A concise, accessible introduction to anxiety covering everything from its causes to its symptoms, available treatment options, and prevention. While anxiety is commonly associated with modern stresses and problems, few realize that disorders of this kind have existed since the beginning of time. What defines "anxiety" as a mental health condition? Who gets it and why? This book looks at this highly treatable condition that is responsible for many lost days of school and work and contributes to rising health care costs. Mental health practitioner Rudy Nydegger addresses the full spectrum of anxiety conditions, examining how they are treated and considering the advantages and disadvantages of each therapy method. From myths and misconceptions to the various scientific theories surrounding anxiety, the author dissects the various disorders stemming from this psychological issue, including obsessive-compulsive behaviors, post-traumatic stress, and phobias; examines the physical responses of our organs to stress—from our skin, to our heart, and to our immune system; and analyzes the epidemiology of those affected. The work concludes with tips for dealing with and preventing anxiety disorders.

The role that placebos play in many treatments is clear: they not only play a complimentary role in various treatment options but they can sometimes be the only beneficial option for treatment. Brain imaging studies over the past decade have shown that placebo-treated patients undergo some of the same changes in brain activity as those treated with pharmacologically active substances. Yet this important component of healing is not yet harnessed in clinical settings. The Placebo Effect in Clinical Practice brings together what we know about the mechanisms behind the placebo response, as well as the procedures that promote these responses, in order to provide a focused and concise overview on how current knowledge can be applied in treatment settings. An introductory chapter documents the ubiquity and extent of the placebo response and discusses the history of the placebo response in relation to medical treatment. Several subsequent chapters focus on how placebos work and how the placebo effect can be enhanced. Expectation, conditioning and elements of the treatment situation are covered in separate chapters. The relationship between psychotherapy and placebo treatment is covered as is the ethics of deliberate use of the placebo effect. Because placebo effects are particularly prominent in some psychiatric conditions, particular attention is given to the role of the placebo response in psychiatric treatment. The final chapter summarizes what we currently know and offers concrete suggestions for how what we know of the placebo effect can be used to enhance the benefit of all treatments.

Bipolar disorders affect up to 3% of the world's population and are the 6th leading cause of disability worldwide. The estimated annual costs of bipolar disorder approach $50 billion in the United States, and the associated societal and personal suffering is immeasurable. Bipolar disorder is a lifelong illness that typically begins in mid-adolescence, thereby disrupting healthy developmental processes. It is also a progressive illness, making early intervention even more critical. As the disorder presents differently in youth as it does in adults, considerable controversy exists around the diagnosis in young people. The neurobiological factors leading to the onset of bipolar disorder reflect abnormalities in adolescent brain development. Bipolar disorder is strongly heritable and therefore, these developmental abnormalities likely represent the culmination of processes that precede the expression of symptoms. Current studies of children who are at risk for bipolar disorder are identifying these processes. Again, controversy exists about how to move these neuroscience gains forward to help affected individuals and, particularly to manage children at risk to delay or prevent the onset or progression of bipolar disorder. With these considerations in mind, Bipolar Disorder in Youth provides a timely, focused review of the diagnosis, treatment, and neurobiology of bipolar disorder in youth. It addresses current controversies and resolves those in which evidence is available. The book is organized into three sections based on these topics to provide comprehensive discussions to aid clinicians managing these individuals in their practices, as well as scientists trying to advance the field. The three editors are widely recognized experts in bipolar disorder, and the authors of each chapter represent international experts in the respective topics. Consequently, this book is the most comprehensive volume available discussing this important population and is a 'must' for the libraries of clinicians and scientists working with bipolar children and adolescents.

