Accuracy And Accountability Are Keys To Effective Psychotherapy

Main Category: Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 10 Dec 2008 - 2:00 PST

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

How effective is psychotherapy? Is it as scientific as some researchers claim, or does it mainly supply care and support, correcting for past disappointments and assaults on one's self-esteem?

Considering the amount of time and money that people invest in psychotherapy, these are crucial questions. In Steven A. Frankel M.D.'s new book, Evidence from Within: A Paradigm for Clinical Practice, he boldly asks whether, when, and how psychotherapy works. Now available in paperback, Evidence from Within proposes a groundbreaking model of psychological and psychiatric assessment and treatment. In Frankel's model, the therapist is responsible for delivering treatment that produces results. Included are built-in provisions for verifying accuracy of diagnosis and independent monitoring of treatment progress. Evidence from Within proposes that effective psychotherapy should be kept on target through psychological assessment, periodic self-report questionnaires, and a finely-tuned collaboration between therapist and patient. Frankel's approach has been evolved and tested by the author and his colleagues for over fifteen years.

Evidence from Within is a valuable guide for any mental health clinician who wants to maximize his or her treatments, and an ideal text for beginning and intermediate courses on psychotherapy. The book is replete with clinical illustrations that capture the dilemmas typically faced by practicing psychotherapists.

Review copies and book excerpts are available on request. A sample chapter is available online here.

About Evidence from Within

Title: Evidence from Within: A Paradigm for Clinical Practice
Author: Steven A. Frankel, MD
ISBN: 0-7657-0591-5/978-0-7657-0591-4
Publication Date: Nov 2008
Publisher: Rowman and Littlefield
Price: $26.95 USD
Format: 6 x 9 paperback; 204 pages

About Steven A. Frankel, M.D.

Steven A. Frankel, M.D. has been a practicing psychiatrist for over thirty years. A graduate of Yale University Medical School, he is board certified in both general and child psychiatry. He is an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of California Medical School and founder and director of The Center for Collaborative Psychology and Psychiatry in Kentfield, CA.

Dr. Frankel is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and has been voted to Best Doctors in America by his peers each year since 1987. His ideas are developed in his many professional papers and three earlier books, Intricate Engagements (Rowman and Littlefield, 2004), Hidden Faults: Recognizing and Resolving Therapeutic Disjunctions (The Psychosocial Press, 2000), and Making Psychotherapy Work: Collaborating Effectively with Your Patient (The Psychosocial Press, 2007).

http://www.collaborativepsychology.com