A Therapist's Guide to Understanding Common Medical Conditions

Andrew Kolbasovsky

Overview

People seeking therapy for mental health issues often also have medical problems such as diabetes, AIDS, asthma, or heart conditions. Just because someone is seeking mental health help doesn't make these medical conditions abate or go away.

As a therapist, should you ignore the medical conditions that your clients may have, and simply stick to what you're trained in, healing the mind and not focusing on medical or bodily issues? Or, should you inquire about any medical issues during intake and give them full attention? And should the information you do have inform therapy? And, as a nonmedically trained practitioner, how much should you be really be expected to know about these common medical issues?

These answers and more can be found in this book. Geared specifically to nonmedically trained mental health professionals, it gives mental health practitioners a better understanding of exactly how physical health issues play out in the context of mental health issues, equipping clinicians with the information necessary to more effectively create and manage a comprehensive psychotherapeutic treatment regimen.

Easy to read and clearly organized for quick referencing, each chapter of the book covers the 11 most common medical conditions a therapist is likely to come across in their patients: diabetes, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, stroke, asthma, breast cancer, prostate cancer, thyroid disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease, hepatitis, and HIV/AIDS. Kolbasovsky offers readers a concise explanation of the condition and its medical consequences and treatment, describes the various comorbid mental health disorders that might be present, and covers how the underlying medical condition affects them. Depression and asthma, eating disorders and diabetes, dementia and stroke, sexual dysfunction and prostate cancer, substance abuse and hepatitis, and anxiety and congestive heart failure are just a few of the co-occurring issues considered.

Filled with clinical vignettes and tips, this all-in-one handbook gives therapists just the right amount of digestible medical information they need to look at the complete picture of their clients' well-being, both their mental and physical health.

About the Author

Andrew Kolbasovsky, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and Director of Mental Health Disease Management and Clinical Development for a large HMO. Coauthor of A Therapist Guide to Working with Managed Care (Norton), he has written numerous articles and presented at conferences throughout the country on integrating behavioral healthcare with primary medical care.

ISBN 10: 0-393-70535-8
ISBN 13: 978-0-393-70535-5
April 2008 / 384 pages / Hardcover