This volume collects case studies on the lives of people living in post-apartheid Johannesburg, South Africa. In doing so, it considers how people manage, respond to, narrate and/or silence their experiences of past and present violence, multiple insecurities and precarity in contexts where these experiences take on an everyday continuous character. Taking seriously how context shapes the meaning of violence, the forms of response, and the consequences thereof, the contributing chapter authors use participatory and ethnographic techniques to understand people's everyday responses to the violence and insecurity they face in contemporary Johannesburg. Each case study documents an example of a strategy of coping and healing and reflects on how this strategy shapes the theory and practice of violence prevention and response. The case studies cover a diversity of groups of people in Johannesburg including migrants, refugees, homeless people, sex workers and former soldiers from across the African continent. Read together, the case studies give us new insights into what it means for these residents to seek support, to cope and to heal challenging the boundaries of what psychologists traditionally consider support mechanisms or interventions for those in distress. They develop a notion of healing that sees it as a process and an outcome that is rooted in the world-view of those who live in the city. Alongside the people's sense of insecurity is an equally strong sense of optimism, care and a striving for change. It is perhaps not surprising, then, that this book deals very centrally with themes of the struggle for progress, mobility (geographic, material and spiritual), and a sense of possibility and change associated with Johannesburg. Ultimately, the volume argues that coping and healing is both a collective and individual achievement as well as an economic, psychological and material phenomenon. Overall this volume challenges the notion that people can and should seek support primarily from professional, medicalized psychological services and rather demonstrates how the particular support needed is shaped by an understanding of the cause of precarity.

An in-depth look at prevalent anxiety disorders in adolescents, this book is designed for parents of teens who have recently been diagnosed with or who are at risk for developing such a disorder. It is also for other adults, such as teachers and guidance counsellors, who are regularly in contact with at-risk adolescents. The book combines scientific expertise - including information about available treatments and up-to-date research findings on anxiety disorders-with the practical wisdom of parents who have raised teenagers with these illnesses. In clear and accessible language, Dr Edna B. Foa and Linda Wasmer Andrews explain in detail each of the four major anxiety disorders (social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder). The book includes tips on how to go about getting a diagnosis, what a diagnosis means, when and where to get treatment, and how to navigate the health care system. There is also advice on how to handle everyday life - both at home and at school - once the teen is diagnosed. Pointers on red flags to look out for and about the dangers of doing nothing are included as well to help parents and other adults deal effectively with adolescent anxiety disorders before they become debilitating.

Some of our most disturbing images of Hurricane Katrina involve the very old, trapped in flooded nursing homes, and the very young, sick in toxic trailers. Using the Katrina-Rita nexus as its reference point, Lifespan Perspectives on Natural Disasters takes the developmental long view on human strengths and vulnerabilities during large-scale devastation and crisis. An expert panel of behavioral scientists and first responders analyzes the psychological impact of natural disasters on-and coping faculties associated with-children, adolescents, and young, middle-aged, older, young-old and late-life oldest-old adults. This timely information is invaluable both to mental health service providers and to those tasked with developing age-appropriate disaster preparedness, intervention, and recovery programs. In addition, the book references other deadly storms as well as other major catastrophic events (e.g., the September 11 attacks, the Indian Ocean Tsunami), and includes such topics as:

• Young children's understanding of hurricanes.
• Positive adjustment in youth after Katrina.
• How families make meaning out of disaster.
• Disaster recovery in the workplace.
• Recovery services for the frail elderly.
• Coping and health in late life.
• Preparation and training mental health personnel for disasters.

Unique in the disaster literature, Lifespan Perspectives on Natural Disasters serves as a research reference and idea book for professionals and graduate-level students in psychology, social work, and disaster preparedness and services.

Over 4 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's disease, which is an organic disorder that is progressive, debilitating, and irreversible. The economic cost of treating and providing care for those with Alzheimer's is over $40 billion a year. The emotional cost to the sufferers and their families is beyond estimation. Yet Alzheimer's is often misdiagnosed, mistreated, and mismanaged. The purpose of this book is to help physicians, health care administrators, graduate students and researchers better understand diagnostic procedures, treatment and management factors related to Alzheimer's disease and other dementias in the elderly.

