This book examines military families' well-being and health outcomes by providing a critical theoretical perspective on their position and the risks and challenges affecting them. Authors explore the tension between demands made by two greedy institutions-the military and the family-and how the well-being of families is negotiated between the two. Uniquely, the book employs an integrative approach to observing and analyzing military-specific risk and protective factors for health outcomes of military families on various social-ecological levels, including relationship satisfaction and dissatisfaction, intimate partnership violence, parent-child relationships, child well-being, psychoactive substance abuse, depression, and PTSD. Throughout the chapters, the authors analyze research findings that reveal new health outcomes and present an empirically-tested model of military-specific risk and protective factors.

Risky Decision Making in Psychological Disorders provides readers with a detailed examination of how risky decision making is affected by a wide array of individual psychological disorders. The book starts by providing important background information on the construct of risky decision making, the assessment of risky decision making, and the neuroscience behind such decision making. The Iowa Gambling Task, Balloon Analogue Risk Task, and other behavioral measures are covered, as are topics such as test reliability and the pros and cons of utilizing tasks that have strong practice effects. The book then moves into how risky decision making is affected by specific psychological disorders, such as addictive behaviors, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia, sleep disorders, eating disorders, and more.

This book addresses the over-prescribing of antidepressants in people with mostly mild and subthreshold depression. It outlines the steep increase in antidepressant prescription and critically examines the current scientific evidence on the efficacy and safety of antidepressants in depression. The book is not only concerned with the conflicting views as to whether antidepressants are useful or ineffective in various forms of depression, but also aims at detailing how flaws in the conduct and reporting of antidepressant trials have led to an overestimation of benefits and underestimation of harms. The transformation of the diagnostic concept of depression from a rare but serious disorder to an over-inclusive, highly prevalent but predominantly mild and self-limiting disorder is central to the books argument. It maintains that biological reductionism in psychiatry and pharmaceutical marketing reframed depression as a brain disorder, corroborating the overemphasis on drug treatment in both research and practice. Finally, the author goes on to explore how pharmaceutical companies have distorted the scientific literature on the efficacy and safety of antidepressants and how patient advocacy groups, leading academics, and medical organisations with pervasive financial ties to the industry helped to promote systematically biased benefit-harm evaluations, affecting public attitudes towards antidepressants as well as medical education, training, and practice.

This book focuses on energy metabolism and brain functions related to Cortical Spreading Depression of Leao (CSD), an important issue in brain pathophysiology. The first part of the book offers a comprehensive overview of the history and early research on CSD, and then discusses the recent advances in the technology used to map and monitor brain mitochondrial NADH redox state and other physiological functions during CSD. The chapters explore the connection between CSD and mitochondrial function under hypoxia, Ischemia and various drugs treatment, and provide a resource to scientists researching the development of CSD during various brain pathophysiological conditions. This book is essential to scientists and students working in the field of bioenergetics of the brain and various organs and tissues in the body. The use of this technology is also crucial and applicable in the neuroscience field.

This book analyses the clinical interaction between depression and personality dysfunction to help clinicians better understand and treat patients with complex depression. It proposes an innovative perspective to clinical work that moves away from a disorder-centered approach to a person-centered approach by analysing complex depression through the lens of functional domains related to personality functioning and applying Research Domain Criteria to diagnosis and treatment planning. By doing so, it aims to contribute to the development of precision psychotherapy by applying the principles of precision medicine to mental health care. The book is divided in two parts. Chapters in the first part review problems in five domains of personality dysfunction that drive complex depressive presentations - identity, affect regulation, self-other regulation, social dysfunction and self-criticism - and the neurobiological findings underlying them. In the second part, authors present integrative models of depression and personality dysfunction and their implications for diagnosis and treatment. Depression and Personality Dysfunction: An Integrative Functional Domains Perspective is a scientific and clinical guide for the understanding and treatment of patients with depression complicated by personality dysfunction. It will be a useful tool for clinicians looking for resources to develop a more person-centered and evidence-based approach to mental health care.

