Book: The Gift of Therapy: Irvin Yalom Speaking directly to the current generation of counselors, The Gift of Therapy lays out simple suggestions that blend personal experience with professional objectivity. This is a book that will remind you why you entered the field in the first place. With tips on avoiding diagnosis (except for insurance purposes), when to disclose personal information, and why it's important to leave time between patient appointments, the recommendations are aimed at therapists, but they may be useful to patients who want to know what to expect from their counselors. Some references to the DSM-IV may be a little over the layperson’s head, but in general the writing is clear and understandable for lay readers as well as professionals. Each chapter is just a few pages long, a nice format for busy folks whose reading time occurs in snippets. A single topic is addressed in each chapter, and author Irvin Yalom doesn't waste any time in getting to the point. Many of the sections revolve around balancing the "magic, mystery, and authority" that come with the job of freeing your clients of their reliance on you. From when to offer an occasional hug to finding the perfect time for deeper questioning, Yalom's experienced observations will help you achieve even greater professional effectiveness while avoiding some of the more obvious traps in this HMO-directed age of mental health care. Flow: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Csikszentmihalyi describes this in his book, Flow. People were paged at random times and asked to document what they were doing at the time, and the degree to which they experienced happiness or contentment at that moment. People who were engaged in an absorbing activity had higher scores. They were engaged in activities they could get lost in, losing track of time. Let's say you just stop doing something, and you realize that you were COMPLETELY engrossed in whatever you were doing. You stop for a minute, and think, woah, what the heck just happened? It happens to everyone, but at Dr. C points out, to some more than other. The task... Must have your complete and undivided attention: 1. By having your skills adequate to presented challenges 2. By having clear goals (expectations) of achievement 3. By having immediate feedback of action to task Authentic Happiness: Martin Seligman = HAPPINESS = This book mainly deals with the phenomenon of happiness. According to Seligman your enduring level op happiness results from three factors: 1) your SET RANGE ( the basic biologically determined range within which your happiness normally will be), 2) the CIRCUMSTANCES OF YOUR LIFE (some conditions - like being married and living in a democratic country- somehow seem to contribute to happiness, and 3) your VOLUNTARY CONTROL ( the things you can do to get your happiness to the upper part of your set range. Ok, then how to get this done? Before answering this question Seligman explains that happiness/positive emotion can refer to three domains: the PAST (satisfaction, contentment, fulfillment, pride and serenity), the PRESENT (joy, ecstasy, calm, zest, ebullience, pleasure and flow) and the FUTURE (optimism, hope faith, trust). Then the author comes up with suggestions to improve your happiness: = HOW TO INCREASE YOUR HAPPINESS = 1) to be happier about your past, you need to: 1) let go of the false belief that your past negative experiences determine your present and future, 2) increase your gratitude about the good things in your past and 3) learn how to forgive past wrongs. 2) to be happier in your present, you need to distinguish between PLEASURES and GRATIFICATIONS. Pleasures are delights that have clear sensory and strong emotional components that require little if any thinking. Gratifications are flow-experiences. They are activities we very much like doing but that are not necessarily accompanied by any raw feelings at all. The gratifications last longer than the pleasures and they are under girded by our strengths and virtues. The key to happiness in past and future lies in enhancing gratifications. 3) to be happier about your future, you need to change your explanatory style in order to become more optimistic and hopeful (for an explanation read my review of Seligman's book LEARNED OPTIMISM). = AUTHENTIC HAPPINESS BY USING YOUR STRENGTHS = These explanations imply what Seligman means by AUTHENTIC HAPPINESS. He says we should not rely on shortcuts like television watching, chocolate eating, loveless sex, and buying things to feel happy. He explains that positive emotion alienated from the exercise of character leads to emptiness, to inauthenticity, and to depression. So we want to feel like we deserved our positive feelings. That's why Seligman says AUTHENTIC HAPPINESS comes from identifying and cultivating your most fundamental strengths (so-called SIGNATURE STRENGTHS) and using them everyday in work, love, play, and parenting.This message reminds of the one in Csikszentmihalyi's FINDING FLOW = CORE VIRTUES AND STRENGTHS = Psychology has devised a classification system (language) for describing abnormal