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Grief counseling and grief therapy: A handbook for the mental health practitioner
299
Dietitian’s Patient Education Manual ASPEN Reference Group Kenneth E. Lawrence (Director) and Sara N. Roe (Editor) ASPEN Publishers, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 199 1.
The manual provides the practitioner with dietary education information for a large number of nutrition related problems. Included are sections on cardiovascular and renal disease, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, G.I. disorders, aging, eating disorders and many others. Each section may differ somewhat but the sections generally include background information about each disorder or medical problem, nutrition counseling patient education tips, special considerations, materials and guidelines, nutrition and food composition information and resources for further information. Special recipes are even included in several sections. The manual comes as two separate notebooks, designed to be easily updated with new materials as they are published. Index tabs are used to help identify and divide each section. The individual sections are easy to read and the variations and contrasts in print size, borders and underlining allows quick review of the contents. Within the individual sections are many highlighted summaries; e.g. ‘warning signs of hyperglycemia’, ‘causes of failure to thrive’; also included were patient questionnaires, quizzes, assessment tools and guidelines. The accuracy, quality and recency of the information varies considerably, which might be related to the strengths of the several authors who have contributed. Overall the manual should be quite valuable to not only the dietetic practitioner but to educators. The manual contains a tremendous
amount of information, provides good resource information and even if the patient education materials are not used as shown, plenty of ‘food for thought’ is provided for tailoring one’s own materials. The strengths of the publication include (a) the editorial board, which consists of many leaders in the dietetics and nutrition profession, (b) the loose leaf-indexed and ‘updatable’ format and (c) the quality and number of assessment and teaching resource materials. The sections on cancer, coronary heart disease, obesity, AIDS, aging and eating disorders were especially valuable although many of the smaller sections were also good. The soft spots of the manual are that it lacks a section on the overall approach to dietary counseling, duplication of materials, and inconsistent organization. A few of the sections need more primary reference material and improvement in scientific accuracy. All are minor subtractions to the overall value. The manual is definitely a worthwhile resource in its the present form for practitioners and their patients and for educators and their students. With continuous updates, the manual will only get better.
Peter L. Beyer, MS RD
Associate Professor, Clinical Specialist Department of Dietetics and Nutrition University of Kansas Medical Center Kansas City, Kansas
Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy: A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner J.P. William Worden Springer, New York, 1991, 183 pp. The loss of a loved one is a traumatic experience for most people. The way people deal with this traumatic experience varies. With support, most
will deal with their loss in a healthy fashion; however, without the support, many may have a difficult time resolving their grief which can lead to
300
further problems in their lives. Doctor Worden’s book, Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy, describes the grief process and ways mental health practitioners can help their patients through this difficult period.
of these situations can create distinct problems for the survivors and a special understanding of these situations is important if intervention modifications are going to be made to help the survivors resolve their grieving.
The text is divided into nine chapters followed by an extensive bibliography. The first two chapters deal with grief and normal reactions to it. The importance of these two chapters is in pointing out that the grief process varies for each individual but that each individual eventually goes through similar phases of mourning if their grief is to be resolved. These include: accepting the reality of the loss, working through the pain of grief, adjusting to a changed environment and then allowing one self to move on with life.
One of the most important chapters in the book falls at the end. This chapter focuses on recognizing and resolving one’s own stress of counseling grieving individuals. Following this chapter, Dr Worden includes an extensive bibliography which is the nicest aspect of the book. This bibliography provides a resource where individuals can find further information on specific topics involving grief and grief therapy.
The third chapter outlines a variety of supportive techniques that can be used to help an individual move through the grieving process. This chapter also mentions ways of identifying those individuals who may need more than support alone. Chapters four and five explain why some individuals have difficulty with mourning and how this can lead to abnormal grief reactions. In doing so, Dr. Worden outlines ways in which the mental health practitioner can be beneficial to those individuals needing further therapy. Chapters six and seven describe the grieving process associated with special types of losses including suicide, sudden death, SIDS, miscarriages and still births, abortion, anticipatory grief, AIDS and the impact of the loss depending on the age of the deceased and the survivor, respectively. Each
This book is well organized and written. The author accomplishes his goal of reviewing a plethora of publications on the subject of grief and bereavement that have occurred since his first edition in 1982. Although some of the topics are only briefly described, Dr Worden does provide the reader with an extensive bibliography where further information can be obtained on those topics. This book will be helpful to the therapist who is just beginning to work with grief-stricken people as it provides them with a good overview and a place to go for further information on specific areas involving grief counseling.
Teresa A. Rummans, MD Mayo Clinic Foundation Department of Psychiatry Mayo Clinic Rochester, Minnesota
Psychoeducational Groups for Patients with Schizophrenia, A Guide for Practitioners Haya Ascher-Svanum and Audrey A. Krause Aspen Publishers, Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland, This book is a product of the authors’ seven years of clinical experience in working with individuals with schizophrenia. It is an excellent guide for clinical practice for a variety of mental health professionals. In this book, the authors detail from A-Z how to structure and conduct psychoeducational programs in
1991, 292 pp.
an inpatient structure.
setting
utilizing
a
group
The overall goal of the psychoeducational program is to assist individuals with schizophrenia to understand the nature of their illness, to promote better adherence to the
Dietitian’s Patient Education Manual ASPEN Reference Group Kenneth E. Lawrence (Director) and Sara N. Roe (Editor) ASPEN Publishers, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 199 1.
