Cognitive-Behavior Therapy for Severe Mental Illness

Since the 2009 publication of Cognitive-Behavior Therapy for Severe Mental Illness, practitioners and researchers around the world have built on its tenets to further advance care.

With appropriate modifications, cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) is well suited for patients diagnosed with difficult-to-treat psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia and related psychoses, bipolar disorder, and severe or treatment-resistant depression. This second edition provides a timely update, incorporating evidence-based research and treatment advances in a practical and easy-to-use guide with naturalistic video demonstrations.

With compelling case examples throughout the text, this guide helps clinicians

• Forge collaborative therapeutic relationships
• Reduce suicide risk
• Promote positive coping with hallucinations, delusions, and other manifestations of severe psychiatric illness
• Work with persistent issues such as entrenched delusions and negative symptoms
• Manage psychotic symptoms associated with trauma
• Develop relapse prevention plans
• Personalize CBT interventions to reflect each patient's biomedical status, sociocultural background, and cognitive and behavioral characteristics.

New in this edition are troubleshooting guides and an expanded range of video illustrations for common clinical problems. The appendix contains worksheets, checklists, and rating scales for implementing CBT. The authors emphasize a collaborative therapeutic relationship in which each patient learns the skills to use CBT strategies in daily life, manage symptoms, follow medication regimens, experience well-being, and move toward recovery.