behavior and mental diseases. But it lacked a language describing human effectiveness and sanity. That is why Seligman and a team of scholars researched sources from all kinds of cultures and times in history and found that there is a strong convergence in what these traditions consider to be virtues and strengths. This led to the formulation ofa classification system of virtues and strengths. SIX CORE VIRTUES: 1) Wisdom and knowledge, 2) courage, 3) Love and humanity, 4) Justice, 5) Temperance, 6) Spirituality and transcendence. Further they identified 24 strengths corresponding to these virtues. This book contains definitions of this taxonomy and some questionnaires for the reader to complete (the questionnaires can be found on the web too, by the way at AuthenticHappiness.org; they are FREE and scored immediately, with percentile ranks listed). The Portable Lawyer for Mental Health Professional Book Description Safeguard your mental health practice with up-to-date information and savvy advice on practicing in today’s legal environment Today’s mental health professional must approach the legal aspects of practice with both sensitivity and foreknowledge. The array of legal guidelines and ethical standards to comprehend is increasing in scope and complexity. Licensing issues, ethics questions, and malpractice suits all present pitfalls that, if ignored or misapprehended, can interrupt or even end a career. Written by two attorneys specializing in the legal aspects of mental health care, The Portable Lawyer for Mental Health Professionals, Second Edition is an indispensable survival guide for all clinicians. The authors explain how to handle allegations of malpractice, cope with threats of violence, preserve client confidentiality, and more. Each chapter features step-by-step guidance, helpful case studies, "legal light bulbs" highlighting important concepts, answers to frequently asked questions, dos and don’ts, and sample forms and contracts to help you safeguard your practice. Completely revised and updated, the Second Edition also includes new information on: HIPAA, Treating older adults, Using "exotic" therapy techniques, Ethical and legal aspects of office leases, And more The Portable Lawyer for Mental Health Professionals, Second Edition offers the latest information for practicing in today’s legal environment. Mental health caregivers, graduate students, attorneys, and clients alike will find this guide to be an invaluable resource. Book: Breaking Free of Managed Care "Well-written and organized, it contains many practical tools and strategies for the development of a free-market private practice....Of particular value...are the numerous questionnaires and exercises that Ackley includes. These are designed to assist the clinician in developing a vision of the kind of practice he/she wants to have, correctly analyze its current status and resources, access market potential, and develop a business plan to achieve both economic and professional objectives....Breaking Free is an important book for what it says about the changing nature of clinical practice both in terms of the practical lessons it teaches as well as the ideological and economic values it espouses." --Child & Family Behavior David G. Myers: Pursuit of Happiness This is one of the best books on the subject of happiness. It is a serious book written based on fact (backed up by research) and not fluff. When I say fluff I'm referring to all those books with the authors personal claim to 100 ways to happiness. In this book the bibliography is 40 pages alone, with about 520 books or articles used as reference. 520! You can see that there has been a great deal of hard-core research done. Book: Building Your Ideal Practice Great book with practical tips for building an ideal practice. Helps you define what your "ideal practice" would be, and your "ideal clients". Includes business practices and marketing by "attraction" strategies. Author was a business person before she became a therapist. Book "Building Your Ideal Private Practice: A Guide for Therapists and Other Healing Professionals" By Lynn Grodzki Chapter One The Blueprint "You're in private practice, or ready to start one. You love the work you do with your clients. But today, loving your work and being a talented professional isn't enough to insure the success of your practice; you also need to be an enthusiastic, talented businessperson as well. As a business coach who specializes in helping therapists and other healing professionals achieve success, I want to show you how to build an ideal practice--one that is both highly profitable and personally satisfying at the same time. " Book: Escape From Babel This book has great information about a meta-theory for understanding what factors regarding the therapy process, account for how people change, and how to maximize the likelihood of change occurring. I saw Scott Miller present this material. Thought provoking and important implications for how we approach therapy. Book: The Heroic Client In this controversial book, psychologists Barry Duncan and Scott Miller, cofounders of