Clinical Manual of Couples and Family Therapy - Softcover

This book is written by three distinguished professors of psychiatry and is a clinical training manual for family and couples therapy. The book is well written, jargon free, and deserves a place on the bookshelf of every psychiatric trainee. * Psychiatric Services, William Vogel, Ph.D., A.B.P.P. * This book is recommended for all practitioners. It succeeds as a useful, well- written testimony to the importance of living families in mental health treatment. * W. David Lohr, M.D., Psychiatric Times * The Clinical Manual of Couples and Family Therapy is a succinct, well-written volume that provides evidence for the wisdom behind treatment of the family and/or involvement of the family when treating the patient. * W. David Lohr, M.D., Psychiatric Times *

The Clinical Manual of Couples and Family Therapy presents a conceptual framework for engaging families of psychiatric patients. It outlines practical, evidence-based family therapy skills that make it easier for clinicians to effectively integrate families into the treatment process. Moreover, it reestablishes the role of the psychiatrist as the leader of the team of professionals providing mental health care to patients in need. The underlying assumption in this concise manual is that most psychiatric symptoms or conditions evolve in a social context, and families can be useful in identifying the history, precipitants, and likely future obstacles to the management of presenting problems. The book clarifies the clinical decision-making process for establishing family involvement in patient care in different clinical settings, and it outlines distinct steps in family assessment and treatment within a biopsychosocial organizing framework that can be applied to all families, regardless of the patient's presenting problems. The book's approach is based on a broad model of family functioning, which provides a multidimensional description of families and has validated instruments to assess family functioning from both internal and external perspectives. Unique features and benefits of the manual include: A focus on one consistent model of assessment and treatment that can be applied to a wide range of psychiatric conditions and clinical settings Numerous case examples, tables, and charts throughout the text to further highlight the material A summary of key concepts at the end of each chapter A companion DVD, keyed to discussion in the text, that demonstrates how to perform a family assessment and treatment All psychiatrists should be proficient in assessing the social and familial context in which a patient's psychiatric illness evolves. The Clinical Manual of Couples and Family Therapy is a practical guide designed to facilitate a clinician's ability to evaluate and treat couples and families.