Substance Use Problems (Advances in Psychotherapy: Evidence-Based Practise Series)
2
The book though, will appeal to the whole care team, from psychiatric nurses, practice nurses and hospital pharmacists to medical students, general practitioners and hospital physicians. Overall, the presentation of the book meant that digesting such a large amount of data was more than manageable and made the book a very useful tool learning about mental health. SALAJ MASAND BA (Hons) Cantab Medical Student King’s College London London UK E-mail: [email protected] Substance Use Problems (Advances in Psychotherapy: Evidence-Based Practise Series) Mitch Earlywine Hogrefe & Huber Publishers, Cambridge, Massachusetts 2009, 81 pages, £/€24.95 ISBN 978-0-88937-329-7 When this book arrived on my desk I was a little taken aback by how small it was. Any book that belongs to a series entitled ‘Advances in Psycho- therapy – Evidence-Based Practise’ conjures up images of great big tomes, in my mind at least. Substance Use Problems is not a tome, coming in at only 73 pages (excluding references and appen- dices). According to the publisher’s web site, this book and the others in the series are aimed at students and practitioners in a variety of mental health professions although for some unknown reason nursing is not mentioned. Each book aims to be ‘practice oriented, authoritative, easy to read and compact guides’. They are attempting to publish four per year and already have over 20 titles available on topics including eating disor- ders, schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In line with the easy to read aim the book is laid out in four sections. The first is entitled ‘Description of Problem Drug Use’ and discusses a wide variety of topics including diagnostic criteria, definition of terms, common drugs of abuse, prevalence and co-morbidities with other mental health problems. Section two provides a brief (three pages) overview of the ‘Biopsychosocial Model of Drug Problems’ and provides an insight into how an individual moves from initiation to drug use further towards regular and problematic use. Section three examines the process and intri- cacies of diagnosis, assessment and indicators for treatment. Finally, section four is by far the largest and makes up more than half of the book. An overview of the various treatment options is pro- vided here including harm reduction, the thera- peutic relationship, motivational interviewing, self-help groups and medications. In addition to simply explaining these various treatment app- roaches the author also captures some of the debates within the field including the emphasis on evidence-based approaches, abstinence versus controlled use and the predominance of 12-step modalities in treatment programmes. Overall this is an excellent book. In line with their stated aims it is very easy to read and highly informative. It is clearly laid out in a logical fashion with lots of headings and subheadings making it easy to dip in and out of. In addition, the succinct text and numerous headings mean that the book is well paced and easy to read straight through. While it is written by an American academic the language used and concepts discussed are universal and so it does not feel like he is writing for his domestic market only. This is a great strength in this book as so many books read like they were written for readers from one country only. For example, the legal framework surrounding drug possession and selling, which vary dramatically from jurisdiction, are not discussed. Perhaps the use of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and no mention of International Classification of Diseases is the only indication of the author’s nationality. The only real problem I have with this book is the title which clearly denotes it as a psychotherapy text which it is not. It does not try to teach counselling and psychotherapy skills. Instead this book pro- vides an accessible introduction to the causes, assessment, diagnosis and treatment of substance abuse problems. Surely this makes it a relevant book for any professional working with substance using clients and not just psychotherapists! However valid this observation may be, however, it does not take away from the book, but it might take away from their sales. I have no reservations in recommending this book to anyone looking for a simple introductory text on working with substance users. Book reviews 854 © 2010 Blackwell Publishing
-
Upload
philip-james -
Category
Documents
-
view
219 -
download
2
Transcript of Substance Use Problems (Advances in Psychotherapy: Evidence-Based Practise Series)
The book though, will appeal to the whole careteam, from psychiatric nurses, practice nurses andhospital pharmacists to medical students, generalpractitioners and hospital physicians.
Overall, the presentation of the book meant thatdigesting such a large amount of data was morethan manageable and made the book a very usefultool learning about mental health.
SALAJ MASAND BA (Hons) CantabMedical Student
King’s College LondonLondon
UKE-mail: [email protected]
Substance Use Problems (Advancesin Psychotherapy: Evidence-BasedPractise Series)
Mitch EarlywineHogrefe & Huber Publishers, Cambridge,Massachusetts2009, 81 pages, £/€24.95ISBN 978-0-88937-329-7
When this book arrived on my desk I was a littletaken aback by how small it was. Any book thatbelongs to a series entitled ‘Advances in Psycho-therapy – Evidence-Based Practise’ conjures upimages of great big tomes, in my mind at least.Substance Use Problems is not a tome, coming inat only 73 pages (excluding references and appen-dices). According to the publisher’s web site, thisbook and the others in the series are aimed atstudents and practitioners in a variety of mentalhealth professions although for some unknownreason nursing is not mentioned. Each book aimsto be ‘practice oriented, authoritative, easy to readand compact guides’. They are attempting topublish four per year and already have over 20titles available on topics including eating disor-ders, schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder andattention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
In line with the easy to read aim the book islaid out in four sections. The first is entitled‘Description of Problem Drug Use’ and discusses awide variety of topics including diagnostic criteria,definition of terms, common drugs of abuse,prevalence and co-morbidities with other mentalhealth problems. Section two provides a brief
(three pages) overview of the ‘BiopsychosocialModel of Drug Problems’ and provides an insightinto how an individual moves from initiation todrug use further towards regular and problematicuse. Section three examines the process and intri-cacies of diagnosis, assessment and indicators fortreatment. Finally, section four is by far the largestand makes up more than half of the book. Anoverview of the various treatment options is pro-vided here including harm reduction, the thera-peutic relationship, motivational interviewing,self-help groups and medications. In addition tosimply explaining these various treatment app-roaches the author also captures some of thedebates within the field including the emphasison evidence-based approaches, abstinence versuscontrolled use and the predominance of 12-stepmodalities in treatment programmes.
