Recovering the US Mental Healthcare System: The Past, Present, and Future of Psychosocial Interventions for Psychosis

Description

Decades of research show that psychosocial treatments are effective for psychosis, yet they remain unimplemented as the American healthcare system relies primarily on pharmacological solutions instead. This book reviews the history and current state of research to provide a more nuanced understanding of the evidence for and barriers to psychosocial care for psychosis. It addresses a wide range of mental health research and multi-professional practice domains from historical, personal, societal, professional, and systems perspectives. The varied perspectives presented illustrate factors that limit support for recovery in SMI and psychosis as well as real hope for recovering the US mental healthcare system. With contributions of experts by training and by experience, this book represents an essential resource for students, practitioners and researchers.

Meaghan Stacy is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and a licensed clinical psychologist. Charlie A. Davidson is a licensed psychologist at the Atlanta Center for Cognitive Therapy and Adjunct Lecturer at Emory University.

'The experienced contributors in this edited book offer a rich and comprehensive blueprint for transforming our mental healthcare system. They exude passion and hope for recovery for individuals with serious mental illness and psychosis within an increasingly compassionate and just system. Readers will find invaluable the evidence-informed innovations for psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery.' Nadine J. Kaslow, Ph.D., ABPP, Emory University School of Medicine; Past President, American Psychological Association, USA 'Stacy and Davidson have assembled a group of leading scholars to reinterpret for the 21st century the foundational concepts of recovery, psychiatric rehabilitation, and evidence-based practices. This edited volume yields surprising insights that can help guide the training of a new generation of mental health clinicians and researchers.' Gary Bond, Dartmouth Medical School, USA 'This important book guides the reader through an often dark past greatly defined by racial and social injustice; to an earnest present that seeks to employ best, evidence-based, and humanistic practices; toward a future where true partnerships between treaters, people seeking treatment, and family members foster the development of shared understandings that will lead to genuinely healing pathways forward.' Claire Bien, President of ISPS-US and author of Hearing Voices, Living Fully 'Highly recommended collection of essays on the history and development of recovery oriented treatments for persons diagnosed with serious mental illness within the United States. For professionals and recovering persons, this volume offers compelling views of the challenges posed by serious mental illness and very real potential for recovery.' Paul H. Lysaker, Roudebush VAMC, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, USA 'Grounded in history and research this book embraces recovery-oriented psycho-social treatments that acknowledge, support, and respect the humanity of people experiencing psychosis or SMI. It is an invaluable reading for professionals, consumers, their families, policy makers, and any person motivated to play a part in refining the US mental health system for people suffering from psychosis. I highly recommend it!' Yulia Landa, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA 'This landmark book is an inspiring call to arms for a transformation in the care of people with serious mental illness in America, with psychosocial rehabilitation as a key agent of change. It arrives at a critical juncture in our history and will be an invaluable blueprint for the future.' Dimitri Perivoliotis, UCSD School of Medicine, USA 'This is a truly special book and a must read for anyone working with individuals with serious mental illness. Drs. Stacy and Davidson provide a comprehensive understanding of the state of psychosocial interventions critical to helping people with psychosis lead rich and meaningful lives.' Anne Klee, Yale University School of Medicine, USA 'This innovative volume combines insights from the latest clinical approaches with important historical contexts to shed new light on the meaning and experience of psychosis. In doing so, it grounds mental illness in its social and political context, while recognizing the very real needs of patients. It is rare to find clinicians who recognize the impact of history on their practice, and that makes this volume important and timely.' Kylie M. Smith, Emory University, USA 'This excellent book on the emerging science that supports recovery from psychosis is a most welcome framework that will provoke much needed changes in the treatment of and expectations for living with psychosis. This hopeful book is a practical and science-based guide that covers where we have been, where we are now, and where we are headed in clear and cogent prose. All mental health professionals ought to have this volume on their shelves.' Ann M. Kring, University of California, Berkeley, USA 'This book is a critical component of a long-overdue course correction in the way that we think about and treat psychosis. Chapter by chapter, Recovering the US Mental Healthcare System challenges claims that have comprised the backbone of the dominant narrative since the term schizophrenia was coined. While the authors acknowledge the profound challenges individuals and families confront, they offer empirically-supported optimism to both mental health service providers and service users.' Sarah L. Kopelovich, University of Washington School of Medicine, USA 'A plain-speaking treatise; a pastiche of the history of recovery and rehabilitation; an appropriately harsh mirror held up to the mental health treatment community; a call to action. This book provides a broad and approachable - although sometimes quite unsettling - description of the past, present, and hope for the future of mental healthcare treatment for those with schizophrenia and related diagnoses and for anyone who cares about them.' Marcia Hunt, Yale University School of Medicine, USA 'Written for all who serve those with psychiatric disabilities, this wonderful new book provides a hopeful call to action for improving how we think about and deliver mental health services in the United States. This will be a valued resource for those looking for a scholarly but approachable foundation for advocacy at all levels.' Sandra Resnick, Yale School of Medicine, USA 'From the back wards of the 50's to the back alleys of deinstitutionalization, the US Mental Health System has made progress through evidenced based practices and better social policies that emphasize recovery and empowerment. The authors have been part of that transformation and offer a roadmap for a better, more equitable future. A must read for all who strive to make recovery a reality.' Morris D. Bell, Yale School of Medicine, USA