In our society, medication is often seen as the treatment for severe mental illness, with psychotherapy a secondary treatment. However, quality social interaction may be as important for the recovery of those with severe mental illness as are treatments. This volume makes this point while describing the emotionally moving lives of eight individuals with severe mental illness as they exist in the U.S. mental health system. Offering social and psychological insight into their experiences, these stories demonstrate how patients can create meaningful lives in the face of great difficulties. Based on in-depth interviews with clients with severe mental illness, this volume explores which structures of interaction encourage growth for people with severe mental illness, and which trigger psychological damage. It considers the clients' relationships with friends, family, peers, spouses, lovers, co-workers, mental health professionals, institutions, the community, and the society as a whole. It focuses specifically on how structures of social interaction can promote or harm psychological growth, and how interaction dynamics affect the psychological well-being of individuals with severe mental illness.

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.

In our society, medication is often seen as the treatment for severe mental illness, with psychotherapy a secondary treatment. However, quality social interaction may be as important for the recovery of those with severe mental illness as are treatments. This volume makes this point while describing the emotionally moving lives of eight individuals with severe mental illness as they exist in the U.S. mental health system. Offering social and psychological insight into their experiences, these stories demonstrate how patients can create meaningful lives in the face of great difficulties. Based on in-depth interviews with clients with severe mental illness, this volume explores which structures of interaction encourage growth for people with severe mental illness, and which trigger psychological damage. It considers the clients' relationships with friends, family, peers, spouses, lovers, co-workers, mental health professionals, institutions, the community, and the society as a whole. It focuses specifically on how structures of social interaction can promote or harm psychological growth, and how interaction dynamics affect the psychological well-being of individuals with severe mental illness.

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.

In The Tavistock Learning Group: Exploration Outside the Traditional Frame, the authors attempt to expand the heuristic, theoretical, and applied dimensions of Group Relations paradigms by pairing classical Group Relations concepts with typically non-Tavistock psychology paradigms and social sciences concepts. Under the broad domain of psychologically-informed constructs, Lacanian psychoanalysis, existential philosophy and bioenergetics are applied. Under a somewhat broader range of social science conceptualization, the capacity for abstraction is linked with anti-work in groups, the large group is re-imagined as an extension of community dynamics and dysfunction, and the role of symbol systems, symbology and semiotics are examined in relation to sophisticated work groups. Lastly, non-Tavistock models of group development and conceptualization are re-interpreted and explained using a group-as-a-whole framework.

In The Tavistock Learning Group: Exploration Outside the Traditional Frame, the authors attempt to expand the heuristic, theoretical, and applied dimensions of Group Relations paradigms by pairing classical Group Relations concepts with typically non-Tavistock psychology paradigms and social sciences concepts. Under the broad domain of psychologically-informed constructs, Lacanian psychoanalysis, existential philosophy and bioenergetics are applied. Under a somewhat broader range of social science conceptualization, the capacity for abstraction is linked with anti-work in groups, the large group is re-imagined as an extension of community dynamics and dysfunction, and the role of symbol systems, symbology and semiotics are examined in relation to sophisticated work groups. Lastly, non-Tavistock models of group development and conceptualization are re-interpreted and explained using a group-as-a-whole framework.

Frequently, in the course of body-work (massage, physical therapy, exercise, naprapathy)individuals have emotional reactions that can be, at first blush, quite mystifying. This book helps provide explanations to these reactions and offers ideas to body-workers on how to work with these situations to the best effect.

The concept of alterity is fundamental to all psychological theories. Most of these theories operate as if this concept is well understood and quite stable. This book challenegs that notion by examining ideas about alterity in several different fields. It also offers an organizing template for the concept utilizing ideas from Lacan, Levinas and Dabrowski.

Dante, Piers and Bunyan, all wanderers on the streets of Chicago. Their lives will be transformed by an encounter with the beautiful Rosalinda.

This book draws together the many complex threads that weave together to make a family. Step by step the reader is taken through systems theory, developmental theory, cultural and intergenerational influences. The book is packed with activities and case studies to give the reader a "hands on" experience of each of these approaches.

This book examines unconscious processes in groups. So frequently groups have a stated purpose that is undermined or compromised by covert processes operating outside the awareness of group members. This book shows how to identify these unconscious