The field of positive psychology has blossomed over the past several years. A positive psychology course has become the most popular elective at Harvard, and leaders in many fields regularly draw upon concepts and strategies from the field's growing body of research. Because positive psychology provides a framework for enhancing individual, group, and institutional well-being, it is particularly relevant for college campuses, which are ripe for such strength-based interventions. Positive Psychology on the College Campus provides innovative strategies that can be employed with students to enhance both their personal development and educational experiences. The book also provides an overview of the state of college students' mental health and relevant developmental issues. Individual chapters, all written by experts in their fields, describe practical strategies for readers to use with students. Additionally, the authors explain how positive psychology can be applied in general to the college experience. With its wide-ranging topics and distinguished contributors, Positive Psychology on the College Campus is a must-have resource for all those who work with college students, including faculty, academic advisors, administrators, residence-life staff, counselors, and student-activities staff.

This textbook is a graduate-level introduction to the field of clinical psychology. While most textbooks focus on either assessment, treatment, or research, this book covers all three together specifically for the introductory level graduate course. Chapter coverage is diverse and contributors come from both PhD and PsyD programs and a variety of theoretical orientations. Chapter topics cover the major activities of the contemporary clinical psychologist with an introduction focusing on training models.
The book has a mentoring style designed to highlight the relevance of the topics discussed to clinicians in training. Assessment and treatment chapters focus on evidence-based practice, comparing and contrasting different options, the basis for clinical choice between them, and efficacy of same.
It will also introduce business and ethical aspects of the clinical career that current introductory books do not include, such ethics in assesstment, treatment and research; third party payors; technological developments; dissemination of research findings; cross-cultural issues; and the future of the profession.
* Includes assessment, treatment, and practice issues
* Compares and contrasts different therapeutic styles
* Exemplifies practical application through case studies
* Focuses on evidence-based practice
* Orients future clinicians to contemporary issues facing psychological practices

The exponential growth of clinical psychology since the late 1960s can be measured in part by the extensive-perhaps exhaustive-literature on the subject. This proliferation of writing has continued into the new century, and the field has come to be defined as much by its many topics as its many voices.
The Oxford Handbook of Clinical Psychology synthesizes these decades of literature in one extraordinary volume. Comprising chapters from the foremost scholars in clinical psychology, the handbook provides even and authoritative coverage of the research, practice, and policy factors that combine to form today's clinical psychology landscape.
In addition to core sections on topics such as training, assessment, diagnosis, and intervention, the handbook includes valuable chapters devoted to new and emerging issues in the clinical field, including heath care reforms, cultural factors, and technological innovations and challenges. Each chapter offers a review of the most pertinent literature, outlining current issues and identifying possibilities for future research.
Featuring two chapters by Editor David H. Barlow -- one on changes during his own 40-year odyssey in the field, the other projecting ten themes for the future of clinical psychology -- The Oxford Handbook of Clinical Psychology is a landmark publication that is sure to serve as the field's benchmark reference publication for years to come. It is an essential resource for students, clinicians, and researchers across the ever-growing clinical psychology community.

Over the last two decades, Eastern psychology has provided fertile ground for therapists, as a cornerstone, a component, or an adjunct of their work. In particular, research studies are identifying the Buddhist practice of mindfulness-a non-judgmental self-observation that promotes personal awareness-as a basis for effective interventions for a variety of disorders. The Clinical Handbook of Mindfulness is a clearly written, theory-to-practice guide to this powerful therapeutic approach (and related concepts in meditation, acceptance, and compassion) and its potential for treating a range of frequently encountered psychological problems. Key features of the Handbook: A neurobiological review of how mindfulness works. Strategies for engaging patients in practicing mindfulness. Tools and techniques for assessing mindfulness. Interventions for high-profile conditions, including depression, anxiety, trauma Special chapters on using mindfulness in oncology and chronic pain. Interventions specific to children and elders, Unique applications to inpatient settings. Issues in professional training. Appendix of exercises. The Clinical Handbook of Mindfulness includes the contributions of some of the most important authors and researchers in the field of mindfulness-based interventions. It will have wide appeal among clinicians, researchers, and scholars in mental health, and its potential for application makes it an excellent reference for students and trainees.

