Issues in the Practice of Psychology – serie

There is currently a burgeoning interest in the relationship between the Western psychotherapeutic and Buddhist meditative traditions among therapists, researchers, and spiritual seekers. Psychotherapy and Buddhism initiates a conversation between these two modern methods of achieving greater self-understanding and peace of mind. Dr. Jeffrey B. Rubin explores how they might be combined to better serve patients in therapy and adherents to a spiritual way of life. He examines the strengths and limitations of each tradition through three contexts: the nature of self, conception of ideal health, and process of achieving optimal health. The volume features the first two cases of Buddhists in psychoanalytic treatment.

For the first time in history, behavioural health providers are expected to understand and participate in activities intended to access and improve the quality of services they provide. This handbook is designed as a general resource in the field of behavioral health quality management for a very diverse group of readers, including graduate and undergraduate students, payers, purchasers and administrators within managed care organizations, public sector service system planners and managers, applied health services researchers and program evaluators. This volume provides a comprehensive context for the development of quality management (QM) in health services, behavioural health in particular, as well as an overview of tools, techniques, and programs reflecting QM in practice. It also offers perspectives on both internally and externally-based QM activities.

With the growth of the older adult population and the increasing need for healthcare providers with geriatric training, students and practitioners must become familiar with the multifaceted issues of elderly sexuality. This text features a combination of research findings, clinical case studies and specific guidelines for assessment and intervention. A variety of topics typically neglected in this population, such as body image and eating disorders, HIV, the long-term impact of sexual trauma in late life, sexuality in institutional settings, sexuality for partners of older adults with dementia and other chronic illnesses, traditional and non-traditional relationships, and information about medications that can cause sexual dysfunction are reviewed in detail. In addition, practitioners are given practical suggestions for interviewing older adults about sexual issues, working with character-disordered older adults, managing sexualized transference in the therapeutic relationship, mediating conflict between professionals on interdisciplinary teams, and assessing HIV and HIV-induced dementia.

This volume presents the work of clinical health care teams and natural work groups, quality improvement teams, committees, and task forces made up of employees in health care settings. Collaboration and interdependence in health care is necessary for health professionals to provide quality treatment and care to patients with complex, chronic problems. Working together fosters collaboration and interactive problem-solving among professionals from diverse disciplines and promotes understanding of the roles and contributions all disciplines make in delivering care and services to patients. Evaluating quality in the delivery of care and services to patients is also an important component of team performance as well as patient responses. This text discusses proven multidimensional instruments that measure team performance along with future needs for measuring team performance.

Recent findings from an American Psychological Association task force suggest that one in four therapists will experience patient suicide, and that one in eight will feel threatened by patient violence during their career. Experts from this task force have also noted that clinicians receive virtually no formal training or coursework in crisis intervention. Despite the increasing need for professional services among members of the general population, current practitioners have few texts available that provide step-by-step, detailed information about how to engage in crisis intervention, and how to integrate recent, empirical research findings into theory and practice. This volume helps bridge this critical gap by providing a theoretically advanced, yet practical guide to crisis intervention.Particular attention is given to the role of violence within our culture, patient suicide, school and workplace violence, long-term sequelae of trauma, clinical assessment and risk management, professional boundaries and burn-out, domestic violence, and the neurophysiology of trauma, as well as the needs of typically underserved patient populations including minority group members, older adults, gays and lesbians, and children. The text also features critical reviews of controversial topics, including EMDR, critical incident stress debriefing, recovered memories, dissociative identity disorder, and alternative medicine.The material will appeal to psychologists, social workers, and therapists, as well as practitioners in allied professional fields such as nursing, criminal justice, pastoral care, and education. Crisis intervention and trauma counseling: Emergent issues in theory and practice represents an essential addition to any clinician's personal library.

With the growth of the older adult population and the increasing need for healthcare providers with geriatric training, students and practitioners must become familiar with the multifaceted issues of elderly sexuality. This text features a combination of research findings, clinical case studies and specific guidelines for assessment and intervention. A variety of topics typically neglected in this population, such as body image and eating disorders, HIV, the long-term impact of sexual trauma in late life, sexuality in institutional settings, sexuality for partners of older adults with dementia and other chronic illnesses, traditional and non-traditional relationships, and information about medications that can cause sexual dysfunction are reviewed in detail. In addition, practitioners are given practical suggestions for interviewing older adults about sexual issues, working with character-disordered older adults, managing sexualized transference in the therapeutic relationship, mediating conflict between professionals on interdisciplinary teams, and assessing HIV and HIV-induced dementia.This volume will be of interest to both clinicians and students of psychology, social work, gerontology, sociology, and physical therapy.

The idea ofteamwork in health care emerged at several times during the th 20 centuryas the resultofshifts in the nature and demandsofhealth care and societal needs. Examples include medical and surgical teams serving the military in World War II, primary care teams staffing Community Health Centers created by President Johnson's War On Poverty, and geriatric care teams established to serve the rapidly growing number of aging citizens. Collaborative teamwork surfaced as a rational solution to health care needs, but political and economic consensus to support widespread implementation was lacking. The increasing complexity ofproviding health care seemed best served by the skills and efforts of interdisciplinary teams, but such care was viewed as expensive so e.valuation ofits effectiveness became essential. There were major problems in conducting such evaluation, however. First, no clear theory guided the concept and practice of teamwork. Early attempts to employ theoretical constructs explaining the behavioral and organizational phenomena of teamwork borrowed from theories of group dynamics, communication, organizational development, and general systems. Further, few reliable, validated instruments existed to evaluate team process, function, or effectiveness. The best early efforts at research and evaluation came from academic centers funded by the Office of Interdisciplinary Programs of the Bureau of Health Professions (1975-78) and from the Veterans Affairs' Interprofessional Team Training & Development Program.

Recent findings from an American Psychological Association task force suggest that one in four therapists will experience patient suicide, and that one in eight will feel threatened by patient violence during their career. Experts from this task force have also noted that clinicians receive virtually no formal training or coursework in crisis intervention. Despite the increasing need for professional services among members of the general population, current practitioners have few texts available that provide step-by-step, detailed information about how to engage in crisis intervention, and how to integrate recent, empirical research findings into theory and practice. This volume helps bridge this critical gap by providing a theoretically advanced, yet practical guide to crisis intervention.Particular attention is given to the role of violence within our culture, patient suicide, school and workplace violence, long-term sequelae of trauma, clinical assessment and risk management, professional boundaries and burn-out, domestic violence, and the neurophysiology of trauma, as well as the needs of typically underserved patient populations including minority group members, older adults, gays and lesbians, and children. The text also features critical reviews of controversial topics, including EMDR, critical incident stress debriefing, recovered memories, dissociative identity disorder, and alternative medicine.The material will appeal to psychologists, social workers, and therapists, as well as practitioners in allied professional fields such as nursing, criminal justice, pastoral care, and education. Crisis intervention and trauma counseling: Emergent issues in theory and practice represents an essential addition to any clinician's personal library.

For the first time in history, behavioral health providers are expected to understand and participate in activities intended to access and improve the quality of services they provide. This handbook is designed as a general resource in the field of behavioral health quality management for a very diverse group of readers, including graduate and undergraduate students, payors, purchasers and administrators within managed care organizations, public sector service system planners and managers, applied health services researchers and program evaluators. This volume provides a comprehensive context for the development of quality management (QM) in health services - behavioral health in particular - as well as an overview of tools, techniques, and programs reflecting QM in practice. It also offers perspectives on both internally- and externally-based QM activities.