Guidelines for the Systematic Treatment of the Depressed Patient / Edition 1

by Larry E. Beutler, John Clarkin, Bruce Bongar

Overview

From initial consultation to termination of treatment, psychologists and other mental health practitioners make a series of crucial decisions to determine the progress and therapy of the patient. These decisions have varied implications such as the clinical course of the patient, the efficacy and efficiency of the treatment, and the cost of the sessions. Thus, the decisions made by mental health professionals need to be accurate and consistent, respecting a series of guidelines that will ultimately benefit the patient. This is the first in a series of guidebooks that is designed to do just that by providing practitioners with some structure in the development of treatment programs. Previous guidelines have been based on consensus panels of experts or on the opinions of membership groups, causing guidelines to be very far off from the findings of empirical research. Here, guidelines are presented in terms of treatment principles rather than in terms of specific treatment models or theories, and they do not favor one theory of psychotherapy over another. Instead, they define strategies and considerations that can be woven into comprehensive treatment programs. The entire series of guidebooks will cover numerous topics, including anxiety disorders, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and treatment of serious mental disorders. This volume will cover in detail the nature of depression, issues in treatment research, contemporary treatments, and implications for education and training. It is ideal for postgraduates and professionals in the mental health field and is intended to provide important background on treatment of non-bipolar depressive disorders.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195105308
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/03/2000
Series:	Guidebooks in Clinical Psychology
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	464
Product dimensions:	9.64(w) x 6.62(h) x 1.39(d)

About the Author

Beutler, Larry E., PhD (UC Santa Barbara); Clarkin, John F., PhD (Cornell Univ); Bongar, Bruce, PhD (Stanford Univ)

Table of Contents

Part I: Introduction to Treatment Guidelines1. Essentials of Treatment Guidelines2. Nature of Current Treatment GuidelinesPart II: Guidelines for Treatment-Relevant Assessment3. Identifying Treatment-Relevant Dimensions4. Issues in Treatment-Relevant Assessment5. Integrating and Economizing Treatment-Relevant AssessmentPart III: Guidelines for Management and Treatment6. Reasonable and Basic Treatment Guidelines7. Guidelines for Optimal and Enhanced TreatmentPart IV: The Nature of Depression8. The Significance of the Problem of Depression9. Concepts from Basic Research on DepressionPart V: Contemporary Treatment Models10. Treatment Benefit: Research Issues11. Benefits of Treatment: What Works12. Structuring Treatment: From Managed Care to Treatment Manuals13. Models of Treatment in Clinical PracticePart VI: Implications for Education and Training14. Issues in the Continuing Development of Treatment GuidelinesBibliographyIndex

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Nicholas Greco IV, MS, BCETS, CATSM, FAAETS (C3 Education and Research, Inc.)
Description: The authors of this book provide much needed structure and organization by proposing treatment guidelines for depression. This is the first volume in a series on various topics of mental illness.
Purpose: The purpose is to provide mental health professionals with structure in the development of depression treatment programs. These guidelines are grounded in empirical research, subjected to independent validational study, and can be easily implemented and superimposed upon other treatment modalities to provide increased efficiency and decreased limitations in treatment planning. This is an unprecedented, highly valuable, and fitting contribution to the field of mental health, and the authors' objectives are met.
Audience: Intended mainly for mental health professionals, this book will enhance the seasoned clinician's treatment planning as it is an invaluable guide for the young practitioner as well as any healthcare professional providing service to depressed patients. The authors are well-versed in the field of mental health, research-oriented, consistently and refreshingly unbiased, and focused on providing quality care to the depressed patient.
Features: The authors appropriately begin with a detailed overview of the issues and problems that arise in the development of treatment guidelines, and follow this with an excellent representation of the necessity for appropriate diagnosis and assessment. The nature of depression, research issues, benefits of treatment, and education and training are discussed in considerable detail ensuring an adequate understanding of the guidelines proposed. The guidelines are supported by pertinent past and current literature making the bibliography a veritable "who's who" in the mental health field. The index and tables are appropriately organized to provide quick reference. The authors incorporate the applicability of the guidelines with case studies and provide the reader with the confidence to implement them in practice.
Assessment: The vast amount of choices for practitioners to make in the treatment of the depressed patient can be overwhelming and confusing. With this book the authors provide depression guidelines based upon treatment principles rather than specific treatment theories or models which can be impractical, limiting, and unsupported. These guidelines are malleable and enable the practitioner to construct appropriate and individualized treatment plans for the patient. If this book is any indication of what to expect from future volumes on mental illness, mental health professionals will be extremely fortunate. In a system which desperately needs a set of guidelines that are grounded in empirical research and are logical, practical, and unadulterated by professional motives and agendas, the authors of this book truly have heard the call.