The book began as a long letter to the author's four grandchildren in order to give them some understanding of their background but this soon developed into a full autobiography. Author recounts family predicament, tensions and fear of arrest after Hitler's invasion of Austria; leaving Austria with seconds to spare on the very last train to leae for the Channel Ports and arrival in UK as immigrants followed by 5 years of family separation in England and Isle of Man. It describes near instant annihilation from a V2 Rocket; a brief account of the history of Europe after 1st and 2nd World Wars provides insight into basic reason for European Union and disgust with the apparent ignorance of those UK politicians who led the charge to Brexit. It recounts the trauma of the death of his Father soon after family reunion; his experience of Boarding School; and recounts an alpine expedition with his mother and brother and 2nd near instant annihilation. There followed University and subsequent training as a Clinical Psychologist, then grappling with 200 years of psychiatry's miss-direction and its consequences within an out-dated institutional direction, somewhat reminiscent of 'One flew over the Cuckoos Nest' and his bitter-sweat results of 9 years of development of his department into the largest or equal largest psychology department within the NHS and the consequent jealousies and battles. Overall a highly successful career as Clinical Psychology, with part time appointment to initial Mental Health Act Commission- and experiencing the interesting politics of the Commission. Pension and Retirement from NHS in 1995 was followed by appointments within 2 GP practices and the additional creation of a new career as an Expert Witness to Criminal, Civic and Family Courts leading to appointment as representative of British Psychological Society to the High Court's Family Division Sub-Committee re. Expert Witnesses; leading to Family Court funding of research into quality of psychologists reports to three representative Family Courts and consequent bitter confrontation with a few offended psychologists upset at its highly critical findings. Also recounted is some very critical comments on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Units and the failure of some, but by no means all, Clinical Psychologists in their understanding of the background of child and adolescent problems.

Here, leading international scholars present novel dialogues between different psychoanalytic orientations as well as between the particularities of diverse socio-cultural and historical contexts in order to offer critical insights which are highly relevant to the current intellectual debates and social praxis.

Recent advances in the diagnosis and treatment of obsessive- compulsive disorder have come from breakthroughs in neurobiologic and cognitive-behavioral studies. Essential Papers on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder represents the most significant thinkers and the various strands of thought on obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Divided into three sections focusing on classical psychoanalysis, psychological research, and neuro-psychiatric approaches, this definitive volume includes contributions bythe most experienced and renowned experts on the subject. Contributors include Sigmund Freud; Karl Abraham; Ernest Jones; Anna Freud; Paul E. Sifneos; Leonard Salzman; Joseph Sandler and Anandi Hazari; Lewis L. Judd; Heinz Hartmann; Stanley Rachman, Ray Hodgson and Isaac M. Marks; Paul M. Salkovskis; Paul Schilder; Steven P. Wise and Judith L. Rapoport; Joseph Zohar and Thomas R. Insel; Michael A. Jenike; Susan E. Swedo, Henrietta Leonard; Lewis R. Baxter, Jeffrey M. Schwartz, Kenneth S. Bergman; Dan Stein and Eric Hollander.

This handbook describes evidence-based methods of assessing psychological, educational, behavioral, and developmental problems in children and adolescents. It provides state-of-the-art analyses of leading assessment tools and methods. Chapters provide an overview of childhood assessment issues, diagnostic classification systems, interviewing and report writing, traditional assessment tools and methods, such as Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). In addition, chapters address daily living, academic, and social skills, commonly encountered psychological conditions, and developmental disorders, reviewing definitions and etiology, history of assessment and diagnosis, possible comorbid conditions, and current measures and procedures. The handbook also covers specific childhood disorders that often present assessment challenges in children, such as posttraumatic stress disorder, mood disorders, pain, and feeding and eating disorders. Topics featured in this handbook include: Adaptive and developmental behavior scales. Diagnostic classification systems and how to apply them to childhood problems and disorders. Intelligence testing and its use in childhood psychological assessment. Assessment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in persons with developmental disabilities. Self-Injurious behavior in children. Prevalence and assessment of common sleep problems in children. The Handbook of Childhood Psychopathology and Developmental Disabilities Assessment is an essential resource for researchers, graduate students, clinicians, and related therapists and professionals in clinical child and school psychology, pediatrics, social work, developmental psychology, behavioral therapy/rehabilitation, child and adolescent psychiatry, and special education.

