The Fifteen Minute Hour: Applied Psychotherapy for the Primary Care Physician, Second Edition

by Marian R. Stuart, Joseph A. Lieberman III

This book is a how-to manual for incorporating psychotherapy into the daily practice of primary care medicine. In the universe of primary care patients, many, if not all, have a behavioral component as part and parcel of their visit to a physician. Successfully recognizing and addressing these issues in a time-effective manner will benefit the patient while at the same time increasing the satisfaction of the caregiver. For family physicians and general internists and other providers of primary health care services such as pediatricians, college health physicians, emergency physicians, nurse practitioners, etc. as well as specialists in non-primary care fields.

Genres: Medicine

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was assigned reading for me as part of my behavioral health rotation in my first year of residency. One of the most striking realizations I had during the course of this book was how the overarching concepts of good mental and behavioral health can really be boiled down to a singular point, though everyone has different words and phrases and ways to explain or verbalize it. So many of the concepts explained in this book resonated with me in terms that I had come across in my many other readings of mindfulness. As the authors reiterate several times, no one is able to experience the world directly, but only indirectly through their own individual filter of thoughts and experiences.

I thought the the authors laid out the basic principles of “mindfulness” (or whatever phrase you may have learned to attach to the practice) in a very simple but easy to understand way. Through all my readings and personal learning, one of the biggest things I struggle with is to be able to explain my understanding of mindfulness to others in a clear and concise way that makes sense. It’s hard for me not to extract things out to the really really big picture, which has taken me years to cultivate, and which generally tends to be confusing to others, especially outside of the context of my own personal experiences (which of course is obvious only to me.)

The authors also do a good job of offering concrete and step-by-step suggestions that are practical - as they assert, they truly are aiming to offer suggestions for practice that can truly fit into a fifteen minute primary care visit. I did however often reflect on how they made everything seem so easy. Integrating the techniques into my own practice, I’m sure will take a lot of practice. Not that the steps they suggest seem particularly difficult in any one particular way, but just in the sense of being able to string together the right words to express the concepts with a patient in the spur of the moment.

It is interesting how many words can be needed to explain just one singular concept. On reflection, the basis principle of “mindfulness” (or just living perhaps) is so simple and yet complex, that it takes ten chapters to explore. And not to mention the thousands of other self-help books that have been written with different words to explore, again, what seems to always boil down to the same basic idea.

Clearly this particular book was written with a mind for helping the primary care practitioner, and I do think most would find this book extremely helpful, but probably only if they truly buy into the basic principles, hopefully on a deep level, which unfortunately I think is not always on the forefront of every practitioners’ mind.

[Usama Ahmad Rana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is essentially the same as "The fifteen minute hour: patient centred communication". Good points on dealing with angry patients and relatives in later half of the book.

[Margaret Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cookbook approach to how to incorporate psychotherapy into primary care. Important material in manageable chunks. I'm probably going to be rereading this a lot during my novice years.

[Steve Warnick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for primary care and for teaching residents. Highly recommended.