As a major mainstay of clinical focus and research today, bipolar disorder affects millions of individuals across the globe with its extreme and erratic shifts of mood, thinking and behavior. Edited by a team of experts in the field, The Bipolar Book: History, Neurobiology, and Treatment is a testament and guide to diagnosing and treating this exceedingly complex, highly prevalent disease. Featuring 45 chapters from an expert team of contributors from around the world, The Bipolar Book delves deep into the origins of the disorder and how it informs clinical practice today by focusing on such topics as bipolar disorder occurring in special populations, stigmatization of the disease, the role genetics play, postmortem studies, psychotherapy, treatments and more. Designed to be the definitive reference volume for clinicians, students and researchers, Aysegul Yildiz, Pedro Ruiz and Charles Nemeroff present The Bipolar Book as a "must have" for those caregivers who routinely deal with this devastating disease.

Brain, Decision Making, and Mental Health acknowledges that thinking is not a constant phenomenon but varies considerably across cultures. Critical thinking is particularly important in bridging thinking divisions and its applicability across sciences, particularly medical sciences. We see critical thinking as educable and the arts as means to achieve this purpose. We address the multidimensional relationship between thinking and health and related mechanisms. Thinking mainly affects emotion regulation and executive function; in other words, both mental and physical health are related as a function of thoughts. Considering the thinking-feeling-emotion regulation/executive function pathway, it would be reasonable to propose thinking capacities-based interventions to impact emotion regulation and executive function, such as mindfulness and psychotherapy. We review decision-making taking place in integrated and social contexts and discuss the decision-making styles-decision outcomes relation. Finally, artificial thinking and intelligence prepare us for decision-making outside the human mind.

Anxiety is perhaps the defining psychological malady of our age, whereas creativity is seen as an almost unassailable good, its importance heralded and promoted in a range of disciplines and domains. A number of diverse thinkers and researchers have tried to unpick the relationship between anxiety and creativity, and this short book explores and connects some of their ideas and findings. Drawing on psychoanalysis and neuroscience, existential psychology and mindfulness, literary studies and philosophy, this book places a range of different disciplines in dialogue. It explores how creativity and anxiety might impact one another, and argues for the importance of establishing a diverse and inclusive cultural space which everyone can draw from and contribute to.

Widely recognized as one of the most inventive and iconic science fiction writers of all time, Philip K. Dick is an author whose literary sophistication elevated the sci-fi genre into the storytelling powerhouse it is today. His works, known for their portrayals of simulated realities interspersed with universal and philosophical themes, have become enormously influential among writers of all genres and have inspired numerous television and film adapations, including the 1982 cult classic Blade Runner. Underneath the veneer of fame, Dick's personal life matched the dramatic intensity of his most beloved works. Beginning with the tragic death of his twin sister, his life took on a fantastical, science fiction-like quality when, in 1974, he had what some consider to be a psychotic episode and what others believe to be a mystical experience of some kind. According to Dick, a pink light beamed psychic information into his brain, awakening memories of a past life as a Christian revolutionary and granting him contact with time-traveling extraterrestrials. He also had visions of ancient Rome superimposed over his neighborhood in suburban San Francisco, and later on, attempted to warn local police that he was a machine programmed to self-destruct. As a result, Philip K. Dick spent the rest of his life trying to fathom the meaning of what he called his "divine madness." Was it schizophrenia? Or did he experience a genuine prophecy of the sacred order? In The Divine Madness of Philip K. Dick, clinical psychologist Kyle Arnold probes the fascinating mystery at heart and mind, and shows readers how early traumas opened Dick to profound spiritual experiences while also predisposing him toward drug dependency and violence. By disputing allegations of schizophrenia, Arnold contends that Dick's paranoia was instead caused by his addiction to speed, and that his mental illness was borne out of the powerful scenes of spirituality depicted in the sci-fi stories he helped to create.

