posttraumatic growth and emotional healing. It features a foreword by Albert “Skip” Rizzo, PhD, a pioneering VR psychologist and global authority on trauma care.Building on the framework introduced in the landmark text Film/Video-Based Therapy and Trauma, this book moves survivors beyond symptom relief toward genuine growth. It demonstrates how the visual language of film can be utilized therapeutically to confront trauma, cultivate resilience, and reimagine personal identity through the dynamic interplay of collaborative story-making, human-driven AI story engines, and immersive virtual reality scenes. It further expands the scope of inquiry to explore film and video-based therapy and storytelling in expressive arts therapies, including drama, dance, music, painting, drawing, and other forms of art. With an emphasis on personal narrative and cultural sensitivity, each contribution demonstrates how visual media can serve as both a mirror and a guide, reflecting inner struggles while revealing new paths toward recovery.Grounded in interdisciplinary theory and practice-oriented insights, this book is an essential resource for mental health professionals, educators, media practitioners, and trauma researchers seeking innovative and inclusive practices. Supplementary clips, lesson plans, and interactive VR demos are available for free at filmandvideobasedtherapy.com.

This book explores the possibilities that exist for navigating out of and away from multiple levels of oppression through memoir-based research. It considers how those raised in oppressive, high-demand communities, colloquially referred to as “cults,” can emancipate themselves from controls and expectations inculcated from early childhood and examines processes surrounding the psychological reclamation of self. Exploring and metaphorically tending to an orienting psychological dynamic that the ancient Greeks related to as “the daimon” and using the perspectives of Jungian and post-Jungian depth psychology, the author investigates how subjects can reclaim agency and avoid excessive control over their thoughts, attention, and life’s intentions. They suggest that depth psychologically oriented modes can be used to this attunement and explore this notion through a study of memoirs of individuals who were raised in “cults.” Suggesting a more aligned approach to working with varying levels of psychological constraint and utilizing a phenomenological hermeneutic study, it will appeal to scholars and professionals in depth psychology and other psychological orientations, as well as individuals who are interested in more deeply understanding the psychological mechanisms involved in leaving a high-demand group or other oppressive situations.

This book explores the possibilities that exist for navigating out of and away from multiple levels of oppression through memoir-based research. It considers how those raised in oppressive, high-demand communities, colloquially referred to as “cults,” can emancipate themselves from controls and expectations inculcated from early childhood and examines processes surrounding the psychological reclamation of self. Exploring and metaphorically tending to an orienting psychological dynamic that the ancient Greeks related to as “the daimon” and using the perspectives of Jungian and post-Jungian depth psychology, the author investigates how subjects can reclaim agency and avoid excessive control over their thoughts, attention, and life’s intentions. They suggest that depth psychologically oriented modes can be used to this attunement and explore this notion through a study of memoirs of individuals who were raised in “cults.” Suggesting a more aligned approach to working with varying levels of psychological constraint and utilizing a phenomenological hermeneutic study, it will appeal to scholars and professionals in depth psychology and other psychological orientations, as well as individuals who are interested in more deeply understanding the psychological mechanisms involved in leaving a high-demand group or other oppressive situations.

This book delves into the critical question of how counseling can help individuals navigate and resolve these struggles. It prioritizes the true experts in this domain—the strugglers themselves—and provides an in-depth examination of their experiences.Using the rich, methodological approach of hermeneutic phenomenology, the author collaborates with participants to explore their lived experiences of the therapeutic relationship and the therapist’s way-of-being. By incorporating a common factors lens, the book offers insights into how therapists can engage with clients in a way that fosters an alliance capable of addressing religious and spiritual (r/s) struggles and promoting growth. The book provides readers with a deep understanding of the r/s struggle resolution process, identifies how these findings advance the field, and encourages practitioners to adopt the common factors meta-model to work competently in this area. It also examines how counseling can help individuals resolve r/s struggles, identifying how and when faith-related questions emerge due to the failure of religious coping strategies. It introduces to the religious coping literature the pathway toward decline, delineates the process of how participants experience disconnection from God, self, and others, and puts forward three movements of the resolving process.Offering a new attempt to dissect this complex issue through the lens of common factors research, it will appeal to researchers, counselor educators, and post-graduate students with interests in religion and spirituality. This book is a significant contribution to the discourse on spiritual struggle and the role of counseling in addressing it.

With a focus on the progression and dismantlement of the Asylum system, this book examines key issues around the policy and practice of in-patient mental health provision in the UK, making comparisons with similar services in other parts of the world.Part narrative history and critical analysis, part autoethnography, this unique volume critiques the ethics of early policy decisions which led to the closure of the old Victorian asylums and the advent of care in the community, identifying continuing issues of institutionalisation, containment, and segregation. Drawing parallels with the continuing dilemmas of ‘inclusion’ in other areas of public policy and provision, chapters discuss controversial issues such as the response to the Covid pandemic, the influence of ‘anti-psychiatry’, and the continuing use of electro convulsive therapy. Ultimately, the book makes a vital theoretical and practical contribution to the continuing debate around in-patient mental health care in the 21st century.The book will be of interest to academics, researchers and policy makers in the fields of healthcare policy and history of mental health provision more broadly. Psychiatrists interested in the history of the asylum system in the UK, as well as present day mental health professionals will also find the book of use.

