Essential Psychopathology and Its Treatment

This book is a nice complement for the DSM IV. It is organized well and easy to look up different psychopathology and their treatments. Others who have read it like it, too. It was recommended to me.

Based on the title of this book, I was looking for it to be a rather long, boring and somewhat difficult read. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it is actually a very easy read. The author gives good examples and case studies in the book as well as doesn't speak at a level that either puts you to sleep or makes you feel stupid. I definitely recommend this book!

Essential Psychopathology is a no-nonsense, DSM IV based loook at psychopathology and treatment that is an excellent resource for the beginning counseling student who needs a cogent look at psychopathology. This book describes the genetics, epidemiology, and psychopharmacology of mental disorders and offers guidelines for treatment. It is slightly dated due to the fact that the DSM IV-TR has come out, but there is not any appreciable differences in how each pathology is presented.

This book is excellant for anyone working or interested in the mental health field. The authors put the DSM-IV materials into practical workings for psychotherapy and case management. They explain the importance of differential diagnosis as they review the various diagnostic criteria. While it could be used as a reference book, I found it most helpful when I read the chapters in sequence. It is a must have!

I enjoyed reading the book and each authors'informative and straightforward style.Most chapters were well written but had several footnotes which I found a bit cumbersome.The one drawback that I found concerned the treatment side of the title-specifically the term treatment.The book had a strong bias towards treatment involving the medical model(which remains crucial)but not necessarily the foundation of all treatment modalities.An example would be the continual use of the word 'patient' rather than client,individual,consumer,etc.I believe the person's primary m.o. will assist in determining the specific mode of services.For instance one may use a 'solution-focused' approach which cuts across several forms of treatment. I would recommend this book as a mid- learning tool and will use as a general guide in my practice.