Global Mental Health and Neuroethics explores conceptual, ethical and clinical issues that have emerged with the expansion of clinical neuroscience into middle- and low-income countries. Conceptual issues covered include avoiding scientism and skepticism in global mental health, integrating evidence-based and value-based global medicine, and developing a welfarist approach to the practice of global psychiatry. Ethical issues addressed include those raised by developments in neurogenetics, cosmetic psychopharmacology and deep brain stimulation. Perspectives drawing on global mental health and neuroethics are used to explore a number of different clinical disorders and developmental stages, ranging from childhood through to old age.

This book combines empirical support, clinical acumen, and practical recommendations in a comprehensive manner to examine creative augmentations to the robust cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) model. It discusses augmentations that are supported by research and practice and are also clinical-friendly tools. Each chapter briefly summarizes research findings, offers parsimonious explanations of theoretical concepts and principles, presents vivid descriptions of therapeutic procedures, and describes rich case illustrations. The book addresses the use of humor in CBT with youth, playful applications of CBT, applications of improvisational theatre in CBT and integrating superheroes into CBT. Key areas of coverage include: Building stronger, more flexible, and enduring alliances with children and adolescents to improve treatment retention and impact. Using humor and irreverent communication in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to enhance outcomes with adolescents. Developing rapport between medical and psychosocial team members to alleviate stress during pediatric medical procedures and as an adjunct to therapeutic interventions. Cognitive behavioral play therapy (CBPT) with young children. Family-focused CBT for pediatric OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). Cognitive Behavioral Psychodrama Group Therapy (CBPGT) with youth. This unique and compelling volume is an authoritative resource for researchers, professors, clinicians, therapists and other professionals as well as graduate students in developmental psychology, pediatrics, social work, child and adolescent psychiatry, and nursing.

Since the first edition of Male Victims of Sexual Assault was published in 1992 there have been significant developments in our understanding of the prevalence and characteristics of the sexual assault of men. The first edition was influential in affording legal recognition to male victims of rape in England and Wales and this has resulted in raised awareness of the problem and improved attitudes among all those responsible for dealing with the victims. This recognition has gone some way to breaking down the taboo, and has allowed the discussion to move on and address the important issues of prevention, care and treatment. The book reports on the first epidemiological study of male sexual victimization in Europe, challenges the prevailing stereotype of gay men as sexual predators, covers the topic of male rape in prisons, examines the link between early sexual victimization and later perpetration, describes how victims of sexual torture attempt to process and resolve such experiences, provides the historical and anthropological background to the subject, and examines the impact of the changes in legislation. Mezey and King are experienced forensic psychiatrists with longstanding interests in domestic and sexual violence. They present original research material, which makes a unique contribution to our knowledge about men's experiences of sexual victimization.

The spectrum of views about the ethics of suicide-from the view that suicide is profoundly morally wrong to the view that it is a matter of basic human right, and from the view that it is primarily a private matter to the view that it is largely a social one-lies at the root of contemporary practical controversies over suicide. This collection of primary sources-the principal texts of philosophical interest from western and nonwestern cultures, from the major religious traditions, and from oral cultures where observer reports of traditional practices are available, spanning Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Oceania, and North and South America-is intended to facilitate exploration of such current practical issues by exhibiting the astonishingly diverse range of thinking about suicide throughout human intellectual history, in its full range of cultures and traditions. This collection has no interest in taking sides in these debates; rather, it hopes to expand the character of what have been rather linear recent debates on issues like physician-assisted suicide, suicide in social protest, and suicide bombings by making them multidimensional.

Living Psychoanalysis: From Theory to Experience represents a decade of work from one of today's leading psychoanalysts. Michael Parsons brings to life clinical psychoanalysis and its theoretical foundations, offering new developments in analytic theory and vivid examples of work in the consulting room. The book also explores connections between psychoanalysis, art and literature, showing how psychoanalytic insights can enrich our lives far beyond the clinical situation.