The manual provides the practitioner with dietary education information for a large number of nutrition related problems. Included are sections on cardiovascular and renal disease, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, G.I. disorders, aging, eating disorders and many others. Each section may differ somewhat but the sections generally include background information about each disorder or medical problem, nutrition counseling patient education tips, special considerations, materials and guidelines, nutrition and food composition information and resources for further information. Special recipes are even included in several sections. The manual comes as two separate notebooks, designed to be easily updated with new materials as they are published. Index tabs are used to help identify and divide each section. The individual sections are easy to read and the variations and contrasts in print size, borders and underlining allows quick review of the contents. Within the individual sections are many highlighted summaries; e.g. ‘warning signs of hyperglycemia’, ‘causes of failure to thrive’; also included were patient questionnaires, quizzes, assessment tools and guidelines. The accuracy, quality and recency of the information varies considerably, which might be related to the strengths of the several authors who have contributed. Overall the manual should be quite valuable to not only the dietetic practitioner but to educators. The manual contains a tremendous
amount of information, provides good resource information and even if the patient education materials are not used as shown, plenty of ‘food for thought’ is provided for tailoring one’s own materials. The strengths of the publication include (a) the editorial board, which consists of many leaders in the dietetics and nutrition profession, (b) the loose leaf-indexed and ‘updatable’ format and (c) the quality and number of assessment and teaching resource materials. The sections on cancer, coronary heart disease, obesity, AIDS, aging and eating disorders were especially valuable although many of the smaller sections were also good. The soft spots of the manual are that it lacks a section on the overall approach to dietary counseling, duplication of materials, and inconsistent organization. A few of the sections need more primary reference material and improvement in scientific accuracy. All are minor subtractions to the overall value. The manual is definitely a worthwhile resource in its the present form for practitioners and their patients and for educators and their students. With continuous updates, the manual will only get better.
Peter L. Beyer, MS RD
Associate Professor, Clinical Specialist Department of Dietetics and Nutrition University of Kansas Medical Center Kansas City, Kansas
Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy: A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner J.P. William Worden Springer, New York, 1991, 183 pp. The loss of a loved one is a traumatic experience for most people. The way people deal with this traumatic experience varies. With support, most
will deal with their loss in a healthy fashion; however, without the support, many may have a difficult time resolving their grief which can lead to
300
further problems in their lives. Doctor Worden’s book, Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy, describes the grief process and ways mental health practitioners can help their patients through this difficult period.
of these situations can create distinct problems for the survivors and a special understanding of these situations is important if intervention modifications are going to be made to help the survivors resolve their grieving.
The text is divided into nine chapters followed by an extensive bibliography. The first two chapters deal with grief and normal reactions to it. The importance of these two chapters is in pointing out that the grief process varies for each individual but that each individual eventually goes through similar phases of mourning if their grief is to be resolved. These include: accepting the reality of the loss, working through the pain of grief, adjusting to a changed environment and then allowing one self to move on with life.
One of the most important chapters in the book falls at the end. This chapter focuses on recognizing and resolving one’s own stress of counseling grieving individuals. Following this chapter, Dr Worden includes an extensive bibliography which is the nicest aspect of the book. This bibliography provides a resource where individuals can find further information on specific topics involving grief and grief therapy.
The third chapter outlines a variety of supportive techniques that can be used to help an individual move through the grieving process. This chapter also mentions ways of identifying those individuals who may need more than support alone. Chapters four and five explain why some individuals have difficulty with mourning and how this can lead to abnormal grief reactions. In doing so, Dr. Worden outlines ways in which the mental health practitioner can be beneficial to those individuals needing further therapy. Chapters six and seven describe the grieving process associated with special types of losses including suicide, sudden death, SIDS, miscarriages and still births, abortion, anticipatory grief, AIDS and the impact of the loss depending on the age of the deceased and the survivor, respectively. Each
This book is well organized and written. The author accomplishes his goal of reviewing a plethora of publications on the subject of grief and bereavement that have occurred since his first edition in 1982. Although some of the topics are only briefly described, Dr Worden does provide the reader with an extensive bibliography where further information can be obtained on those topics. This book will be helpful to the therapist who is just beginning to work with grief-stricken people as it provides them with a good overview and a place to go for further information on specific areas involving grief counseling.
Teresa A. Rummans, MD Mayo Clinic Foundation Department of Psychiatry Mayo Clinic Rochester, Minnesota
Psychoeducational Groups for Patients with Schizophrenia, A Guide for Practitioners Haya Ascher-Svanum and Audrey A. Krause Aspen Publishers, Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland, This book is a product of the authors’ seven years of clinical experience in working with individuals with schizophrenia. It is an excellent guide for clinical practice for a variety of mental health professionals. In this book, the authors detail from A-Z how to structure and conduct psychoeducational programs in
1991, 292 pp.
an inpatient structure.
setting
utilizing
a
group
The overall goal of the psychoeducational program is to assist individuals with schizophrenia to understand the nature of their illness, to promote better adherence to the