Doody's Review Service

"The current volume reflects an extension of the authors' long-standing clinical and research involvement in systematically selecting the optimal treatment for any given patient. This book reflects their firsthand experience with depressed patients, within both clinical research contexts. In addition to evaluating the research methodology that has been used to study treatment efficacy, the book also contains an invaluable review of what is known both theoretically and empirically about depression and its treatment. In this book, the authors provide us with a creative blending of research and practice. There is much in this volume to which clinicians can relate. The appeal of this book is very clear: If you are a practitioner who wants to be informed by research or a researcher who wants to stay close to clinical reality, this book deserves a very special place on your bookshelf." — Marvin Goldfried, Psychotherapy Research, 11(2) 2001

From the Publisher

4 Stars! from Doody

The authors of this book provide much needed structure and organization by proposing treatment guidelines for depression. This is the first volume in a series on various topics of mental illness. The purpose is to provide mental health professionals with structure in the development of depression treatment programs. These guidelines are grounded in empirical research, subjected to independent validational study, and can be easily implemented and superimposed upon other treatment modalities to provide increased efficiency and decreased limitations in treatment planning. This is an unprecedented, highly valuable, and fitting contribution to the field of mental health, and the authors' objectives are met. Intended mainly for mental health professionals, this book will enhance the seasoned clinician's treatment planning as it is an invaluable guide for the young practitioner as well as any healthcare professional providing service to depressed patients. The authors are well-versed in the field of mental health, research-oriented, consistently and refreshingly unbiased, and focused on providing quality care to the depressed patient. The authors appropriately begin with a detailed overview of the issues and problems that arise in the development of treatment guidelines, and follow this with an excellent representation of the necessity for appropriate diagnosis and assessment. The nature of depression, research issues, benefits of treatment, and education and training are discussed in considerable detail ensuring an adequate understanding of the guidelines proposed. The guidelines are supported by pertinent past and current literature making the bibliography a veritable ""who's who"" inthe mental health field. The index and tables are appropriately organized to provide quick reference. The authors incorporate the applicability of the guidelines with case studies and provide the reader with the confidence to implement them in practice. The vast amount of choices for practitioners to make in the treatment of the depressed patient can be overwhelming and confusing. With this book the authors provide depression guidelines based upon treatment principles rather than specific treatment theories or models which can be impractical, limiting, and unsupported. These guidelines are malleable and enable the practitioner to construct appropriate and individualized treatment plans for the patient. If this book is any indication of what to expect from future volumes on mental illness, mental health professionals will be extremely fortunate. In a system which desperately needs a set of guidelines that are grounded in empirical research and are logical, practical, and unadulterated by professional motives and agendas, the authors of this book truly have heard the call.

Nicholas Greco IV

The first in a series which presents program development guidelines that are formulated on the basis of treatment principles rather than in terms of specific treatment models or theories. Beginning with hypotheses that the authors feel are validated by empirical research, this volume offers assessment and treatment guidelines for depression. Guidelines presented include both general ones that can be constructed as routine decisions managed by health care managers, and optimal guidelines that involve the need for special training, monitoring, and oversight for the clinician overseeing programs. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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