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Living Psychoanalysis "comprises four main sections:

Life and Death - asks what it means to be fully and creatively alive, and introduces the concept of "avant-coup"

Sexuality, Narcissism and the Oedipus complex - develops fresh ways of understanding these key concepts

How analysts listen - explores links between psychoanalytic listening and the way artists look at the world, and introduces the concept of the internal analytic setting

The Independent tradition in British psychoanalysis - considers the theoretical foundations of Independent clinical technique, and discusses from various perspectives the role of training in developing the identity of analysts and analytic therapists

With fresh theoretical concepts and a focus on specific aspects of clinical practice, "Living Psychoanalysis: From Theory to Experience" will be a valuable resource for analysts, therapists and professionals who wish to extend their vision of psychoanalysis. It will also be of great interest to general readers concerned to deepen their understanding of the links between culture and the mind.

The third, thoroughly revised and enhanced edition of this bestselling book analyses and discusses the most up-to-date research on the psychology of quality of life. The book is divided into six parts. The introductory part lays the philosophical and academic foundation of much of the research on wellbeing and positive mental health, showing the beneficial effects of happy people at work, health, and to society at large. Part 2 (effects of objective reality) describes how sociocultural factors, income factors, other demographic factors, and biological and health conditions affect wellbeing and positive mental health. Part 3 focuses on subjective reality and discusses how individuals process information from their objective environment, and how they manipulate this information that affects wellbeing and positive mental health. Part 4 focuses on the psychology of quality of life specific to life domains, while Part 5 reviews the research on special populations: children, women, the elderly, but also the disabled, drug addicts, prostitutes, emergency personnel, immigrants, teachers, and caregivers. The final part of the book focuses on theories and models of wellbeing and positive mental health that integrate and unify disparate concepts and programs of research. The book addresses the importance of the psychology of quality of life in the context of public policy and calls for a broadening of the approach in happiness research to incorporate other aspects of quality of life at the group, community, and societal levels. It is of topical interest to academics, students and researchers of quality of life, well-being research, happiness studies, psychotherapy, and social policy.

This collection of articles reveals ritual to be a unique and powerful asset in healing trauma and broken relationships. Each contribution offers insights on how, in the face of uncertainty, threat and dislocation, human beings feel compelled to 'do something', usually with or for others, to alleviate their anxiety, fears and sense of powerlessness. The editor and authors demonstrate how the imaginative processes at the heart of ritualmaking contribute to self- and group regulation by healing and mitigating the negative impact of trauma on individuals, collective groups, and even global systems. The authors are a group of remarkable scholars, researchers and practitioners who represent a diverse range of disciplines and subfields, including archaeology, Chinese studies, digital culture, ecological science, philosophy, psychology, psychotherapy, the politics of memory and the preservation of cultural heritage in wartime, ritual anthropology, social research, physics, research on traumatic stress, and peace studies. Students and researchers across the social and behavioural sciences will find this volume useful.

Assessment and Treatment of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury: A Clinical Perspective is the ideal primer for anyone who works with people who self-injure. Profiling who is affected as well as what their behaviour includes, the book explores the range of factors behind why people self-injure, from the influence of social media to the need for self-regulation, and offers recommendations for both assessment and outpatient treatment. Throughout, the book is permeated by profound respect for those who use self-injury in an attempt to live a good life, while conveying a deep understanding of the challenges that self-injury presents for family members and treatment professionals. It recognizes that the behaviour can spread in hospital wards or other institutional setting, introducing the concept of self-injury by proxy, and assesses the range of therapies available, including CBT, MBT, ERGT and family therapy. Each chapter is complemented by clinical vignettes. In an era when a great number of professionals will come into contact with someone who self-injures - including teachers, social workers and nurses as well as therapists - The Assessment and Treatment of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury is an invaluable resource that examines both the causes and the treatments available.

Contemporary Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: Evolving Clinical Practice covers the latest applications of psychodynamic therapy for a range of clinical issues, including depression, anxiety, psychosis, borderline personality and trauma. It discusses psychodynamic practice as an evidence-based therapy, providing reviews of outcome and process research. Covering a wide array of treatments tailored for specific disorders and populations, this book is designed to appeal to clinicians and researchers who are looking to broaden their knowledge of the latest treatment strategies, novel applications, and current developments in psychodynamic practice.

