Art therapy literature is often based either on practice in a specific setting, art material or population, or if taking a more theoretical focus, on illustrative case studies. This book provides a theory-based approach to research, teaching, and practicing art therapy, including verbal and arts based techniques, settings, art processes and analyses, and the principles of supervision, evaluation, and research. It also offers an overview and discussion of how the different orientations of psychological and social theories are interpreted and implemented by art therapy.

The book...

In our society, medication is often seen as the treatment for severe mental illness, with psychotherapy a secondary treatment. However, quality social interaction may be as important for the recovery of those with severe mental illness as are treatments. This volume makes this point while describing the emotionally moving lives of eight individuals with severe mental illness as they exist in the U.S. mental health system. Offering social and psychological insight into their experiences, these stories demonstrate how patients can create meaningful lives in the face of great...

This book draws upon the author's first-hand clinical experience as an Expert Witness in child and family legal proceedings to explore the success of psychotherapy assessments and interventions. Focusing on families who are seeking to be re-united after the removal of their children into foster care, Mike Davies discusses critical aspects of therapy which can help to identify and engage those who will benefit from additional support.

Chapters combine heuristic, case studies, and narrative research methodologies, considering parents' stories, self-identity issues and assessment...

Advancing work to effectively study, understand, and serve the fastest growing U.S. ethnic minority population, this volume explicitly emphasizes the racial and ethnic diversity within this heterogeneous cultural group. The focus is on the complex historical roots of contemporary Latino/as, their diversity in skin-color and physiognomy, racial identity, ethnic identity, gender differences, immigration patterns, and acculturation. The work highlights how the complexities inherent in the diverse Latino/a experience, as specified throughout the topics covered in this volume, become critical...

This book is the first to examine, in-depth, the experiences of bereaved family members following a drug and/or alcohol related death. Drawing upon a substantial research project, chapters identify the issues faced by a sizeable, yet often stigmatised and vulnerable group, which make these deaths particularly hard to grieve. These include the stresses and strains of having lived with another s substance use, as well as the stigma that often extends to those left behind, and the difficulties of memorialising a life that may be considered unfulfilled. The book also explores the responses of...

North America s Indigenous population is a vulnerable group, with specific psychological and healing needs that are not widely met in the mental health care system. Indigenous peoples face certain historical, cultural-linguistic and socioeconomic barriers to mental health care access that government, health care organizations and social agencies must work to overcome. This volume examines ways Indigenous healing practices can complement Western psychological service to meet the needs of Indigenous peoples through traditional cultural concepts. Bringing together leading experts in the...

Traditional methods employed in psychotherapy have limited effectiveness when it comes to healing the psychological effects of trauma, in particular, complex trauma. While a client may seem to make significant breakthroughs in understanding their feelings and experiences on a rational level by talking with a therapist, this will make no difference to their post-traumatic symptoms if the midbrain is unable to modulate its activity in response. The Comprehensive Resource Model argues for a novel therapeutic approach, which uniquely bridges neuroscience and spirituality through a...

This book explores the sexuality of transgender people, examining key research to consider new ethical methods for investigating sexuality. Integrating existential thought into the theoretical framework of the book, emphasis is placed on links to both phenomenology and counseling psychology, and their engagement with freedom and authenticity. The participants at the heart of the study relate their experiences in psychiatric and psychological settings, as well as in wider cultural and community surroundings. The book positions their stories against the discourse of medicalization and...

Therapists have a unique opportunity and responsibility to provide a respectful environment for their clients, yet respect has not received adequate attention in the psychotherapy community and related research. Respect-Focused Therapy: Honoring Clients Through the Therapeutic Relationship and Process sets forth the formulation of respect-focused therapy (RFT), a new approach to psychotherapy that addresses the quality of the client therapist relationship. This volume treats respect as a combination of action, attitude and open-mindedness, urging therapists to recognize their own...

Depressive Realism argues that people with mild-to-moderate depression have a more accurate perception of reality than non-depressives. Depressive realism is a worldview of human existence that is essentially negative, and which challenges assumptions about the value of life and the institutions claiming to answer life s problems. Drawing from central observations from various disciplines, this book argues that a radical honesty about human suffering might initiate wholly new ways of thinking, in everyday life and in clinical practice for mental health, as well as in academia.