the Institute for the Study of Therapeutic Change, challenge the traditional focus on diagnosis, "silver bullet" techniques, and magic pills, exposing them as empirically bankrupt practices that only diminish the role of clients and hasten therapy's extinction. Instead, they advocate for the long-ignored but most crucial factor in therapeutic success-the innate resources of the client. Based on extensive clinical research and case studies, The Heroic Client not only shows how to harness the client's powers of regeneration to make therapy effective, but also how to enlist the client as a partner to make therapy accountable. The Heroic Client inspires therapists to boldly rewrite the drama of therapy, recast clients in their rightful role as heroes and heroines of the therapeutic stage, and legitimize their services to third-party payers without the compromises of the medical model.-- How to Build a Thriving Fee-For-Service Practice "Positive, Proactive and Practical! Dr Kolt's creative, challenging and constructive tools are sure to bring you success." Alice Rubenstein, Ed.D., Past President, American Psychological Association, Division of Psychotherapy Anger Management by Howard Kassinove, Raymond Chip Tafrate Robert L. Leahy, Ph.D. Director, American Institute for Cognitive Therapy, New York, NY Editor, JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY: AN INTERNATIONAL QUARTERLY ...a highly practical book, with many powerful clinical interventions...I highly recommend this thought-provoking and very useful book. Sex, Drugs, Gambling & Chocolate Reviewer: Robert Heckel Ph.D. (USC, Columbia, S.C.) Practicing clinicians know that while the 12-step treatment programs have been very successful over many years, there are significant numbers of pstients/clients for whom these approaches have been unsuccessful. The author, Thomas Horvath, a highly experienced and nationally recognized addictions specialist, has provided in this second edition of his work, an alternative approach to treating addictive behaviors. His observations are not limited to the four addictions listed in the title. He mentions at the start of his work 111 addictive behaviors. Are there more? Most likely. He feels that the common denominator of most, if not all of addictive behaviors are two points:addiction is an extreme version of a habit,and, overcoming an addiction uses the same processes one uses to change other habits. From this base, Dr. Horvath presents both research and rich clinical experience supporting his position. The final product is an excellent workbook for the addicted person and a wonderful reference for the professional who would undertake treatment with an addicted person, regardless of the addiction. The first section, "Getting Started" deals with those seekiing help or those who are still in the contemplative stage. It presents clear examples based on research and experience helping readers to place themselves regarding their addiction, and move them toward commitment and action. Chapters three and four help the patient explore and understand the initial benefits of addiction and the current benefits of maintaining the addiction. These chapters are well detailed and provide an important reality base, leading to motivation to change. Chapter five looks at the real costs of addictive behavior, again moving the patient closer to an openness for treatment. Chapters six through thirteen take the individual from initial coping, recognizing choices, and working with craving. In eleven, the focus is on developing other life satisfactions and alternative responses. Finally, in twelve and thirteen, guidance is provided for building a new life and maintaining gains. The appendices are rich in reading and resources for those with additional questions. In summary, this is a really excellent work that should be in everyone's library for patients use and as an aid to the professional. Even better news is the incredibly modest price for this work. How to Build Your Ideal Practice in 90 Days This book is designed to help coaches, therapists, social workers, chiropractors, and other private practitioners, to design, build, and market your ideal practice in 90 days, with less time and money than you thought possible. The most effective techniques for getting clients don’t cost anything! Spending money is not a substitute for good business practices, and can sabotage your success. Save your capital for when you are clear that it will be well invested in your business. After many years in private practice, burning up thousands of hours and dollars learning what does and doesn’t work by trial and error, I became passionate about helping other practitioners have successful and fulfilling practices. This program developed organically in my work as a Mentor Coach helping hundreds of private practitioners design and build their ideal practices, and I sincerely hope it will help you to achieve your personal and professional dreams. Essentials of Private Practice by Holly A. Hunt Essentials of Private Practice: Streamlining Costs, Procedures, and Policies for Less Stress This book