E-Book, Englisch, 186 Seiten
Beck / Bannink / Peeters Practicing Positive Psychiatry
2021
ISBN: 978-1-61334-577-1
Verlag: Hogrefe Publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark
E-Book, Englisch, 186 Seiten
ISBN: 978-1-61334-577-1
Verlag: Hogrefe Publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark
A highly practical book for all mental health professionals wanting to know how to apply positive psychiatry in their daily work
Positive psychiatry is the science and practice of psychiatry and clinical psychology that seeks to understand and promote wellbeing among people who have or are at high risk of developing mental health problems. In this new approach, the person takes center stage, not the disease, and the focus is not only on repairing the worst, but also on creating the best in our patients.
The authors from the fields of medicine and clinical psychology present over 40 applications and many cases and stories to illustrate the four pillars of positive psychiatry: positive psychology, solution-focused brief therapy, the recovery-oriented approach, and nonspecific factors. The book shows how mental health professionals can significantly increase patient collaboration to co-create preferred outcomes through discovering possibilities and competencies and through building hope, optimism, and gratitude.
Essential reading for psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, other professionals working in the field of mental health care as well as students who want to take a positive focus to make psychiatry faster, lighter, and yes, more fun. We have high hopes that positive psychiatry will become a firm part of the psychiatry of the future.
Zielgruppe
Psychiatrists, psychotherapists, clinical psychologists, mental
health professionals as well as students.
Autoren/Hrsg.
Fachgebiete
Weitere Infos & Material
|1|Foreword
The current times present unprecedented challenges to individual and societal well-being. We are experiencing behavioral pandemics of suicides, opioid abuse, and loneliness on a scale that was never seen in human history, and they are severely and adversely impacting human well-being, health, and even longevity (Jeste, Lee, & Cacioppo, 2020). The rapidly increasing pace and demands of life, the competitive environment faced from early age, and the ever-changing nature of technology leave little time for meaningful pursuits but ample opportunities for failure. The breakdown of family and community structure not only damages the safety net, but it also denies access to conventional wisdom. Fueled additionally by obesity and sedentary lifestyle, the mental health pandemics are manifestations of these stressors. Loneliness, once experienced only by the abandoned old and possibly by young immigrants, is now an everyday reality for large swaths of the society (Lee et al., 2019). The COVID-19 pandemic has made the already dire situation worse. At the same time, there are silver linings on the horizon. There is growing scientific literature on wisdom, a positive personality trait associated with well-being and health. A number of randomized controlled trials are being conducted to enhance components of wisdom like compassion, emotional regulation, and spirituality, as well as resilience and overall wisdom (Lee et al., 2020, Treichler et al., 2020). This is positive psychiatry. The origin of psychiatry is rooted in medicine’s goal of alleviating mental illnesses, the diseases being its original and natural focus. Over recent decades, however, psychiatry, hand-in-hand with psychology, has undergone several changes in its perspective, shaped by behaviorism, existentialist and humanistic psychology, and, of course, biology which is at the core of medicine. Martin Seligman, following his earlier work on learned helplessness and pessimism developed an interest in quite the opposite: strength and optimism, the positive side of psychology. It was one of those ideas that aged well, it grew upon innate validity. The principles of positive psychology can be witnessed in action elsewhere – it propels the markets for self-help literature and motivational talks. Yet, it has taken centuries for organized medicine and psychiatry to accept the notions |2|of positive personality traits as targets of intervention, and well-being and happiness as outcomes. The first papers with positive psychiatry in their title were published in 2013 and 2015 (Jeste, 2013; Jeste & Palmer, 2013) and the first book on that topic in 2015 (Jeste & Palmer, 2015). Since then, the positive psychiatry movement has been spreading internationally (Machado & Matsumoto 2020; Messias, Peseschkian, & Cagande, 2020). It is, therefore, with great enthusiasm that we welcome Practicing Positive Psychiatry by Fredrike P. Bannink and Frenk P.M.L. Peeters This book is a slightly modified English translation of the first book on positive psychiatry in Dutch published earlier this year. The authors aim at shifting the focus of psychiatry from reducing distress and surviving to successful living and flourishing. They combine the medical model in psychiatry with the synthesis paradigm or functional