The best health practices are a synthesis of science and art. Surgery is a case in point. Although all competent surgeons follow scientific protocols, the best surgeons are masters of the art of surgery and produce better outcomes: e.g., smaller incisions; lower mortality rates. Psychotherapists are in exactly the same position. Psychotherapy is both a science and an art. There are excellent resources that convey information about empirically supported practices -- the science of psychotherapy. However, this scientific information is incomplete in two important ways. It does not cover key...

Healthcare is now practiced in a different financial and delivery system than it was two decades ago. Currently managed care defines what is treated, how, by whom and for what reimbursement. Mental health professionals have been greatly impacted by these changes to their practice, and yet, there is little understanding of exactly what it is and where it is going. The present volume explores these issues, prospects and opportunities from the vantage of mental health /medical professionals and managed care executives who are in the very process of implementing changes to the existing system of...

Has the atmosphere of intellectual openness, scientific inquiry, aspiration towards diversity, and freedom from political pressure that once flourished in the American Psychological Association been eclipsed by an ultra-liberal agenda?

It is during the critical first session with substance abusers that clinicians have the first, and all too often the last, opportunity to break through the wall of denial and create an atmosphere of trust that is so crucial to changing behavior. Written by a father-daughter team of clinical psychologists, The First Session with Substance Abusers outlines a proven plan for conducting an initial session that can uncover substance abuse problems with clients no matter how resistant or manipulative they may be. Applying the methods outlined in this book, psychologists and health professionals can...

After a period of economic success and high regard in society, clinical psychology has fallen onto hard times, assert authors Nicholas Cummings and William O Donohue. In the 1960s, clinical psychologists with doctorates were well paid in relation to comparable professions; today, starting salaries are lower than many jobs that require only a bachelor s degree. Clinical psychology in the 1960s was preferred and valued over other fields as a profession; today it is not even on the list of top 20 fields for graduates to enter. Psychologists opinions on social issues are disregarded by the...

Understanding the Behavioral Healthcare Crisis is a necessary book, edited and contributed to by a great variety of authors from academia, government, and industry. The book takes a bold look at what reforms are needed in healthcare and provides specific recommendations. Some of the serious concerns about the healthcare system that Cummings, O'Donohue, and their contributors address include access problems, safety problems, costs problems, the uninsured, and problems with efficacy. When students, practitioners, researchers, and policy makers finish reading this book they will have not just a...

Written by father-daughter psychologists Nick and Janet Cummings, this text provides proven patient-responsive interventions by practitioners who together have nearly a century of hands-on practice and innovation between them. Refocused Psychotherapy responds directly to the recent decline of psychosocial services and helps to put psychotherapy back as the first line intervention in mental health. The authors teach psychotherapists how to work side by side with primary care physicians to provide efficacy, effectiveness, and efficiency-the standards psychotherapeutic intervention is held up...