walks you step-by-step through the three main strategies that will allow you to set up and maintain a streamlined practice. You’ll gain practical tips to eliminate unneeded costs and increase day-to-day efficiency in your practice. Real stories of clinicians’ successes and disasters will help you learn what works and what major pitfalls to avoid in your practice. Tables, exercises, worksheets, and forms will assist you in immediately incorporating these strategies into your practice. The Therapist's Advertising and Marketing Kit All the tools you need to advertise and market your practice The Therapist’s Advertising and Marketing Kit is an invaluable collection of ready-to-use marketing and advertising materials designed specifically for mental health professionals looking to manage and grow their practice. Designed to help everyone from the new to the more experienced practitioner, this unique, timesaving resource will help you successfully build your practice, showing you how to develop an effective marketing plan and presenting guidelines for creating numerous kinds of powerful marketing and advertising materials, including: * Yellow page, newspaper, and magazine ads; * Flyers and brochures; * Postcards and card packs; * Press releases and public service announcements; * Stationery and business cards; * Radio and TV ad scripts; * Web pages; A unique benefit of this book is the enclosed CD-ROM, which includes a portfolio of actual samples of all the contents––including the Web sites––formatted in Microsoft® Word. This makes the process even easier for busy practitioners––you can choose the ones you like best, customize them to your needs, and put them to work immediately for your practice. Now it’s easier than ever to design a marketing effort that maximizes your practice’s visibility, thanks to The Therapist’s Advertising and Marketing Kit––a resource no psychologist, social worker, therapist, counselor, or any other mental health professional can afford to be without. Making It on Your Own: Surviving and Thriving Making It on Your Own: Surviving and Thriving on the Ups and Downs of Being Your Own Boss Whether you're just starting out or already working for yourself, Secrets of Self-Employment will help you master what everyone who leaves the security of a paycheck behind struggles with: the emotional side of being your own boss. Here are tips on everything you need to take the stress out of your path to success, including how successful self-employed individuals make it through the good times and the bad; how to turn fears, doubts, disappointments, and frustrations into determination and confidence; and how to organize your business so that it practically runs itself. The E-Myth Revisited Michael Gerber's The E-Myth Revisited should be required listening for anyone thinking about starting a business or for those who have already taken that fateful step. The title refers to the author's belief that entrepreneurs--typically brimming with good but distracting ideas--make poor businesspeople. He establishes an incredibly organized and regimented plan, so that daily details are scripted, freeing the entrepreneur's mind to build the long-term success or failure of the business. You don't need an M.B.A. to understand or follow its directives; Gerber takes time to explain buzzwords and complex theories. Read in a clear and well-paced manner, listening to The-E Myth is like receiving advice from an old friend. --Sharon Griggins The Paper Office, Third Edition This popular manual provides the clinical, financial, and legal record-keeping tools that every psychotherapy practice needs. It is ideal for new practitioners who want to hit the ground running and for seasoned pros who want to overhaul their paperwork and risk-reduction procedures. Provided are methods for documenting informed consent, treatment planning, and progress; advice on fee structures, billing, and marketing; tips on joining managed care panels and communicating with MCO reviewers; recommended online resources; and much more. Special features include 60+ forms and handouts/m-/in a ready-to-use, large-size format/m-/which may be duplicated directly from the book or from the accompanying CD-ROM. Favorite Counseling and Therapy Homework Assignmen Favorite Counseling and Therapy Homework Assignments by Howard G. Rosenthal (Editor), Albert Ellis (Editor) Howard Rosenthal takes the reader into the offices of 56 of the finest therapists in the world to learn their favorite counseling and therapy homework assignments. The text literally reads like a Who's Who in therapy, packing in more famous therapists than any book of its kind. This lively, innovative book promises to become a classic in the field of helping and is the perfect sequel to Dr. Rosenthal's bestselling Favorite Counseling and Therapy Techniques. Brief Therapy Client Handouts "These eminently worthwhile handouts are not only based on some of the finest scholarship available today, they’re also unusually accessible to the lay person. This is a resource I expect to draw upon again and again with my clients." –Leon F. Seltzer, PhD