Product Description

More Than a Treatment Strategy-A Whole New Direction in Psychotherapy

More than just a new behavioral treatment approach, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) marks a whole new theoretical orientation to the practice of clinical psychology-a rethinking of the causes, descriptions, and treatments of acute mental disorders. This volume offers a detailed explication of DBT in theory and practice. Designed to teach professionals how to use this method in a private-practice setting to treat a range of disorders, this book includes a clear and concise presentation of:

* DBT and its orientation within the larger context of psychotherapy * Research-based evidence for the effectiveness of DBT in clinical practice * Emotional sensitivity as the single most important factor causing mental health disorders * Dialectic conflict and its role in sustaining mental disorders * The DBT coping skill set * meaning-making, mindfulness, * emotion regulation * distress tolerance * and strategic behavior skills * Practical applications of DBT to a number of acute mental disorders * The breakdown of DBT treatment steps for the private practice setting

The book also includes a CD-ROM containing easily reproducible client worksheets and PowerPoint presentations to lead psychoeducational sessions with clients-all formatted to work on both Macintosh and Windows platforms.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40965 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 298 pages

From the Publisher
A noted expert in dialectical behavior therapy translates this revolutionary new therapy into techniques professionals can integrate into their private practices. The book includes step-by-step instruction on how to use techniques such as distress tolerance, mindfulness-based practices, self-soothing exercises, and emotional regulation.

From the Back Cover
More Than a Treatment Strategy—A Whole New Direction in Psychotherapy

More than just a new behavioral treatment approach, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) marks a whole new theoretical orientation to the practice of clinical psychology—a rethinking of the causes, descriptions, and treatments of acute mental disorders. This volume offers a detailed explication of DBT in theory and practice. Designed to teach professionals how to use this method in a private-practice setting to treat a range of disorders, this book includes a clear and concise presentation of:

· DBT and its orientation within the larger context of psychotherapy
· Research-based evidence for the effectiveness of DBT in clinical practice
· Emotional sensitivity as the single most important factor causing mental health disorders
· Dialectic conflict and its role in sustaining mental disorders
· The DBT coping skill set: meaning-making, mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and strategic behavior skills
· Practical applications of DBT to a number of acute mental disorders
· The breakdown of DBT treatment steps for the private practice setting

The book also includes a CD-ROM containing easily reproducible client worksheets and PowerPoint presentations to lead psychoeducational sessions with clients—all formatted to work on both Macintosh and Windows platforms.

About the Author
Thomas Marra, Ph.D., is the president of the Center for Dialectical Behavior Therapy in Monterey, CA, and founder and clinical director of a psychiatric inpatient facility based entirely on DBT principles. He has used DBT over the last ten years in inpatient, partial hospital, and outpatient settings.

Customer Reviews

DBT in the clinic
As director of an outpatient mental health clinic I found this book to be quite informative in providing a good understanding of DBT in general, particularly for those who have not worked with it before. It was easy to understand, yet scholarly. I especially appreciated the specific examples of how it is applied in the clinical setting for different diagnosis and symptoms to get a clearer picture of it's many applications. I have highly recommended this book to the therapists at my clinic and encourage them to use DBT in their therapeutic interventions, not just with personalaity disorders, but with any diagnosis that has elements of anxiety, depression. Personally, I believe DBT provides a more wholistic approach to mental health interventions i.e. working with both mind and emotions. The book Dialectical Behavior Therapy in Private Practice, helps therapists to develop better therapeutic alliances and interventions as well as helping the consumer to cooperate more effectively in their own recovery.

Very Useful
I am not a fan of this author's other book, "Depressed and Anxious..." which I found to be much too wordy and not very focused.

This book, in contrast, is very clear, concise, and dense with insights. As a participant in DBT therapy, it can be hard to grasp the "meta meaning" of the DBT modules. This text gives me a better framework for understanding the skills, and clarifies very well some of the concepts.

It's interesting that the majority of DBT participants know the acronym DBT, and most probably know that it stands for Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. However, I don't think that most of the participants know what "dialectical" means.

I knew vaguely (after attending DBT a few times) that it was a kind of tensions of opposites, but I didn't really know very well what that meant in practical terms that would help me identify them in my life. One of the nice features of this book is that it has tables that illustrate what the dialectics are for different client categories (diagnoses, problem behaviors) that helped me understand a vague topic very clearly in such a way that I can better identify the dialectics in my life and seek to "heal" them, if that would improve things (some dialectics are OK, some do not serve one well, and that may be a matter of personal choice but there is more _choice_ involved when one can identify them).

These are my initial impressions of the book which I may update as I read it in more depth.

I would look forward to another skills-based workbook from this author for the clients of DBT written in a clear, concise style such as this book (of course, in more simplified language because of the different audience).

I think this book succeeds at being "A Practical and Comprehensive Guide" (which is the subtitle).


Update:

I have had more time to read this book, and the more that I have gotten into it the more useful it has become. It's possible that I am a unique DBT client that can get a better perspective on DBT reading a book targeted towards providers. I love the conciseness, and in my opinion it's the perfect balance between economy of words and getting the ideas across.

In addition, both the slides and the worksheets are superb, have added to my understanding of the modules, and greatly exceed my expectations. They are well designed, well presented, and very useful. I haven't been this excited about a DBT book since Marsha Linehan's Skills Training Manual.

Thomas Marra: I gave a low review to one of your other books, and actually feel guilty for it even though it reflects my true feelings (hmm, is there a dialectic there?). Anyway, kudos for a job well done. I give this 6 stars (******) which should help average out my other rating :-)

Dialectical Behavior Therapy in Private Practice
As long as the reader recognizes that Marra is not writing a book about protocol DBT, his ideas are a just fine adjunct to the library. The clinician needs to be ready to recognize the differences and make informed choices.