While film and video has long been used within psychological practice, researchers and practitioners have only just begun to explore the benefits of film and video production as therapy. This volume describes a burgeoning area of psychotherapy which employs the art of filmmaking and digital storytelling as a means of healing victims of trauma and abuse. It explores the ethical considerations behind this process, as well as its cultural and developmental implications within clinical psychology. Grounded in clinical theory and methodology, this multidisciplinary volume draws on perspectives from anthropology, psychiatry, psychology, and art therapy which support the use and integration of film/video-based therapy in practice.

This book uses film/video-based therapy to help build resilience in facing personal, communal, national, and global trauma triggers. Offering a rich and diverse range of perspectives on trauma, this volume advocates positive social change using therapeutic techniques in filmmaking as well as film/video-based therapy, in conjunction with expressive art therapies such as drama, dance, music, painting, drawing, and more. Chapter authors address issues in one’s home, community, country, and the world using integrative medicine and advocacy using film/video-based therapy and digital storytelling. The book highlights psychological trauma and how one can cope with the overwhelming triggers in today’s world. It represents an articulate and comprehensive analysis of the ways in which traumatic human experience impacts, and is modified by, film and video media. Representing a rich and diverse range of perspectives on trauma through the lens of a camera, the authors document important examples of moments in which artistic expression becomes human resilience. Demonstrating how the language of film can facilitate watching, processing, and discussing images of trauma in therapy, in the home, in the community, and in the world, this volume will be of interest to educators and mental health practitioners with an interest in advancing psychotherapy and counseling techniques.

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This text introduces the concepts, essential tenets and basic techniques of Phototherapy and Therapeutic Photography. Through the use of case studies and the author’s own professional experience, this book covers the practices, together with their theories and research behind phototherapy and therapeutic photography providing a comprehensive range of major approaches. Examples include Talking Pictures Therapy, Reenactment Phototherapy, the creation of therapeutic photo-books, stories, and diaries, and the therapeutic use of portraiture. Chapters also explain how we can effectively use these techniques in a variety of contexts including private practice, voluntary organisations, schools, prisons and management consultancy, as useful adjuncts to primary practices as well as for self-help. This handbook is for therapists, photographers, other professionals, clients and activist clients.

This book examines personal and professional understandings of religion in psychotherapy and advocates for integrity, competency, and cultural pluralism in clinical practice. A major feature of this book is that it confirms the massive proliferation of religion-oriented approaches to counseling and therapy in recent years. It attributes this rise to opportunism and exaggerated individualism among therapists and to the frequent failures of professional associations, clinical preparation programs, and other influences. In response to these influences, it identifies the need for guiding principles for integrating religion into therapy, discusses the religious issues that clients bring to therapy, and advocates for major changes in clinical practice, with emphasis on integrity and competence. Building on a large volume of research and using evidence-based conclusions, it clarifies how these two major features of contemporary life can be integrated with integrity and competence. The author maintains that religion should be a feature of the practice of counseling and therapy, so long as it addresses the clinically relevant needs of clients. However, it also explores how the religion of counselors and therapists often expresses the needs of counselors and therapists, instead of addressing the needs of their clients. In the context of these questions and discussion of contentious challenges, this book provides guidelines for relating religion with clinical practice and recommends needed actions by clinical preparation programs, professional associations, individual therapists, state legislatures, licensing boards, social service agencies, and corporations. All of this stands on the conspicuous need for professional accountability in the delivery of mental health care.

This book is a study of infant mental health which blends knowledge and understanding from three perspectives: international research, theory, and intervention. The volume increases awareness of the significance of infant mental health, adding to the growing body of literature on influences upon lifestyles, communities, society, and attainment. The significance of mental health to development has come to the fore in recent years and research in neuroscience is used to explore, and to understand the complexities of the human brain. Each infant is exposed to unique influences before and after birth. Neuroscience, genetics, adverse childhood experiences, and personalities feature in the chapters as mitigating factors to attainment. Exemplars create a bridge between research and implementation of recommendations, and illustrate the myriad of influences and permutations that can enhance or hinder development. This book discusses internal influences from an infant’s biological make-up, alongside the circumstances and relationships within a family unit, as understanding these key aspects is integral to promotion of each infant’s life chances. The volume concludes by considering future approaches to nurturing infant mental health. Carefully designed to stimulate discussion and professional inquiry, this volume is an invaluable resource for researchers, academics, and scholars with an interest in infant mental health.

