Psychosocial Approaches to Deeply Disturbed Persons

by Peter R. Breggin, E. Mark Stern

At a time when biological psychiatry claims that drugs and electroshock are the best methods for helping deeply disturbed persons, mental health professionals need to be reminded that psychological and social approaches to mental illnesses remain more effective, less harmful, and much more able to address the real needs of recovery, growth, and development for affected persons. Psychosocial Approaches to Deeply Disturbed Persons empowers counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers to trust their intuitive and clinical understanding of how to help seriously disturbed people through humane, caring approaches.Psychosocial Approaches to Deeply Disturbed Persons introduces mental health professionals to an array of psychological and social alternatives that are available for helping patients considered "psychotic" or very emotionally disturbed. Focusing on psychological and social approaches to helping people who become labeled "psychotic" or who carry serious psychiatric diagnoses, contributors show mental health professionals psychological, social, and spiritual alternatives for approaching or treating these individuals. Readers learn about: a successful model for nonmedical, non-drug residential treatment centersutilizing the artwork of psychotic patientscase histories of psychoanalytic therapygroup therapy to help families with a "schizophrenic" member improve communicationRe-evaluation Counseling (RC) with disturbed individualspsychoanalytically-oriented therapyWorld Health Organization research which demonstrates the positive effect of extended family and social relationships and the negative effect of modern biopsychiatric treatmentresearch demonstrating the efficacy of psychotherapy with persons labeled "schizophrenic"These chapters combined with a review of empirical studies demonstrate to readers the efficacy of psychotherapy with psychotic patients. Students or experienced professionals in any of the mental health fields, including psychotherapy, counseling, clinical psychology, clinical social work, and Re-evaluation Counseling will find Psychosocial Approaches to Deeply Disturbed Persons a necessity for most effectively and humanely treating clients with serious psychiatric diagnoses.

Hardcover

First published July 22, 1996

About the author

Peter R. Breggin MD is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and former Consultant at NIMH who has been called “The Conscience of Psychiatry” for his many decades of successful efforts to reform the mental health field.
His work provides the foundation for modern criticism of psychiatric diagnoses and drugs, and leads the way in promoting more caring and effective therapies.
His research and educational projects have brought about major changes in the FDA-approved Full Prescribing Information or labels for dozens of antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs.
Dr. Breggin has authored dozens of scientific articles and more than twenty books, including medical books and the bestsellers Toxic Psychiatry and Talking Back to Prozac.