With its unrivaled scope, easy readability, and outstanding clinical relevance, Complementary and Integrative Treatments in Psychiatric Practice is an indispensable resource for psychiatric and other health care professionals. It is also well suited for individuals with mental disorders and their family members who are seeking updated, practical information on complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine (CAIM). An international group of experts, researchers, and clinicians examines an expansive range of treatments that have been chosen on the basis of their therapeutic potential, strength of evidence, safety, clinical experience, geographic and cultural diversity, and public interest. This guide offers advice on how to best tailor treatments to individual patient needs; combine and integrate treatments for optimal patient outcomes; identify high-quality products; administer appropriate doses; and deal with concerns about liability, safety, and herb-drug interactions. Treatments discussed include: * Nutrients and neutraceuticals* Plant-based medicines* Mind-body practices-breathing techniques, yoga, qigong, tai chi, and meditation* Art therapy and equine therapy for children and adolescents * Neurotherapy, neurostimulation, and other technologies Psychiatrists and other physicians, residents, fellows, medical students, psychologists, nurses, and other clinicians will benefit from guidelines for decision making, prioritizing, and combining CAIM treatments, as well as safely integrating CAIM with standard approaches. That the treatments considered in this clinician's guide are applied to five of the major DSM-5 categories-depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, trauma- and stressor-related disorders, bipolar and related disorders, and schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders-ensures its applicability, timeliness and timelessness.

That patients self-treat for such disorders as anxiety, depression, addictions, sleep disorders, attention deficit, is no surprise among psychiatrists. Hearing from patients, or parents of patients who use alternative therapies on themselves or their children, more scientifically-based facts are needed on non-pharmacologic, non-analysis approaches. The Guest Editors of this issue in Psychiatric Clinics have been using, researching, and analyzing alternative approaches since the 1990s and present a scientifically based presentation of select therapies, such as Nutrients, Herbals, Off-label Medication uses, Mind-Body approaches, Meditation, Hypnosis, Electrotherapy, Light treatments and more. Mechanisms of action, Outcomes, Evidence, and Complications are part of the outline for this material, with intent to provide the most current and the strongest science available.

The prolific use of drugs to treat ADHD stirs heated debate in therapy and parenting circles today. Is this medication really going to improve my son's symptoms? How best can I help my patient and her parents manage this difficult disorder? Will the side effects of this drug outweigh the benefits? What are my other options? Because ADHD affects every facet of life, from psychosocial development and peer relationships to family dynamics and academic and job performance, the need for better-that is, safer and more effective-treatments is urgent. Here, seasoned clinicians Pat Gerbarg and Richard Brown, known for providing the latest breakthroughs in integrative mental health treatments, draw on over 30 years' clinical experience to offer a range of scientifically-grounded complementary and alternative treatments for parents and professionals alike. Studies show that children with untreated ADHD are at greater risk for substance abuse, unemployment, accidents, and criminal behavior, in addition to learning disabilities, anxiety disorders, social phobia, depression, and bipolar disorder. And yet, individuals with ADHD often bring a great deal of energy, enthusiasm, and creativity to the tasks they undertake. Gerbarg and Brown focus on these intrinsic strengths, encouraging parents and professionals to help children with ADHD fulfill their potential by overcoming distraction, restlessness, and impulsivity in order to focus on learning, task completion, and understanding social cues. To accomplish this, they argue, we need to implement a variety of alternative approaches. Drawing on stories and anecdotes from their own clinical practice, Gerbarg and Brown address the questions that are particularly important to those dealing with ADHD. Early chapters provide information about diagnostic issues and the scientific foundation for understanding the known causes of ADHD, as well as how different treatments may work and why. Multiple contributing causes of ADHD exist-genetic, nutritional, chemical, psychological, trauma-based, and environmental-and the authors explain how treatments need to be strategically combined and tailored to patients' unique needs and sensitivities. Later chapters present integrative strategies that combine the best practices of psychological treatments with herbs, nutrients, cognitive enhancers, mind-body practices, and brain stimulation. Throughout, the authors draw on the work and methods of many talented clinicians, yoga therapists, and teachers who have found creative, effective approaches to helping their own clients who struggle with attentional problems. A comprehensive resources section at the end of the book features a compilation of need-to-know websites, journals, books, and supplement brands with dosing recommendations. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and other therapists are equipped with access to the very latest research in both conventional and complementary and alternative approaches. With this book, the authors of How to Use Herbs, Nutrients & Yoga in Mental Health have taken their extraordinary scholarly and healing talents to a new level, helping parents and therapists alike to better understand and manage a complicated and multifaceted disorder.