Schizophrenia is a disease that afflicts some 2.2 million persons of all ages. It has a wide-ranging impact on the lives of not just the people who have it, but also the people who love them. In an era of de-institutionalization and managed care, parents and other adults, such as teachers and coaches, will become the first line of defense against this serious disease that attacks people in their the late teens or early twenties. If Your Adolescent Has Schizophrenia is an informative guide, written specifically to help adults spot the warning signs and seek appropriate treatment for the young people in their lives. Parents will find a clear definition of the disease, including early indicators of the disease as well as information on how to arrange for the proper diagnosis and treatment. Using the experiences of parents with children who have the illness themselves, this book will provide an insiders survival guide for those now facing this illness in their own children. While enormous strides have been made toward identifying likely causes and effective remedies of schizophrenia in recent decades, no one therapeutic regimen works perfectly in all cases. If Your Adolescent Has Schizophrenia will offer readers trusted information and support that will enable them to confront this disorder head on and get their children meaningful medical and psychosocial help in order to mitigate its effects.

This book is a novel contribution to academic discourses on the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis and how it has impacted societies globally. It proffers an overview on the social development and political measures, from both the Global North and Global South, to prevent COVID-19's spread. It illuminates major social, political and economic challenges that already existed in different contexts and which are also currently being amplified by COVID-19. Curiously, this global pandemic has opened spaces for different actors, across the globe, to begin to fundamentally question and challenge the hegemony of the Global North, which sometimes is evident in social work. Linked to the foregoing and while reflecting beyond the pandemic and into the future, the book proposes that social work must become more political at all levels, and strive to transform societies, global social development efforts, and economic and health systems. This contributed volume of 38 chapters discusses and analyses ethical, social, sociological, social work and social development issues that complement and enrich available literature in the socio-political, economics, public health, medical ethics and political science. It provides various case studies which should enable readers to gain insights into how countries have responded to the pandemic and learn how COVID-19 negatively impacted countries in different parts of the world. This book also provides a platform for the articulation of neglected and marginalized voices, such as those of indigenous populations, the poor, or oppressed. The chapters are grouped according to three main themes as they relate to research on the COVID-19 pandemic and social work in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America: Analysis: Social Issues and the COVID-19 Pandemic Strategies and Responses in Social Work: Globally and Locally Outlook: Looking Ahead Beyond the Pandemic Intended to engage a global, diverse and interdisciplinary audience, The Coronavirus Crisis and Challenges to Social Development is a timely and relevant resource for academics, students and researchers in inter alia Social Work, Philosophy, Sociology, Economics, and Development Studies.

This is the first book focusing on the animal's perspective and best practices to ensure the welfare of both therapy animals and their human counterparts in animal-assisted interventions. Written by leading scientists, it summarizes the scientific evidence available concerning the impacts on animals in these settings, including companion species, horses, marine mammals and other animals used in therapy. There has been a dramatic increase in the range of animal-assisted interventions used in medical and allied health environments in recent years, and the field is now entering an era with a greater interest in defining the underlying mechanisms of the human-animal bond as well as the therapeutic benefits of these interactions. Animal-assisted interventions, as with other uses of animals by humans, impose a unique set of stresses on the animals, which the community has only recently begun to acknowledge. For the field to continue to flourish, more evidence is needed to shed light on the implications for the animals and what guidelines need to be put into practice to ensure welfare. With the ultimate goal of improving the impact that we have on the animals under our care, the book provides a roadmap for researchers and clinicians as they attempt to safely and humanely incorporate various species of animals into therapeutic settings. The authors also offer instructions and suggestions for areas that need to be studied more robustly over the next decade to continue to ensure the safe and proper use of animals in therapy sessions. This is an informative, thought-provoking and instructive resource for practitioners and researchers in the field of medicine and clinical psychology using animal-assisted interventions, as well as for veterinarians and welfare scientists.