As domestic violence continues to be a focus of social and psychological concern, two basic contradictory viewpoints endure: one rooted in male power dynamics, the other maintaining that both genders use and are victimized by violence. Although both sides have their merits, neither has adequately answered the crucial question: What causes conflict to escalate into violence?

"Partner Violence: A New Paradigm for Understanding Conflict Escalation"adds a third, escalation-focused paradigm to the debate, addressing the limitations of the two dominant perspectives in a comprehensive scholarly approach. This concise yet comprehensive volume examines key gender- and non-gender-related violence issues and sets out a compelling behavioral argument that using violence to control others is a rational choice. Its theoretical and empirical foundations support an in-depth study of escalating aggression in violent relationships, both throughout periods of chronic conflict and in single violent episodes. This analysis promotes a broader and deeper understanding of partner violence, suitable to developing more finely targeted, effective, and lasting interventions.

Among the key topics featured are: Gender differences in aggressive tendencies. Dominance, control, and violence. Partner violence as planned behavior. The process leading to partner violence. Partner conflict dynamics throughout relationship periods and within conflicts. Gender differences in escalatory intentions.

"Partner Violence" is an important volume for researchers, graduate students, and clinicians/professionals across various disciplines, including personality and social psychology, criminology, public health, clinical psychology, sociology, and social work. "

This book provides extraordinary insight into the subtleties and diversities of contemporary clinical practice by exploring the problematic and ambiguous concept of the transference neurosis.

Oxford Handbooks offer authoritative and up-to-date reviews of original research in a particular subject area. Specially commissioned chapters from leading figures in the discipline give critical examinations of the progress and direction of debates, as well as a foundation for futureresearch. Oxford Handbooks provide scholars and graduate students with compelling new perspectives upon a wide range of subjects in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.

As one of psychology's oldest fields, personality assessment is one of the most extensively studied subsets of contemporary psychology. The Oxford Handbook of Personality Assessment synthesizes new and existing literature with clinical practice to provide a comprehensive volume on contemporary personality assessment, including its historical developments, underlying methods, applications, contemporary issues, and assessment techniques. This handbook, part of the Oxford Library of Psychology, addresses both the historical roots of personality assessment and the evolution of its contemporary methodological tenets, thus providing a foundation for the handbook's other innovative focus: the application of personality assessment in clinical, personnel, and forensic assessments.
With a wealth of respected international contributors and unequalled breadth of content, the Oxford Handbook of Personality Assessment offers an authoritative and field-encompassing resource for researchers and clinicians from across the medical health and psychology disciplines (i.e., clinical psychology, psychiatry, and social work) and would be an ideal text for any graduate course on the topic of personality assessment.

The treatment of eating disorders remains controversial, protracted, and often unsuccessful. Therapists face a number of impediments to the optimal care fo their patients, from transference to difficulties in dealing with the patient's family.

Treating Eating Disorders addresses the pressure and responsibility faced by practicing therapists in the treatment of eating disorders. Legal, ethical, and interpersonal issues involving compulsory treatment, food refusal and forced feeding, managed care, treatment facilities, terminal care, and how the gender of the therapist affects treatment figure centrally in this invaluable navigational guide.

