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Self-Help in Mental Health

A Critical Review

  • Book
  • © 2010

Overview

Authors:
  1. T. Mark Harwood

    1. West Chicago, U.S.A.

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    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  2. Luciano L'Abate

    1. Dept. Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, U.S.A.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Guidelines for evaluating self-help
  • Strategies for integrating self-help
  • New directions in theories of self-help
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxiv
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  2. Introduction to the Field of Self-help in Mental Health

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
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    2. What Constitutes Self-Help in Mental Health and What Can Be Done to Improve It?

      • T. Mark Harwood, Luciano L’Abate
      Pages 3-33

    3. The Self-Help Movement in Mental Health: From Passivity to Interactivity

      • T. Mark Harwood, Luciano L’Abate
      Pages 35-44

  3. Self-Support Methods: Initiated, Administered, Guided, Maintained, and Monitored by Professionals

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 45-45
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    2. Distance Writing: Helping without Seeing Participants

      • T. Mark Harwood, Luciano L’Abate
      Pages 47-58

    3. Bibliotherapy

      • T. Mark Harwood, Luciano L’Abate
      Pages 59-77

    4. Online Support Groups and Therapy

      • T. Mark Harwood, Luciano L’Abate
      Pages 79-99

    5. Manuals for Practitioners

      • T. Mark Harwood, Luciano L’Abate
      Pages 101-116

  4. Self-help and Self-change Approaches for Specific Conditions Initiated, Administered, Guided, Maintained, and Monitored by Professionals

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 117-117
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    2. Anxiety Disorders

      • T. Mark Harwood, Luciano L’Abate
      Pages 119-136

    3. Mood Disorders

      • T. Mark Harwood, Luciano L’Abate
      Pages 137-148

    4. Eating Disorders: Anorexia, Bulimia, and Obesity

      • T. Mark Harwood, Luciano L’Abate
      Pages 149-171

    5. Addictive Behaviors

      • T. Mark Harwood, Luciano L’Abate
      Pages 173-201

    6. Personality Disorders

      • T. Mark Harwood, Luciano L’Abate
      Pages 203-215

    7. Severe Psychopathology

      • T. Mark Harwood, Luciano L’Abate
      Pages 217-230

    8. Medical Conditions

      • T. Mark Harwood, Luciano L’Abate
      Pages 231-245

  5. Conclusions and Prospects

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 247-247
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    2. Who Benefits by Self-Help and Why?

      • T. Mark Harwood, Luciano L’Abate
      Pages 249-262

  6. Back Matter

    Pages 263-311
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Keywords

About this book

Self-help is big business, but alas not a scienti c business. The estimated 10 billion—that’s with a “b”—spent each year on self-help in the United States is rarely guided by research or monitored by mental health professionals. Instead, marketing and metaphysics triumph. The more outrageous the “miraculous cure” and the “r- olutionary secret,” the better the sales. Of the 3,000 plus self-help books published each year, only a dozen contain controlled research documenting their effectiveness as stand-alone self-help. Of the 20,000 plus psychological and relationship web sites available on the Internet, only a couple hundred meet professional standards for accuracy and balance. Most, in fact, sell a commercial product. Pity the layperson, or for that matter, the practitioner, trying to navigate the self-help morass. We are bombarded with thousands of potential resources and c- tradictory advice. Should we seek wisdom in a self-help book, an online site, a 12-step group, an engaging autobiography, a treatment manual, an inspiring movie, or distance writing? Should we just do it, or just say no? Work toward change or accept what is? Love your inner child or grow out of your Peter Pan? I become confused and discouraged just contemplating the choices.

Reviews

"Harwood and L’Abate’s Self-Help in Mental Health is an information-packed reference volume for the mental health practitioner that provides a wealth of material on self-help resources and the research-based strengths and weaknesses of each as applied to just about all of the common mental health diagnoses, with a few of the more common medical diagnoses thrown in. As a bonus, the authors develop a theory of relational competence for self-help, along with 16 models...Self-Help in Mental Health provides bibliotherapy sources, manualized treatments, support group formats, and Internet/website links to assist the practitioner in offering guided self-help to consumers. It is a quality reference..."

- Robert A. Bischoff, PsycCRITIQUES, July 28, 2010, Vol. 55, Release 30, Article 7

Authors and Affiliations

  • West Chicago, U.S.A.

    T. Mark Harwood

  • Dept. Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, U.S.A.

    Luciano L'Abate

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Self-Help in Mental Health

  • Book Subtitle: A Critical Review

  • Authors: T. Mark Harwood, Luciano L'Abate

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1099-8

  • Publisher: Springer New York, NY

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science, Behavioral Science and Psychology (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer-Verlag New York 2010

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4419-1098-1

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4419-8170-7

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-4419-1099-8

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXIV, 312

  • Topics: Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy, Social Work

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