This volume presents a range of simple breathing techniques that have been scientifically shown to be effective in alleviating common emotional and cognitive problems, including anxiety, depression, attention deficit disorder, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, and addictions.

Many physicians and therapists agree that herbs and mind-body practices enhance health, but many more are reluctant to integrate them into their clinical work because of a lack of training or, given how long it takes to master the use of hundreds of different herbs, a lack of time. But the trend is clear: clients and consumers alike want control over their health care choices, making the time ripe for a practical resource that guides both the clinician and the consumer on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). This book answers that call. Three noted experts in integrative medicine, Drs. Brown, Gerbarg, and Muskin, demystify the complexities of alternative mental health care, giving readers a comprehensive yet accessible guidebook to the best treatment options out there. From mood, memory, and anxiety disorders to ADD, sexual enhancement issues, psychotic disorders, and substance abuse, every chapter covers a major diagnostic category. The authors then present a range of complementary and alternative treatments-including the use of herbs, nutrients, vitamins, nootropics, hormones, and mind-body practices- that they have found to be beneficial for various conditions within each category. For example, B complex vitamins and folate have been shown to help with depression; omega-3 fatty acids can offer relief for bipolar sufferers; coherent and resonant breathing techniques-used by Buddhist monks-induce healthy alpha rhythms in the brain to relieve anxiety; the elderly can boost their memory by taking the ancient medicinal herb Rhodiola rosea; and those with chronic fatigue syndrome can find comfort in acupuncture and yoga. Focusing on evidence-based approaches, the research, the authors' clinical experience, and the potential risks and benefits of each treatment are carefully examined. Brown, Gerbarg, and Muskin have distilled an otherwise daunting field of treatment down to its basics: their overriding approach is to present the CAM methods that are most practical in a clinical setting, easy to administer, and low in side effects. With helpful summary tables at the end of each chapter, clinical pearls, and case vignettes interspersed throughout, this is a must-have resource for all clinicians and consumers who want the best that alternative medicine has to offer.

This book offers healing modalities for the body, mind and spirit in an age in which our personal resources are so over-spent that we need reliable ways to replenish them. The authors show that "Rosavin," or Rhodiola Rosea, is almost a candidate for the "Panacea" (heal-all) of the ancient Greeks, or the Golden Pill of Immortality of the Chinese sages. How can a heretofore little-known plant-substance do all these things? You will have to read the book to find out how adaptogens really fills in the gaps in our physical and energetic functioning. In our challenging world and time, we need all the help we can get to cope with the stresses that come our way every day. This book shows us that if you neglect to try Rosavin, you may be missing a really important ally!
Employing sources as far-ranging as Greek mythology, ethnobotany, and the hidden monographs of Russian cold-war scientists, as well as responsible modern medical research, Dr.s Brown and Gerbarg have written a tour-de-force of a book on the healing plant Rhodiola Rosea. The reader is not only carried along effortlessly and elegantly through Brown and Gerbarg's accessible prose, but led to the inescapable conviction that this adaptogenic herb definitely enhances quality of life! In fact, after reading it, you probably won't want to wait to try Rhodiola-for everything from chronic fatigue to depression, to enhanced immune response, to generic revitalization in a sometimes tiresome world, to optimal performance (as demonstrated by the studies on astronauts and elite athletes.)
--Stephen Larsen, Ph.D. is Psychology Professor Emeritus (SUNY), and director of Stone Mountain Center for Psychotherapy, Biofeedback and Neurofeedbackin the Hudson Valley of New York. He is the author of seven books currently in print, including, with his wife Robin, A Fire in the Mind," the Life of Joseph Campbell, and The Fashioning of Angels: Partnership as Spiritual Practice.