author of Paradoxical Strategies in Psychotherapy Many therapists provide psycho-educational information and recommend helpful literature to their clients as a means of promoting growth and change in between sessions. This unique sourcebook provides a comprehensive collection of over 100 concise, informative handouts for distribution to your current or prospective clients. Organized around the topics of relationship dynamics and specific disorders, these sensitively written handouts offer clients valuable information about common psychological problems, as well as practical, therapeutically sound advice on strategies for changing behaviors or interactional patterns. The user-friendly design allows you to easily photocopy the handouts you are most likely to use or customize them to your needs using the included disk–saving you precious time in the office and maximizing the full potential of the material. This remarkable resource features: * Preliminary assessment tools to help clients partner with therapists in targeting problem areas and identifying pertinent diagnoses * Review sheets for behavior strategies that change problems and help therapists design treatment programs * Discussion sheets for spouses, parents, and family members that promote communication * Visual aids that explain problems at a glance Brief Therapy Client Handouts helps you reinforce and validate ideas presented in therapy and comfort your clients during those lonely, anxious times in between sessions. Brief Therapy Homework Planner Help your clients develop their problem-solving, communication, and coping skills. As a mental health professional, you work to help your clients learn to recognize and clearly communicate their feelings, to identify how and when problems arise, and to develop effective coping strategies. In today's managed care environment, in which rapid results are everything, many psychotherapists are finding that pencil-and-paper homework exercises can provide a highly effective therapeutic adjunct for helping clients achieve those goals. The Brief Therapy Homework Planner arms you with dozens of ready-to-use between-session assignments designed to fit with virtually every therapeutic mode. You get 62-behaviorally-based, copier-ready exercises, grouped by skill set and covering all major presenting symptoms. The author, an experienced clinician, provides expert guidance on how to make the most efficient use of the exercises, along with cross-references to the best-selling Complete Adult Psychotherapy Treatment Planner, 2nd Edition that help you to identify the right exercise for a given situation or behavioral problem. And, since no two therapists—or clients—are alike, the Brief Therapy Homework Planner comes with a computer diskette containing all the assignments in the book in word-processing format. You have complete freedom to adapt, customize, and fine-tune the assignments to suit your unique style and your clients' needs. The Brief Therapy Homework Planner is an indispensable tool-of-the-trade for all mental health professionals working in independent and small group practices. Brief Couples Therapy Homework Planner Brief Couples Therapy Homework Planner (Practice Planners) by Gary M. Schultheis, Bill O'Hanlon, Steffanie O'Hanlon Help couples quickly develop the psychological skills they need to maintain healthier relationships As a couples therapist, you work to help your clients learn to understand and clearly communicate their feelings, identify how and when problems arise, and develop effective coping strategies. In today's managed care environment, rapid results are everything, and many psychotherapists are finding that pencil-and-paper homework exercises provide one highly effective tool for achieving those goals. The Brief Couples Therapy Homework Planner arms you with dozens of ready-to-use, between-session assignments designed to fit virtually every therapeutic mode. This valuable, time-saving tool features: * More than 60 copier-ready exercises covering all major presenting symptoms affecting relationships * Quick-reference format-exercises are grouped by skill set, such as improving communications, handling parenting problems, and resolving sexual issues * Expert guidance on how and when to make the most efficient use of the exercises cross-referenced to The Couples Psychotherapy Treatment Planner - so you can quickly identify the right exercise for a given situation or behavioral problem * Includes a computer disk which contains all the exercises in a Windows-based word processing format—allowing you to customize them to suit you and your clients' unique styles and needs The Brief Couples Therapy Homework Planner is an indispensable tool of the trade for all mental health professionals who work with couples. Brief Adolescent Therapy Homework Planner Brief Adolescent Therapy Homework Planner (Practice Planners) Help your adolescent clients develop the skills they need to work through problems. As a mental health professional involved in treating adolescents, you work to help your clients learn to understand and clearly communicate their