A Therapist's Guide to Understanding Common Medical Conditions
Andrew Kolbasovsky
Praise for A Therapist’s Guide to Understanding Common Medical Conditions
"[T]his book should be at arm’s length of any therapist."
—United States Association for Body Psychotherapy Newsletter
"This book is destined to become the standard reference for mental health clinicians who will keep it on their desktops for constant reference. Veteran and beginning practitioners alike—as well as students in related graduate training programs—will find this handbook to medical conditions invaluable to their therapy work."
—Edward Anselm, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, Mr. Sinai Medical Center, New York
Overview
People seeking therapy for mental health issues often also have medical problems such as diabetes, AIDS, asthma, or heart conditions. Just because someone is seeking mental health help doesn't make these medical conditions abate or go away.
As a therapist, should you ignore the medical conditions that your clients may have, and simply stick to what you're trained in, healing the mind and not focusing on medical or bodily issues? Or, should you inquire about any medical issues during intake and give them full attention? And should the information you do have inform therapy? And, as a nonmedically trained practitioner, how much should you be really be expected to know about these common medical issues?
These answers and more can be found in this book. Geared specifically to nonmedically trained mental health professionals, it gives mental health practitioners a better understanding of exactly how physical health issues play out in the context of mental health issues, equipping clinicians with the information necessary to more effectively create and manage a comprehensive psychotherapeutic treatment regimen.
Easy to read and clearly organized for quick referencing, each chapter of the book covers the 11 most common medical conditions a therapist is likely to come across in their patients: diabetes, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, stroke, asthma, breast cancer, prostate cancer, thyroid disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease, hepatitis, and HIV/AIDS. Kolbasovsky offers readers a concise explanation of the condition and its medical consequences and treatment, describes the various comorbid mental health disorders that might be present, and covers how the underlying medical condition affects them. Depression and asthma, eating disorders and diabetes, dementia and stroke, sexual dysfunction and prostate cancer, substance abuse and hepatitis, and anxiety and congestive heart failure are just a few of the co-occurring issues considered.
Filled with clinical vignettes and tips, this all-in-one handbook gives therapists just the right amount of digestible medical information they need to look at the complete picture of their clients' well-being, both their mental and physical health.
Contents
- Diabetes
- Myocardial Infarction
- Congestive Heart Failure
- Stroke
- Asthma
- Breast Cancer
- Prostate Cancer
- Thyroid Disease
- Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease
- Hepatitis
- HIV/AIDS
- Future Directions
About the Author
Andrew Kolbasovsky, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and Director of Mental Health Disease Management and Clinical Development for a large HMO. Coauthor of A Therapist Guide to Working with Managed Care (Norton), he has written numerous articles and presented at conferences throughout the country on integrating behavioral healthcare with primary medical care.
ISBN 10: 0-393-70535-8
ISBN 13: 978-0-393-70535-5
2008 / 384 pages / hardcover
