Ken asks…
Mental Health?
As a Social Worker, I am looking for better ways to engage clients with severe mental health dx’s (schiophrenia, bi-polar, paranoia, etc.) to get them interested or involeved in their care. Any suggestions of approaches? Also what do u find helpful when trying o speak to a client wxperiencing delusions/hallucinations?
Admin answers:
Have you tried Linehan’s “Skills Training for Borderline Personality Disorder” workbook? I used exercises from this during graduate training in an outpatient mental health clinic.
A couple of years ago, I was at a conference on community mental health that talked about client/consumer-based programs that were pretty much primarily run by the clients themselves. I don’t know the severity level of your population, but I would try to get the clients to support each other as best I could, and research client- or consumer-based programs and their efficacy levels. I thinking that that clients will respond to encouragement from their peers more than they will respond to encouragement from their therapists.
In regards to delusions and hallucinations, based on my experience, the best way to intervene is to 1) enter their reality and never invalidate it 2) empathize with the feeling
3) based on their past history, try to interpret accordingly and 4) if you confront them, confront them on the effects of their thinking – not that their thinking is wrong – e.g. How is their thinking making their life better or worse, and is there a better, safer, more workable alternative?
Good luck.
Thomas asks…
mental health?
I need the name of a book that discusses why some people don’t seek treatment for mental health issues,by a Ph.D. would be best. This is for a research project.The reasons why men come home from war and some don’t have problems and others do .Opinions don’t count unless you’re a psychologist.
Admin answers:
I don’t know about books, but you could try arXiv for research papers.
Steven asks…
Mental health?
Can a regular M.D diagnose a mental illness, or does a mental health professional have to do it??
Admin answers:
All MDs get some psychiatric training in med school and residency. They can diagnose, but if they are responsible, they will refer anything but the most apparent to a psychiatrist. Even the most apparent should be referred in my opinion, but that’s not the way insurance works so it’s not the way they work.
PS – psychiatrists are MDs. They have advanced specialization in psychiatry. Psychologists have PhDs, can test, and diagnose, but cannot prescribe med in most states. If the illness requires medication, the psychologist refers to a psychiatrist who will still do her/his own evaluation and diagnosis before prescribing meds. And……… Any competent psychiatrist will require a check up (usually by your regular doctor) and basic blood work before finalizing a diagnosis.
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