feelings, identify how and when problems arise, and develop effective coping strategies. Pencil-and-paper exercises provide one highly effective tool for achieving those goals. The Brief Adolescent Therapy Homework Planner arms you with dozens of ready-to-use assignments designed to fit virtually every therapeutic mode. Focusing on adolescents from ages 12 to 18, this easy-to-use sourcebook features: * Over 50 copier-ready exercises covering the most common issues in adolescent therapeutic treatment. * Quick-reference format—the interactive assignments are grouped by behavioral problem, such as anxiety, eating disorder, and suicidal ideation. * Expert guidance on how and when to make the most efficient use of the exercises. * Assignments are cross-referenced to The Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Treatment Planner—so you can quickly identify the right exercise for a given situation or behavioral problem. * A computer disk that contains all the exercises in a word-processing format—allowing you to customize them to suit you and your clients' unique styles and needs. The Brief Adolescent Therapy Homework Planner is an indispensable, time-saving tool of the trade for all mental health professionals who work with adolescents. Contains 54 ready-to-copy homework assignments that can be used to facilitate brief adolescent therapy. * Homework assignments and exercises are keyed to the behaviorally based presenting problems from The Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Treatment Planner. * Assignments may be quickly customized using the enclosed disk Over 100,000 Practice PlannersTM sold. 101 Favorite Play Therapy Techniques 101 Favorite Play Therapy Techniques (Child Therapy Series) "Building on children's natural inclinations to pretend and reenact, play therapy is widely used in the treatment of psychological problems in childhood. 101 Favorite Play Therapy Techniques incorporates methods developed to elicit the best responses from " Think Good - Feel Good Think Good, Feel Good is an exciting and pioneering new practical resource in print and on the internet for undertaking CBT with children and young people. The materials have been developed by the author and trialled extensively in clinical work with children and young people presenting with a range of psychological problems. Paul Stallard introduces his resource by covering the basic theory and rationale behind CBT and how the workbook should be used. An attractive and lively workbook follows which covers the core elements used in CBT programmes but conveys these ideas to children and young people in an understandable way and uses real life examples familiar to them. The concepts introduced to the children can be applied to their own unique set of problems through the series of practical exercises and worksheets. * 10 modules can be used as a complete programme, or adapted for individual use * Little else available for this age range * Can be used as homework or self-help material 422 Tax Deductions for Businesses and Self-Employe 422 Tax Deductions for Businesses and Self-Employed Individuals (422 Tax Deductions for Businesses & Self-Employed Individuals) Unlike other tax guides, this is an encyclopedia of legal deductions that entirely sidesteps tax loopholes, tax avoidance schemes, and questionable areas of law. Written in alphabetical order, the book saves readers the onerous task of hunting through a maze of index entries. Complex, confusing tax and accounting terminology has been replaced with simple, straightforward English. Also included are inspiring quotes, little known facts, and witty cartoons to cheer up readers as they tackle this often-intimidating subject. The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work By: John Gottman and Nan Silver Review from Amazon.com: A very reasonable as well as scientific approach to marriage. Many marriage-oriented books offer logical short-term band-aids (e.g., focusing on perceived Mars/Venus gender differences, communicating better, smoothing over conflicts) that make for a provocative read and/or admirable goals, but by and large fail in the long-run to resuscitate shaky marriages. Gottman creates a path for marital success via theories and exercises with an established track record for success. Many people wouldn't think that a fit marriage has to be exercised regularly, no less than one's body through regular workouts. Gottman's book serves as the ultimate guide to marital fitness, yet is a valuable read even if you are unmarried or have already experienced a failed marriage. Good marriages don't necessarily have less conflicts than bad ones. Gottman gets under the surface and digs into such deeper issues as the maintaining of HONOR and RESPECT for your partner in the heat of all-too-common battles. Along the way he punches holes in a lot of marriage-counseling paradigms. In short, this book can improve a good marriage (or any similar commitment between two people), heal a salvageable one, or explain why a bad one got to or beyond the point of no return. Or even serve as a form of CRUCIAL pre-marital counseling.