Solution-Oriented Therapy for Chronic and Severe Mental Illness

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The idea of brief, solution-oriented therapy for severe mental illness flies in the face of conventional wisdom. But then, so does almost everything else about the psychotherapeutic approach developed by Bill O'Hanlon, coauthor of this groundbreaking book. Concepts such as forming client/therapist partnerships and creatively engaging the person beyond the illness are at radical variance with the mainstream view that disorders such as schizophrenia are completely neurobiological in nature and, hence, impervious to all but a battery of debilitating psychopharmaceuticals. Nevertheless, the long and growing record of inspiring results obtained by the authors of this book and like-minded practitioners speaks for itself. Now, in the first practical guide to solution-oriented interventions with severe mental illness, therapists Tim Rowan and Bill O'Hanlon acquaint readers with the core principles of the solution-oriented model. Also, with the help of many vivid case examples, they describe the proven strategies and techniques they have developed for treating patients suffering from severe depression, schizophrenia, and other severe, chronic, and persistent mental illnesses.Unlike traditional psychotherapeutic models that focus on pathologies and limitations, the solution-oriented approach emphasizes health, competence, and possibilities. Its ultimate goal is to help clients learn to marshal their own resources to deal with their own problems. Consequently, the book describes several "unorthodox" methods such as mining moments of crisis for functional models; exploiting individual and family expertise with mental illness; externalization techniques for helping patients identify the effects of their illnesses and reclaim self-agency; and psycho-education for the prevention of relapses. The authors also provide helpful pointers on how to constructively manage psychotic experiences, as well as violence and the threat of suicide.Solution-Oriented Therapy for Chronic and Severe Mental Illness will make fascinating and instructive reading for all mental health practitioners, regardless of their current theoretical slant.A groundbreaking guide to solution-oriented interventions with severe mental illnessSolution-Oriented Therapy for Chronic and Severe Mental Illness is the first guide to applying the increasingly popular solution-oriented approach to treating mental illnesses generally considered beyond the scope of "talking cures." In a series of brief, engagingly written chapters, studded with vivid case examples, authors Tim Rowan and Bill O'Hanlon demonstrate the solution-oriented approach in action with patients suffering from severe depression, schizophrenia, and other severe, chronic, and persistent mental illnesses. You'll learn their proven techniques for dealing constructively with severely ill clients, even during moments of extreme crises, and for helping them to cultivate the internal resources needed to successfully manage their own illnesses.

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TIM ROWAN, MSW, is a clinical social worker and holds the position of Division Chair and Professor of Human Services at Allegany College of Maryland. He also maintains a private practice and works as a part-time consultant/therapist for the Addictions and Mental Health Centers of the Allegany County Health Department. In the past, Tim worked full-time at a state inpatient psychatric hospital and later at an outpatient mental health clinic. Tim has 24 years of experience with the people this book is about and has been an invited presenter at the Family Therapy Network Symposium.BILL O'HANLON, MS, is one of the developers of solution-oriented therapy. He has written and lectured extensively worldwide on the application of this time-sensitive treatment model. He is also the author of Taproots: Underlying Principles of Milton Erickson's Therapy and Hypnosis; In Search of Solutions (with Michele Weiner-Davis); An Uncommon Casebook (with Angela Hexum); Rewriting Love Stories: Brief Marital Therapy (with Patricia O'Hanlon Hudson); and Even from a Broken Web (with Bob Bertolino).