This practical guide outlines the latest advances in understanding and treating psychotic symptoms and disorders, articulating step-by-step the clinical skills and knowledge required to effectively treat this patient population. A Clinical Introduction to Psychosis takes an evidence-based approach that encourages a wider perspective on clinical practice, with chapters covering stigma and bias, cultural factors, the importance of social functioning, physical health, sleep, and more. A broad array of treatment modalities are discussed, including cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive remediation, psychosocial interventions, trauma-informed therapies, and recovery-oriented practice. The book also provides a concise overview of the latest advances regarding cognitive profiles in people with psychotic disorders, the developmental progression of cognitive abilities, and the clinical relevance of cognitive dysfunction. The book additionally familiarizes readers with issues and controversies surrounding diagnostic classification, transdiagnostic expression, and dimensional assessment of symptoms in psychosis. Provides treatment and assessment methods for psychotic symptoms and disorders Looks at how psychosis develops and the impact of stigma on clinicians and clients Studies the links between trauma, PTSD, and psychosis, as well as sleep and psychosis Covers digital technologies for treating and assessing psychosis Outlines strategies for treating visual and auditory hallucinations Examines how to incorporate consumer and clinician perspectives in clinical practice

This highly readable book provides a comprehensive examination of the use of Open Dialogue as a treatment for psychosis. It presents the basic principles and practice of Open Dialogue, explains the training needed to practice and explores how it is being developed internationally. Open Dialogue for Psychosis includes first-hand accounts of the process by people receiving services due to having psychotic experiences, their family members and professionals who work with them. It explains how aspects of Open Dialogue have been introduced in services around the world, its overlap with and differentiation from other psychological approaches and its potential integration with biological and pharmacological considerations. The book concludes with a substantive section on the research available and its limitations. Open Dialogue for Psychosis will be a key text for clinicians and administrators interested in this unique approach, particularly those who recognise that services need to change for the better and are seeking guidance on how this can be achieved. It will also be suitable for people who have experienced psychosis and members of their families and networks. See the below link to the dedicated book webpage: https://opendialogueforpsychosis.com/

In Loss of Self in Psychosis: Psychological Theory and Practice Simon Jakes takes a critical look at contemorary approaches to the psychology of psychosis. In doing so, he explores how these vastly different approaches, as well as our numerous conceptualisations of schizophrenia, work to reduce the effectiveness of CBT as a treatment. Four different psychological approaches to psychosis are examined in the first part of this book, as well as the development of CBT for psychosis and the theory behind this. In the second part, he describes the therapy of some clients and suggests that incorporating ideas from some of the different theories of psychosis in the same treatment may be beneficial. Using extended examples from clinical practice over the past 20 years to illuminate his theories, Loss of Self in Psychosis: Psychological Theory and Practice will prove to be thought-provoking reading for clinical psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals working with this client group.

Extensive scientific research has been conducted into understanding and learning more about psychotic experiences. However, in existing research the voice of subjective experience is rarely taken into consideration. In this book, first-person accounts are brought centre-stage and examined alongside current research to suggest how personal experience can contribute to professional understanding, and therefore the treatment, of psychosis. Experiencing Psychosis brings together a range of contributors who have either experienced psychosis on a personal level or conducted research into the topic. Chapters are presented in pairs providing information from both personal and research perspectives on specific aspects of psychosis including: hearing voices, delusional beliefs, and trauma as well as cultural, existential and spiritual issues. Experts from the field recognise that first and foremost psychosis is a human experience and that those who suffer from psychotic episodes must have some involvement in any genuine attempts to make sense of the experience. This book will be essential reading for all mental health professionals involved with psychosis. The accessible style and compelling personal histories will also attract service users and their families.

“This brilliant and beautifully written book invokes a radical reorientation of the treatment of psychosis” Juliet Flower MacCannell, Author of Figuring Lacan and The Hysteric’s Guide to the Future Female Subject. “Bret Fimiani's book offers an illuminating presentation of the Lacanian approach to psychosis thanks to his clear style which presents Lacanian concepts with a wonderful accuracy, illustrated by examples from his psychoanalytic practice. The dynamic of his investigation challenges the fear of psychosis with testimonies of lived experiences, the Hearing Voices Network, and analysts who claim the unclaimed intelligence at work in psychosis." Francoise Davoine, co-author of History Beyond Trauma This book advances a theory of transference-in-psychosis with the aim of provoking a change in the way the experience of psychosis is understood and thus, clinically treated. It examines the function of ‘ethics’ in the ‘installation’ of transference in the treatment of psychosis and contends that the aim of the psychoanalytic experience is the creation of a new ethic for the analysand and for the treatment. Beginning from the premise that the body of the psychotic is a site of social contestation, the author draws upon the work of Freud, Lacan, Deleuze & Guattari and Apollon to reframe the problem of the ‘body’ (as an effect of language) and its relation to transference, and ethics, in treating psychosis. It argues that psychosis still has much to teach psychoanalysis about how psychoanalysis must continue to change in order to create/offer an approach that is effective for psychosis (versus neurosis) and provides a comprehensive psychoanalytic theory of psychosis that derives, at its core, from the experience of psychosis itself. The book’s synthesis of clinical and ‘peer model’ principles will provide readers with a way to understand and navigate potential transference impasses often encountered with purely clinical approaches. In doing so it provides a valuable new framework for practitioners and scholars working in clinical psychology, psychoanalysis, philosophy, critical theory, psychiatry and social work.

Arguably the most profound psychoanalytic thinker since Freud, and deeply influential in many fields, Jacques Lacan often seems opaque to those he most wanted to reach. These are the readers Bruce Fink addresses in this clear and practical account of Lacan's highly original approach to therapy. Written by a clinician for clinicians, Fink's introduction is an invaluable guide to Lacanian psychoanalysis, how it's done, and how it differs from other forms of therapy. While elucidating many of Lacan's theoretical notions, the book does so from the perspective of the practitioner faced with the pressing questions of diagnosis, which therapeutic stance to adopt, how to involve the patient, and how to bring about change.

Assessing Psychosis: A Clinician’s Guide offers both a practical guide and rich clinical resource for a broad audience of mental-health practitioners seeking to sharpen their understanding of diagnostic issues, clinical concepts, and assessment methods that aid in detecting the presence of psychotic phenomena. Practicing psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and psychiatric nurses will find this a valuable resource for clinical practice, training, and teaching purposes.