This book presents an in-depth qualitative study carried out with inpatients under treatment for substance use disorders (SUDs) in seven therapeutic communities (TCs) located in three countries: Peru, Nicaragua and Czech Republic. By comparing the experiences in these different cultural contexts, the book presents a grounded theory of SUDs treatment in TCs from a cross-cultural perspective, identifying factors that influence the efficacy of SUDs treatment in TCs based on interviews carried out with inpatients. Based on rigorous qualitative research methods, this book presents not only a comparative analysis of TCs located in different cultural contexts, but also analyzes the cross-cultural nature of the therapeutic programs adopted in these communities, such as the combination of traditional Amazonian medicine based on the therapeutic use of ayahuasca with conventional psychotherapy and occupational therapy, among other approaches. Departing from the interviews carried out with inpatients, the authors present a comparative analysis of how the different TCs address important issues related to SUDs treatment, and complement this analysis with machine-generated summaries of relevant scientific papers. These summaries contain results of similar research projects conducted in other cultural contexts. Substance Use Disorders Treatment in Therapeutic Communities: A Cross-Cultural Approach presents the results of a unique comparative study with great translational potential which will be of interest to both researchers and practitioners working in TCs. This unique comparative study identifies factors affecting the efficacy of therapeutic programs and proposes a grounded theory which aims to serve as an important source of information for therapists and other professionals working with SUDs treatment and for the replication of applied therapeutic methods in other TCs.

In this study Erika L. Briesacher argues that festivals in Lubeck, Germany spanning 1920 to 1960 demonstrate interlocking economic, social, and cultural factors that contribute to local, national, and international identity formation. Focusing on institutional records as well as public discourse and material artifacts, the author traces the mobilization of "Nordic" as a distinctly German in-group during the Weimar, Nazi, and early Cold War eras, highlighting particular ways participants included and excluded racial, religious, and other cultural identities in their own "imagined community." Focusing on the festival as both a site of participation and consumption, the author assesses two postwar periods as well as the legacy of the Holocaust in a northwest German town.

Psychosis and the Traumatised Self explores what it is like to experience psychosis for individuals with histories of childhood physical and sexual abuse. The book additionally explores how meaning expressed in psychosis might originate from the effects of abuse, but also long-term life difficulties, motivations, memories, social history, and struggles to narrate and understand. One chapter focuses on refugees who suffered trauma as adults and later became psychotic. Another chapter examines how trauma leads to the destruction of certainty and trust, thereby opening a pathway to persecutory ideas. Drawing on a developmental model of trauma, it is proposed that dissociated parts of the self that developed during childhood contribute to psychosis in adults when undergoing difficulties and stress. Presented with case illustrations, the book will be useful for those who work in the area of psychosis and abuse to understand the experiences of individuals, and how we might develop appropriate therapy and care.

This book examines the implications of exploring spirituality through the lens of human relationships. It addresses systemic supervision and training and explores a systemic approach to the development of the self. The book provides an educational methodology that lays a foundation in describing an operational model of spirituality that is applicable for both theistic and nontheistic perspectives. In addition, it details how spirituality is itself a diversity as well as explores spirituality through a lens of diversity. In addition, a pilot research project on spirituality set in a MFT Live Supervision Group illustrates how to apply a systemic approach to spirituality. Finally, the book offers examples of practice using spirituality in various training settings. Key areas of coverage include: * How a systemic approach to spirituality enables the lens of relationship and diversity to enrich supervising and teaching family therapy emerging from the self of therapist concerns. * Theoretical perspectives that connect systemic practice with spirituality in an approach for family therapy. * How a systemic spiritual approach can be used in training marriage and family therapists. * Interventions that focus on how a relational systemic approach views transcendence and immanence from both clinical and spiritual perspectives. * Concepts that inform supervision and training with the goals of educating students to be spiritually literate and spiritually sensitive. * Barriers to implementing this approach with examples of how to address such obstacles. Spirituality in Systemic Family Therapy Supervision and Training is a must-have resource for researchers, professors, graduate students as well as clinicians, supervisors, and professionals in clinical psychology, family studies / family therapy, and public health as well as all interrelated disciplines.