This volume critiques and challenges the use and promotion of the disease model in psychiatry, arguing that its misconceived approach prevents the preferred disablement model from becoming the default method to understand mental health conditions, including schizophrenia. Featuring first-hand experiences as well as qualitative and quantitative findings, the book posits that mental illnesses are an expression of disablement, not disease, and that the alternative disablement approach (already being applied in the psychiatry of neurodevelopmental disorders but applicable to mental illness, too) allows for greater dignity and autonomy for the patient, collaboration between medical professionals, a replacement of categorical approaches with more appropriate dimensional ones, and a liberation from the restrictive idea of a ‘cure’. The initial chapters of the book summarize the now overwhelming evidence that the disease model is flawed, as is the simplistic materialism that psychiatry has built around the concept of the brain as a kind of standalone biological computer. The later chapters consider the currently existent alternatives to the disease model and put forward the evidence for a psychiatry based on the person, as described by the philosopher Heidegger among others. This volume will appeal to researchers, scholars, and postgraduate students in clinical psychiatry, mental health research, and psychotherapy. Psychologists and clinicians active in research or teaching in mental health will also benefit from this volume.

With a focus on the progression and dismantlement of the Asylum system, this book examines key issues around the policy and practice of in-patient mental health provision in the UK, making comparisons with similar services in other parts of the world. Part narrative history and critical analysis, part autoethnography, this unique volume critiques the ethics of early policy decisions which led to the closure of the old Victorian asylums and the advent of care in the community, identifying continuing issues of institutionalisation, containment, and segregation. Drawing parallels with the continuing dilemmas of ‘inclusion’ in other areas of public policy and provision, chapters discuss controversial issues such as the response to the Covid pandemic, the influence of ‘anti-psychiatry’, and the continuing use of electro convulsive therapy. Ultimately, the book makes a vital theoretical and practical contribution to the continuing debate around in-patient mental health care in the 21st century. The book will be of interest to academics, researchers and policy makers in the fields of healthcare policy and history of mental health provision more broadly. Psychiatrists interested in the history of the asylum system in the UK, as well as present day mental health professionals will also find the book of use.

This book explores the possibilities that exist for navigating out of and away from multiple levels of oppression through memoir-based research. It considers how those raised in oppressive, high-demand communities, colloquially referred to as “cults,” can emancipate themselves from controls and expectations inculcated from early childhood and examines processes surrounding the psychological reclamation of self. Exploring and metaphorically tending to an orienting psychological dynamic that the ancient Greeks related to as “the daimon” and using the perspectives of Jungian and post-Jungian depth psychology, the author investigates how subjects can reclaim agency and avoid excessive control over their thoughts, attention, and life’s intentions. They suggest that depth psychologically oriented modes can be used to this attunement and explore this notion through a study of memoirs of individuals who were raised in “cults.” Suggesting a more aligned approach to working with varying levels of psychological constraint and utilizing a phenomenological hermeneutic study, it will appeal to scholars and professionals in depth psychology and other psychological orientations, as well as individuals who are interested in more deeply understanding the psychological mechanisms involved in leaving a high-demand group or other oppressive situations.

In times of uncertainty and crisis, the mental health of individuals become a concern as added stressors and pressures can cause depression, anxiety, and stress. Today, especially with more people than ever experiencing these effects due to the Covid-19 epidemic and all that comes along with it, discourse around mental health has gained heightened urgency. While there have always been stigmas surrounding mental health, the continued display of these biases can add to an already distressing situation for struggling individuals. Despite the experience of mental health issues becoming normalized, it remains important for these issues to be addressed along with adequate education about mental health so that it becomes normalized and discussed in ways that are beneficial for society and those affected. Along with raising awareness of mental health in general, there should be a continued focus on treatment options, methods, and modes for healthcare delivery. The Research Anthology on Mental Health Stigma, Education, and Treatment explores the latest research on the newest advancements in mental health, best practices and new research on treatment, and the need for education and awareness to mitigate the stigma that surrounds discussions on mental health. The chapters will cover new technologies that are impacting delivery modes for treatment, the latest methods and models for treatment options, how education on mental health is delivered and developed, and how mental health is viewed and discussed. It is a comprehensive view of mental health from both a societal and medical standpoint and examines mental health issues in children and adults from all ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds and in a variety of professions, including healthcare, emergency services, and the military. This book is ideal for psychologists, therapists, psychiatrists, counsellors, religious leaders, mental health support agencies and organizations, medical professionals, teachers, researchers, students, academicians, mental health practitioners, and more.