Overall this is an excellent book. In line withtheir stated aims it is very easy to read and highlyinformative. It is clearly laid out in a logical fashionwith lots of headings and subheadings making iteasy to dip in and out of. In addition, the succincttext and numerous headings mean that the book iswell paced and easy to read straight through. Whileit is written by an American academic the languageused and concepts discussed are universal and so itdoes not feel like he is writing for his domesticmarket only. This is a great strength in this bookas so many books read like they were written forreaders from one country only. For example, thelegal framework surrounding drug possession andselling, which vary dramatically from jurisdiction,are not discussed. Perhaps the use of Diagnosticand Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and nomention of International Classification of Diseasesis the only indication of the author’s nationality.The only real problem I have with this book is thetitle which clearly denotes it as a psychotherapy textwhich it is not. It does not try to teach counsellingand psychotherapy skills. Instead this book pro-vides an accessible introduction to the causes,assessment, diagnosis and treatment of substanceabuse problems. Surely this makes it a relevantbook for any professional working with substanceusing clients and not just psychotherapists!However valid this observation may be, however, itdoes not take away from the book, but it might takeaway from their sales. I have no reservations inrecommending this book to anyone looking for asimple introductory text on working with substanceusers.
Book reviews
854 © 2010 Blackwell Publishing
PHILIP JAMES RPN MSc (Hons) BSc (Hons) DipREBT Dip Nurs
Clinical Nurse Specialist in Child & AdolescentSubstance Misuse
YoDAHSE Addiction Services
TallaghtDublinIreland
E-mail: [email protected].
Asylum: The Magazine forDemocratic Society
Phil VerdenPCSS Books2010, £14 (print)/£12.93 (pdf)ISSN 0955 2030
Asylum was first launched in 1986 at 50p perissue but free to ‘inmates’. Influenced by the anti-psychiatry movement it captured and capitalizedon the zeitgeist that was the evolving consumer/survivor/ex-patient/activist movement and thepromise of a revolution in mental health care. Thefirst edition included an interview with RonnieLange and a discussion of the democratic psychia-try movement in Italy. The revolution may havebeen fairly subdued but a stream of volunteersover the years kept Asylum alive and a virtual flagstaff for a range of disparate organizations andindividuals from within and outside psychiatryincluding the critical psychiatry, hearing voicesand paranoia networks, mind survivors and madpride. Asylum has come to represent is the toler-ance of many voices, differing viewpoints, and acommitment to self-help and mental health servicereform.
In 2007, Terry McLaughlin, the executiveeditor of many years stood down due to Illnessand passed away. Asylum has just been re-releasedin digital and paper form. It is distributed byPCCS Books (www.pccs-books.co.uk), purveyorsof a range of interesting and inexpensive mental
health therapy literature (my wallet was consider-ably lighter after visiting). The new edition withthe theme of paranoia continues the long traditionof mixing articles of biography (his and her-stories), critical commentary on the theme fromprofessionals as well as survivors/activists, bookreviews and news from activist groups. As onemight expect, the writing styles of articles aremixed, with the scholarly interspersed with pas-sionate rants and political statements. One can’targue with people’s stories, which are often engag-ing and liberating. Commentary is frequentlycritical of oppressive, dismissive or arrogant psy-chiatric practices, arguing instead for sensitive,empathic, engagement and choice in care andtreatment. These are hardly radical ideas today,and while space continues to be given to ‘railingagainst’ the dark, more space is given to holdingup a candle in terms of celebrating self-help andcommunity.
It is difficult to know what the future holds for amagazine such as Asylum, given that the Internetnow offers unprecedented access to ideas critical ofpsychiatry and affords opportunities to share storiesand connect with others in more intimate and imme-diate ways. Social movements are now rapidly builtand promoted via Internet networking technologiesand not magazines. However, I enjoy the visceralfeeling of a magazine, the opportunity to turn a page,to scribble on the margins, to read it on a bus (thusmaking a political statement) and to recycle it to afriend. This magazine is colourful and well producedwith a mix of interesting and provocative articlesthat I think will appeal to, or more importantly, willprovoke discussion between service users, carers,professionals and activists alike.
RICHARD LAKEMAN DipNsg, BN, BA Hons,PGDip (psychotherapy), DNSc (to be conferred)
LecturerSchool of Nursing
Dublin City UniversityDublinIreland
E-mail: [email protected]
Book reviews
© 2010 Blackwell Publishing 855