Schizophrenia is the most widely known and feared mental illness worldwide, yet a rapidly growing literature from a broad spectrum of basic and clinical disciplines, especially epidemiology and molecular genetics, suggests that schizophrenia is the same condition as a psychotic bipolar disorder and does not exist as a separate disease. The goal is to document and interpret these data to justify eliminating the diagnosis of schizophrenia from the nomenclature. The author reviews the changing diagnostic concepts of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with a historical perspective to clarify how the current conflict over explanations for psychosis has arisen. That two disorders, schizophrenia and bipolar, known as the Kraepelinian dichotomy, account for the functional psychoses has been a cornerstone of Psychiatry for over 100 years, but is questioned because of substantial similarities and overlap between these two disorders. Literature in the field demonstrates that psychotic patients are frequently misdiagnosed as suffering from the disease called schizophrenia when they suffer from a psychotic mood disorder. Such patients, their families, and their caretakers suffer significant disadvantages from the misdiagnosis. Psychotic patients misdiagnosed with schizophrenia receive substandard care regarding their medications, thus allowing their bipolar conditions to worsen. Other adverse effects are substantial and will be included. Liability for medical malpractice is of critical importance for the mental health professionals who make the majority of the diagnoses of schizophrenia. The concept put forward in this work will have a discipline-altering impact.

One of the few books on the topic, this updated edition offers alternatives to disease models of addiction by exploring personal pathways to recovery. Focusing on alcohol and drug problems, it provides a literature review of 40 years of studies on self-change with particular emphasis on the current decade and methodological issues (starting with how much or how little treatment constitutes "treatment"). The 24 experts keep the coverage consistently readable, and dozens of brief narratives from individuals who have successfully recovered from an addictive behavior without formal help lend valuable personal perspectives.

Fantasies of Flight invigorates the field of personality psychology by challenging the contemporary academic view that individuals are best studied as carriers of traits. Daniel Ogilvie exchanges a heart-to-heart, case study approach to understanding human behavior for the current strategies of categorizing and comparing individuals according to their manifest traits. Ogilvie asks and endeavors to answer questions like "What were the psychological conditions that led Sir James Barrie to create a character named Peter Pan?" and "What were the dynamics behind the Marshall Herff Applewhite's conviction that a space ship, hiding behind the Hale-Bopp comet, would rescue him and his Heaven's Gate followers after they enacted a mass suicide pact in 1997?" Answering these questions requires him to resurrect "old" ways to think about personality and "old" strategies for studying individuals one by one. Early in the book, Ogilvie reviews the history of why intensive case studies were discredited in psychology and describes how Sigmund Freud's psychobiographical account of Leonardo da Vinci's fascination with flight inadvertently abetted critics of psychoanalytic psychology. He then performs a partial psychobiography of James Barrie and the origins of Peter Pan, followed by an investigation of Carl Jung, who fashioned the collective unconscious to serve as humankind's link to eternity. Arguing that personality psychology needs to become less insular, Ogilvie integrates information from the disciplines of developmental psychology and neuroscience into a theory regarding the latent needs that both Barrie and Jung sought to satisfy. The theory, including its emphasis on the onset of self and consciousness, is then applied to an array of well-known and obscure individuals with ascensionistic inclinations. Well written and accessible, but complex and scholarly, this volume will restore interest in the investigation of people's inner lives.

Research in children's mental health lags behind research for adults in part because it is intrinsically context-bound. Children are embedded in families, in schools, and in communities who have responsibility for their care. Making research findings useful and ensuring that they are applied to improve the lives of children and families requires attention to these contexts. This entails a process of collaboration with many partners-teachers, nurses, healthcare providers, church leaders, neighborhood group directors, and other community leaders. The process of collaboration in children's mental health is complicated but the products that it yields have the potential to benefit both children and families. This volume, with the toolkit and casebook that it contains, distills the process of collaboration into manageable steps, and provides concrete examples of how researchers have addressed specific challenges. The premise of the book is that collaborative research, in contrast to traditional research paradigms, will yield findings that are more ethical, valid, and useful. Highlighting the transformation of science from ivory-tower theories to action-oriented practices, the editors offer practical advice for researchers and practitioners interested in using data to inform and transform children's mental health. Concrete examples of projects that have involved community leaders and researchers provide an insider's guide to conducting successful collaborations that can yield better results than traditional top-down research paradigms.