approach. We were struck by a beautiful sentence in the Introduction: “With this book, we invite you to apply positive psychiatry to not only repair the worst, but also to create the best in your patients, your colleagues, and yourself.” The intent to go beyond treating diseases and disabilities and expanding the mission to bringing out the best not only in the patients but also in the therapists (and readers from all walks of life) is laudable and noteworthy. The authors have achieved professional eminence and have authored several other important books in the field. Fredrike Bannink, MDR, is a clinical psychologist and lawyer, whereas Frenk Peeters is a psychiatrist and Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Maastricht University in the Netherlands. They have adopted and adapted the ideas from our and others’ work (Jeste, Palmer, Rettew, & Boardman, 2015), shaping them with their valuable first-hand experience. The book is very well written and the concepts are conveyed very clearly, making it accessible even to lay readers. For those who are interested in research, the book is interspersed with important references to the larger body of work they draw from. The book is structured into five well thought out chapters following the Introduction. The first chapter discusses two paradigm shifts in the field: moving the focus from the disease to the person and adding synthesis to analysis. The second chapter explains the various constructs involved in positive psychiatry. By increasing patients’ intrinsic motivation, the proposed solution-focused model enables shorter interventions, greater autonomy for patients, and less burnout among professionals. The third chapter describes the recovery-oriented approach. The fourth chapter describes various applications. The authors discuss 41 applications, which are summarized at the end of the book. The remarkable fifth chapter titled “Reflection” is a fascinating discourse on professionals’ reflection along with feedback from patients, and a presentation of future vision. Finally, there is a chapter with 31 FAQs. |3|The authors make a strong case that nothing short of a profound paradigm shift is warranted to successfully practice positive psychiatry. A focus on the patient must also be accompanied by a synthesis that involves patient participation. The book starts out by laying a strong groundwork explaining the envisioned paradigm shift to the intended audience of practitioners who seek better outcomes for their patients. The book is replete with stories, applications, and case studies, written in easily understandable language. The provided applications have considerable utility for the practitioner. These are templates for practioner–patient dialog. They include specific questions, often open-ended and always nudging toward the desired synthesis. The “Taxi Driver” application is foundational, highlighting the fact that where you are headed is relevant, not where you are coming from. Stories provide a meta commentary illustrating key ideas, often borrowing from a wider context, sometimes examples from very different fields, our favorite being “Lessons From the Bamboo”. The case studies are in third person and intended to provide a perspective, connecting applications with patients, while taking care that the patient is never objectified and a disease is not the long-term focus, fitting with the overall paradigm of positive psychiatry. While the paradigm and procedures are described in earlier chapters, the true spirit of positive psychiatry is captured by the chapter titled “Recovery-Oriented Approach”. The possibility of recovery is first introduced to the practitioner while making her or him aware that it goes well beyond symptom relief and must include leading a meaningful life. This foundational paradigm shift is captured by a key sentence and highly resonates with our philosophy: “One important recovery-oriented practice involves structuring the ethos and culture of mental health services around the premise that persons who experience mental illness can indeed recover.” The final chapter includes FAQs, an essential companion to the applications provided throughout the book. The FAQs handle exceptions to scripted applications and often link back to the subject matter. What we particularly appreciated in this chapter is the emphasis on pragmatics rather than on high philosophy. For example, regarding a question on the role of diagnostics in positive psychiatry, the authors write that “The role of diagnostics is important, but diagnostics should not only be about problems, symptoms, disorders, and what is wrong in the patient’s life, but also about their strengths, resources, and what is going well.” We also applaud the authors’ list of “What if” questions from the perspective of patients as well as treating clinicians. One rarely encounters a book with such varied scenarios accompanied by appropriate “how to” responses. This reflects on the authors’ decades of thoughtful clinical experience and expertise. |4|We have long held the view that psychiatry is defined by the skill set possessed by mental healthcare...