With a focus on the progression and dismantlement of the Asylum system, this book examines key issues around the policy and practice of in-patient mental health provision in the UK, making comparisons with similar services in other parts of the world.Part narrative history and critical analysis, part autoethnography, this unique volume critiques the ethics of early policy decisions which led to the closure of the old Victorian asylums and the advent of care in the community, identifying continuing issues of institutionalisation, containment, and segregation. Drawing parallels with the continuing dilemmas of ‘inclusion’ in other areas of public policy and provision, chapters discuss controversial issues such as the response to the Covid pandemic, the influence of ‘anti-psychiatry’, and the continuing use of electro convulsive therapy. Ultimately, the book makes a vital theoretical and practical contribution to the continuing debate around in-patient mental health care in the 21st century.The book will be of interest to academics, researchers and policy makers in the fields of healthcare policy and history of mental health provision more broadly. Psychiatrists interested in the history of the asylum system in the UK, as well as present day mental health professionals will also find the book of use.

This book puts forth a “decolonial option” to C. G. Jung’s work as part of a new overview of his thoughts and writings.Challenging traditional Eurocentric views of the psyche, it presents a novel interpretation of Jung’s theories through the concept of archetypal intersubjectivity, Indigenous mythology, and dream analysis based on diatopic hermeneutics. Using myths, and specifically an archetypal story from the Huni Kuin (also known as Kaxinawa) people, it examines how mythic narratives are conceived from an emotionally charged experience and further conceptualizes these narratives as an important psychic archive to help people make sense of raw emotions.A fresh and lively exploration of C. G. Jung’s work, this book will appeal to scholars and students with interests in Indigenous mythologies, Jungian studies, dream analysis, decolonial studies, and depth psychology.

This book explores the effectiveness of art therapy as treatment for cumulative trauma survivors.Bringing together case studies, research, and the author’s clinical and personal experience, it outlines different clinical approaches as well as numerous art therapy interventions that are processed through somatic, metaverbal, and narrative means. It further aims to answer the question of “how art therapy works,” by pairing aspects of Lusebrink’s Expressive Therapies Continuum with Perry’s four functional domains (from the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics) to demonstrate how these practices may increase relational capacity and the patient’s access to higher level functioning, in turn, decreasing trauma responses.Foregrounding a person-centered and multi-dimensional approach to trauma repair and creative interventions, this book will appeal to postgraduate students in art therapy and counselling, as well as professionals and researchers in somatic work and trauma specialties.

This book explores the effectiveness of art therapy as treatment for cumulative trauma survivors.Bringing together case studies, research, and the author’s clinical and personal experience, it outlines different clinical approaches as well as numerous art therapy interventions that are processed through somatic, metaverbal, and narrative means. It further aims to answer the question of “how art therapy works,” by pairing aspects of Lusebrink’s Expressive Therapies Continuum with Perry’s four functional domains (from the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics) to demonstrate how these practices may increase relational capacity and the patient’s access to higher level functioning, in turn, decreasing trauma responses.Foregrounding a person-centered and multi-dimensional approach to trauma repair and creative interventions, this book will appeal to postgraduate students in art therapy and counselling, as well as professionals and researchers in somatic work and trauma specialties.

This volume critiques and challenges the use and promotion of the disease model in psychiatry, arguing that its misconceived approach prevents the preferred disablement model from becoming the default method to understand mental health conditions, including schizophrenia. Featuring first-hand experiences as well as qualitative and quantitative findings, the book posits that mental illnesses are an expression of disablement, not disease, and that the alternative disablement approach (already being applied in the psychiatry of neurodevelopmental disorders but applicable to mental illness, too) allows for greater dignity and autonomy for the patient, collaboration between medical professionals, a replacement of categorical approaches with more appropriate dimensional ones, and a liberation from the restrictive idea of a ‘cure’. The initial chapters of the book summarize the now overwhelming evidence that the disease model is flawed, as is the simplistic materialism that psychiatry has built around the concept of the brain as a kind of standalone biological computer. The later chapters consider the currently existent alternatives to the disease model and put forward the evidence for a psychiatry based on the person, as described by the philosopher Heidegger among others.This volume will appeal to researchers, scholars, and postgraduate students in clinical psychiatry, mental health research, and psychotherapy. Psychologists and clinicians active in research or teaching in mental health will also benefit from this volume.

This book examines personal and professional understandings of religion in psychotherapy and advocates for integrity, competency, and cultural pluralism in clinical practice.A major feature of this book is that it confirms the massive proliferation of religion-oriented approaches to counseling and therapy in recent years. It attributes this rise to opportunism and exaggerated individualism among therapists and to the frequent failures of professional associations, clinical preparation programs, and other influences. In response to these influences, it identifies the need for guiding principles for integrating religion into therapy, discusses the religious issues that clients bring to therapy, and advocates for major changes in clinical practice, with emphasis on integrity and competence. Building on a large volume of research and using evidence-based conclusions, it clarifies how these two major features of contemporary life can be integrated with integrity and competence. The author maintains that religion should be a feature of the practice of counseling and therapy, so long as it addresses the clinically relevant needs of clients. However, it also explores how the religion of counselors and therapists often expresses the needs of counselors and therapists, instead of addressing the needs of their clients.In the context of these questions and discussion of contentious challenges, this book provides guidelines for relating religion with clinical practice and recommends needed actions by clinical preparation programs, professional associations, individual therapists, state legislatures, licensing boards, social service agencies, and corporations. All of this stands on the conspicuous need for professional accountability in the delivery of mental health care.