Synopsis:
Since the 1970s, the development of normalization philosophy and the implementation of community care policies have highlighted the nature and treatment of psychiatric and behavior disorders in people with mental retardation and rekindled the interest of scientists, psychiatric practitioners, and service providers. With these changes has grown a substantial body of new research and information on the phenomenology, epidemiology, classification, and clinical features of mental illness and behavior disorders in mentally retarded persons. In response to this growing interest and awareness, the editors, together with internationally renowned contributors from the United States and Europe, have compiled the first comprehensive handbook of the current theory and practice of mental health treatment and care in mentally retarded children and adults. Both contemporary and in-depth, this multidisciplinary, multidimensional volume covers all available therapeutic methods, including psychopharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, behavior therapies, cognitive therapy, and the systems approach for all the main diagnostic disorders in people with mental retardation. Parts I and II present an overview of epidemiology and clinical presentation, including research trends, and therapeutic methods, including psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, behavioral therapies, cognitive and social learning treatments, and working with families and caregivers. Parts III and IV focus on psychotherapeutic interventions, such as rational emotive group treatment with dually diagnosed adults, pre-therapy for persons with mental retardation who are also psychotic, and systemic therapy, and how to apply these methods to the treatment of specific mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, epilepsy, and mood and anxiety disorders. Parts V and VI discuss how to treat behavior disorders such as aggression/self-aggression (pharmacotherapy and strategic behavioral interventions) and self-injurious behaviors (multimodal contextual approach), including group therapy for sex offenders and a pedagogical approach to behavior problems, and which treatment methods, such as psychodynamically oriented psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy, are most effective with children, including developmental-dynamic relationship therapy with more severely mentally retarded children. Parts VII and VIII provide guidance on mental health services and staff training, including psychiatric treatment in community care and a model for inpatient services for mentally ill persons with mental retardation, and the editors final chapter, which draws together all the various therapeutic approaches described in previous chapters to provide a practical framework for an integrative approach. Filling a major gap in the literature, this indispensable resource for psychiatrists, psychologists, and educators working with mentally retarded persons is also intended for general practitioners, doctors, social workers, and therapists working in the same or related fields.
Review:
"I was quite impressed with this book, which has an unusually broad theoretical scope. As well, the authors impress me as not just knowledgeable, but passionate about their areas of expertise, which makes the book a compelling read."-- "Doody Publishing", "August 2001"
"This book, edited by Drs. Dosen and Day, two prominent pioneers in the field of psychiatry of mental retardation, is the first of its kind. It fills successfully two roles. First, it is a scholarly, comprehensively referenced text, which reviews in details our current knowledge of treatment of mental disorders in persons who also have mental retardation. Second, it is also a very readable textbook, describing in practical details the treatment modalities, and as such it will be most useful to all clinicians working with this, long underserved, population. It should be an obligatory part of core library of every mental retardation-mental health professional."-- "Ludwik S. Szymanski, M.D., Director of Psychiatry (Emeritus), Institute for Community Inclusion, Children's Hospital, Boston, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School"
"Treatment issues in intellectual disability are often confined to closing paragraphs. A major textbook focusing on treatments of people with intellectual disability is timely. Dosen and Day have assembled renowned experts on aspects of therapy to produce a key book and reference source that will be a necessary addition to institutes' libraries. Issues of theory and practice from local and international perspectives are included and models for multidisciplinary approaches are clearly described. This will be a useful handbook for the desks of clinical psychologists and psychiatrists in everyday practice with this group who have a high prevalence of behavior disorders, which are often refractory."-- "William Fraser, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Wales, Wales, United Kingdom"
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