Evidence-based treatment of personality dysfunction : principles, methods, and processes / edited by Jeffrey J. Magnavita.

APA ebook

IT Carlow ebook

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"This volume was conceived during a period of critical transition for clinical science and practice. The need for clinical services has never seemed greater in contemporary time than since the return of the veterans after World War II. The demands of contemporary society and the need to adjust to rapid global changes, economic stressors, technological change, climate change, population shifts, and cultural blending is stressing many members of society beyond their ability to cope and adapt. Personality dysfunction seems ubiquitous and can be seen taking its toll at every level of society. We live in a time where those tasked with leading our major institutions have shown levels of deviant behavior that previously seemed unimaginable to those who entrusted them to safeguard society. Social, political, economic, and global stressors have trickled down to families who must adapt to ever-decreasing resources and institutional safeguards. Clinicians are under siege as well. We are asked to provide assistance to increasingly more difficult conditions with greater pressure to get results in a cost-effective manner. The cost of personality disorders to society is enormous, and yet there is little in the way of political will to identify and address these conditions. There still remains a stigma and a denial of the problem in regard to clinical mental health treatment. Unfortunately, personality disorders, although they likely have some genetic underpinnings, are transferred from generation to generation via the multigenerational transmission process. These patterns of dysfunction are transmitted through a variety of mechanisms, including not only child abuse and neglect but also poverty, discrimination, marginalization, and social factors. Clinicians need to base their best practices on the most current research available to them to maximize their treatment impact; however, the available evidence for clinicians is not so readily accessible. The sources of evidence that are required to provide an evidence-based practice are not so easy to find. Complicated treatment decisions require lines of evidence from multiple sources that for many clinicians are beyond their resources to efficiently find. This volume was conceived as a way for those who are at the forefront of theory, research, and practice to distill what is most important from the extant evidence base"--Preface. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Also issued in print.

Electronic reproduction. Washington, D.C. American Psychological Association 2010 Available via World Wide Web Access limited by licensing agreement s2010 dcunns