In the last twenty years the clinical prediction of dangerous behaviour has become an increasingly contentious issue in psychiatry. Several studies have called into serious question the ability of mental health professionals to predict the possible future dangerous behaviour of their clients. These results have caught the attention of lawyers, and been cited in several challenges to individual practitioners. Psychiatrists and psychologists have had to realize that if they claim predictive competence they will be called on to accept the legal and ethical consequences. Dangerousness represents a much needed attempt to draw together the most recent views of the legal scholars, social scientists, and clinicians who have thought most deeply about these problems. It aims to help the reader decide what degree of responsibility the mental health professions should accept as they offer influential opinions which on the one hand may result in unfair confinement of patients and prisoners, but on the other may expose society to unwarranted risk.

Reviews of the First Edition . . . "This is the first major manual on Bender Gestalt testing in over 30 years, and includes detailed administration and scoring instructions, and data on validity and reliability." --Epilepsia. "This book will provide both psychologists and psychiatrists [with] a comprehensive yet easy-to-use manual for screening brain dysfunction." --Contemporary Psychiatry. "Dr. Lacks should be complimented for her treatment of the use of the BGT in screening for organic brain dysfunction." --Book Reviews in Neurosciences. Utilized for over 60 years by clinicians worldwide, the Bender Gestalt Test (BGT) today continues to be a widely used assessment tool to measure the cognitive domain of visuoconstructive abilities and to screen for brain dysfunction. Much of the BGT's popularity rests on its brevity, simplicity, and proven effectiveness with individuals from age 4 to 100. The test is often employed in inpatient psychiatric settings because of its ability to discriminate between brain impairment and serious mental disorders like schizophrenia. More recently, the BGT has also been used to identify older adults at high risk for cognitive decline. This Second Edition is fully revised and includes an up-to-date review of the relevant scientific literature on the test's reliability, validity, and diagnostic accuracy. The book also contains additional normative data, a discussion of malingering, and almost all new examples and practice case materials. Five new chapters address issues in neuropsychological screening, eight steps to interpretation of test results, and use of the Bender Gestalt Test with children, adolescents, and older adults. The book serves as a comprehensive manual for the administration, scoring, and interpretation of the Bender Gestalt Test. The diagnostic significance of general and specific behavioral observations is stressed and a format for recording them is included. For scoring, there are descriptions and multiple examples within the author's adaptation of the 12 errors of the Hutt and Briskin scoring system. The reader can use the 12 varied clinical case examples with explication of the scoring and 10 additional practice cases to gain rapid scoring facility and accuracy. Norms are provided for adult non-patients and psychiatric inpatients, nonpatient and demented older adults, and adolescents. Designed for practical use and adhering to APA standards for test manuals, Bender Gestalt Screening for Brain Dysfunction is a comprehensive and easy-to-use manual that will enable psychology clinicians, psychometricians, and graduate students to increase their level of diagnostic accuracy in screening for brain damage.

The diagnosis and classification of mental disorders are essential elements of psychiatric practice. Labeling and classifying phenomena enables the conveyance of a host of information about the clinical picture, etiology, pathogenesis, prognosis, and treatment of a patient's condition. Recent developments have introduced a new rigor and precision into a diagnostic process previously viewed as highly idiosyncratic and imprecise. This volume reviews the major clinical syndromes in the light of current research, and offers recommendations for improving and refining our approach to diagnosing and classifying psychiatric disorders. The authors address issues involved in constructing classification systems and considers the value of multiaxial approaches to the diagnostic process. The implications of diagnostic and classificatory systems for clinical practice, mental health education, and program administration are thoroughly examined. Particular attention is paid to evaluation of the new system of classification adopted by the American Psychiatric Association, which is the focus of much interest worldwide. Together, these chapters constitute a comprehensive appraisal of contemporary approaches to the diagnosis and classification of mental disorders, and of the impact of diagnosis and classification in the field.

"Nursing Diagnoses and Process in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing" offers student and practicing nurses a convenient reference to the basic concepts and specific nursing actions related to the care of the psychiatric client. In an outline format, it progresses from brief descriptions of the major schools of psychiatric thought, conceptual frameworks for psychiatric nursing practice, and the nursing process, to detailed information about specific psychiatric nursing diagnoses and interventions,as well as major psychiatric disorders and their treatment (particularly drug therapy). The chapters on nursing diagnoses and interventions are particularly important because they provide the nurse with critical information that makes the implementation of nursing diagnoses in the psychiatric setting much easier, and consequently allows for better care plan construction and the provision of quality psychiatric nursing care. Other important features include - principles of and strategies for developing a therapeutic nurse-patient relationship; detailed questionaire for the initial psychiatric assessment of an adult; details of the mental health status examination; a discussion of the DSM-III-R and major psychiatric disorders discussed with appropriate treamtents.

For more than two years, author and psychotherapist Gary Greenberg has embedded himself in the war that broke out over the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the DSM)-the American Psychiatric Association's compendium of mental illnesses and what Greenberg calls "the book of woe."Since its debut in 1952, the book has been frequently revised, and with each revision, the "official" view on which psychological problems constitute mental illness. Homosexuality, for instance, was a mental illness until 1973, and Asperger's gained recognition in 1994 only to see its status challenged nearly twenty years later. Each revision has created controversy, but the DSM-5, the newest iteration, has shaken psychiatry to its foundations. The APA has taken fire from patients, mental health practitioners, and former members for extending the reach of psychiatry into daily life by encouraging doctors to diagnose more illnesses and prescribe more therapies-often medications whose efficacy is unknown and whose side effects are severe. Critics-including Greenberg-argue that the APA should not have the naming rights to psychological pain or to the hundreds of millions of dollars the organization earns, especially when even the DSM's staunchest defenders acknowledge that the disorders listed in the book are not real illnesses.Greenberg's account of the history behind the DSM, which has grown from pamphlet-sized to encyclopedic since it was first published, and his behind-the-scenes reporting of the deeply flawed process by which the DSM-5 has been revised is both riveting and disturbing. Anyone who has received a diagnosis of mental disorder, filed a claim with an insurer, or just wondered whether daily troubles qualify as true illness should know how the DSM turns suffering into a commodity and the APA into its own biggest beneficiary. Invaluable and informative, The Book of Woe is bound to spark intense debate among expert and casual listeners alike.

Product Description: This manual presents a novel approach to multidisciplinary treatment planning based on a system of categorization around level of functioning rather than diagnosis. Its working premise is that symptoms and behaviours, not diagnoses, are the true indicators of treatment needs...read more

Product Description: First published in 1992, Fundamentals of Psychiatric Treatment Planning outlines an approach that quickly became the definitive standard for writing treatment plans. Developed by clinical psychiatrist James A. Kennedy, this practical, intuitive method organizes psychiatric problems into seven categories: psychological impairment, social skills, violence, activities of daily living, substance abuse, medical impairment, and ancillary impairment...read more