With the publication of DSM-III, DSM-III-R, and related advances of the 70s and 80s, the mental health field has advanced significantly toward more precise and reliable diagnostic descriptions and more detailed explications of available treatments. In light of this progress, previously held notions regarding pathology, family interaction and dynamics, and family interventions for affective disorders are no longer sufficient. The first volume dedicated solely to marital and family treatment approaches, Affective Disorders and the Family advances the field by presenting the most up-to-date integration of knowledge about affective disorders, family interventions, and the optimal matching of treatment to disorder.
John F. Clarkin, Ph.D., is a Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry at the Cornell University Medical College, Director of Psychology for the New York Hospital, and Co-Director of the Personality Disorder Institute. Dr. Clarkin's academic writing has focused on the phenomenology of the personality disorders and the treatment of patients with borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder.