Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Turning Suffering Inside Out or Group Psychotherapy with Addicted Populations

Turning Suffering Inside Out: A Zen Approach for Living with Physical and Emotional Pain

Author: Darlene Cohen

Darlene Cohen discovered the secret to finding happiness in the midst of debilitating pain. She shares her knowledge in her popular workshops and now in this book. Cohen, who has suffered from rheumatoid arthritis for eighteen years, was hobbling painfully to her local Zen center one day, when she made a discovery that changed her life: if she focused on the foot that was in the air rather than the one that was hitting the pavement, her stamina increased enormously. It was the beginning of a completely different approach to the crippling pain that had beset her for so long. As she demonstrates here, this approach can be expanded to all types of pain: physical, psychological, and spiritual. Cohen—a certified massage and movement therapist and Zen teacher—proposes a radically liberating alternative to the usual desperate search for pain relief: paradoxically, she says, release from suffering lies in paying closer attention to it. When we keep pain at bay, we keep pleasure at bay, too. The two are interdependent, and our ability to experience each is totally dependent on our understanding of the other. "Enrich your life exponentially," Cohen advises. If your pain is one of the ten things you are aware of, then it constitutes a tenth of your total awareness. Expand your awareness to a hundred things, however, and your pain is only a hundredth of your awareness. With stories, strategies, exercises, and an awareness born of long Zen practice, Cohen shows us how to tap into that enrichment—and how we can lead a satisfying and even joyful life in the very midst of pain. This book was published in hardcover under the title Finding a Joyful Life in the Heart of Pain.



Book about: Prassi e legislazione del bene immobile della Virginia

Group Psychotherapy with Addicted Populations: An Integration of Twelve-Step and Psychodynamic Theory

Author: Philip J Flores

Be more effective in group therapy with addicted clients

Group Psychotherapy with Addicted Populations: An Integration of Twelve-Step and Psychodynamic Theory, Third Edition is the newly revised edition of the classic text, that provides you with proven strategies for defeating alcohol and drug addiction through group psychotherapy. Philip J. Flores, a highly regarded expert in the treatment of alcoholism and in group psychotherapy brings together practical applications of 12-step programs and psychodynamic groups. This updated book explores the latest in constructive benefits of group therapy to chemically dependent individuals, providing opportunities to share and identify with others who are going through similar problems, to understand their own attitudes about addiction by confronting similar attitudes in others, and to learn to communicate their needs and feelings more directly.

Topics in Group Psychotherapy with Addicted Populations: An Integration of Twelve-Step and Psychodynamic Theory, Third Edition include:

• Alcoholism, addiction, and psychodynamic theories of addiction
• Alcoholics anonymous and group psychotherapy
• Use of confrontational techniques in the group
• Inpatient group psychotherapy
• Characteristics of the leader
• Transference in the group
• Resistance in groups
• Preparing the chemically dependent person for group
• The curative process in group therapy
• Integrating a modern analytic approach
• A discussion of object relations theory
• Group psychotherapy, AA, and twelve-step programs
• Diagnosis and addiction treatment
• Treatment issues at early, middle, and late stages of treatment
• A discussion of guidelines and priorities for group leaders
• Countertransference
• Special considerations of resistance to addiction
• Termination of treatment

Professionals working in group therapy and addictions will find Group Psychotherapy with Addicted Populations: An Integration of Twelve-Step and Psychodynamic Theory, Third Edition an invaluable resource emphasizing the positive and constructive opportunities group psychotherapy brings to the chemically dependent individual.

What People Are Saying

Edward J. Khantzian
SCHOLARLY YET IMMENSELY HELPFUL AND PRACTICAL BOOK . . . covers all the bases, integrating how group therapy and twelve step programs help to access and transform the core vulnerabilities of addicted individuals. . . . BRILLIANTLY FOCUSES on how the relational and self regulatory problems of addicted individuals can be addressed and modified by informed clinical approaches and twelve step programs. . . . ASTUTELY INSTRUCTS us how group and twelve step programs can serve as correctives by replacing addictive behaviors with meaningful and transforming relationships. (Edward J. Khantzian, MD, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Medical School at Tewksbury Hospital and the Cambridge Health Alliance)


Henry I. Spitz
Every so often a rare text comes along that possesses the qualities of being theoretically sound, clinically wise and easily readable. Philip Flores has written such a book. . . . A MAJOR CONTRIBUTION toward enriching our understanding of the interplay between psychological theory, neuroscience research and clinical group work with people struggling with problems of addiction. With his unique blend of scholarship and pragmatism, Dr. Flores provides the reader with A THOUGHTFUL AND WELL DOCUMENTED ROAD MAP for negotiating the notoriously challenging terrain of treating addicted individuals. This book is A 'MUST READ' for anyone seeking a comprehensive understanding of the use of group therapy for substance abuse treatment. (Henry I. Spitz MD, DFAGPA, Director Group Psychotherapy Training Program, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, & Distinguished Fellow, Americana Group Psychotherapy Association)


Molyn Leszcz
In this VERY CLEAR AND WELL-WRITTEN text book, DR. FLORES HAS SET THE STANDARD in his articulation of the way group therapy plays a pivotal role in the treatment of persons suffering from addictions. . . . Advances our understanding of the integration of addictions into mental health; psychology of the mind and biology of the brain; models of group therapy; 12-step approaches and leader led groups; scientific knowledge and clinical wisdom; and, the pivotal role that an understanding of attachment plays in effective group psychotherapy. . . . NEW CHAPTERS WRITTEN FOR THIS EDITION ARE OF GREAT VALUE: the first chapter on interpersonal neurobiology and addictions, is A MUST READ, not only for those who work in the area of addictions, but for psychotherapists in general, who are interested in understanding how the work that they do with their clients modifies their clients' brain as well as their clients' thinking. (Molyn Leszcz, MD, FRCPC, Psychiatrist-in-Chief, Mount Sinai Hospital, Professor and Head, Group Psychotherapy, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto)


Marilyn Freimuth
THIS BOOK KEEPS GETTING BETTER! Flores has interwoven his in depth explorations into attachment theory and addiction to create a text that is rare to find: a practical guide to treatment that is theoretically grounded. After reading this book, practitioners will be able to PROVIDE MORE EFFECTIVE TREATMENT TO ADDICTED POPULATIONS because they will know what to do and why to do it. This is really five books in one. . . . Provides comprehensive readable overviews of the nature of addictions, group therapy, 12-step work and psychodynamic theory. At the same time he interweaves these topics to create a theoretically grounded practical guide to more effective addiction treatment. (Marilyn Freimuth, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Fielding Graduate University and author of Hidden Addictions)




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