Crisis Intervention and Time-Limited Cognitive Treatment » (1st Edition)

D.S.W. from U. of Maryland. Chairman of Administration of Justice Department. Author or co-author of ten books, many in second or third editions, among them: Moraskin/Roberts: Visions for Change: Crime and Justice in the Twenty-First Century 2^ND (PH, 1998, 444 pp. $55.00), Roberts: Crisis Intervention Handbook: Assessment, Treatment, and Research 2/e (O.U.P., 2000), Roberts ed. Juvenile Justice: Policies, Programs, and Services 2/e (Wadsworth, 1998, 300 pp. $45.95) He has also published two other books with Sage:

• Crisis Intervention and Time-Limited Cognitive Treatment - pub'd.1/95, sales to date of 2,585/$61,662 (2,290 paper/$50,497)
• Helping Crime Victims: Research, Policy and Practice - pub'd 6/90, sales to date of 3,031/$57,325 (2,425 paper/$40,943)
   

Offering the latest information on crisis intervention and time-limited treatment strategies, this practical sourcebook will equip practitioners with the knowledge to respond and deal effectively with individuals in crisis.

Each chapter presents state-of-the-art information about high-risk crisis intervention, and includes detailed case illustrations and brief treatment techniques. Based on the seven-stage intervention model, these guidelines thoroughly address the specifics of work with sexual assault survivors, adolescents who attempt suicide, family members in crisis, people with AIDS and their families, alcoholics, unemployed people, stalking victims, and disaster and terrorist survivors.

John Rolfe Stutesman

This multiauthored book describes the integration of time-limited cognitive methods and crisis intervention. The primary goal is to integrate cognitive treatment methods and crisis intervention, especially when treating persons suffering acute psychological crises or life-threatening situations. The authors recognize that the constraints imposed by managed care and the focus and brevity of cognitive treatment and crisis intervention are ideally suited for an efficacious integration of treatment modalities. The book meets its overall objective. The book will be especially useful for graduate students preparing to enter the managed mental health field. Clinicians who provide mental health care in hospital emergency rooms, police departments, pastoral counseling settings. and on telephone hotlines will find the book a valuable addition to their library. Crisis clinicians who are interested in specific topics such as AIDS, unemployment, stalking, rape, women's issues, telephone interventions, and critical incident debriefings will find the book very useful. The index and table of contents are well organized guides. The reference section is comprehensive, but its placement at the back of the book rather than after each chapter is awkward. The graphs and tables are well done. However, the national listing of crisis hotlines is incomplete. This book is an exception to the rule that chapters in an multiauthored book are uneven. Each chapter is well written and user friendly, and the contributors are very well versed in their specific areas of interest. The book makes excellent use of case examples and illustrations of intervention methodology. By-and-large this is a more comprehensiveand useful text than many works addressing the integration of crisis intervention and cognitive treatment. The main limitations of this book are the need for a broader appreciation for the complexity of human motivation, the regimented and emotional underpinnings of cognitive theory, and the limited focus on dramatic and in some cases atypical crisis situations. Consequently, this book will be most useful for clinicians already skilled in crisis intervention who are interested in enhancing their intervention repertoire.