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Rating: 
Summary: Excellent information, especially for service providers
Review: As a case manager who works with people who are Seriously Mentally Ill, this book is a great resource. My caseload consists of about 50 people with a wide range of disorders. My background is in substance abuse treatment and I was Clinical Supervisor at a Therapeutic Community, but since I've become very interested in the concept of co-occurring disorders (mentally ill and substance abusing as self-medication) I took an entry-level case manager job (at considerably less pay...) to learn more about mental illness. This book has really helped me out. It describes the major categories of mental illness, then discusses the most effective type of treatment each specific illness, as well as the most effective type of therapist or approach to use in dealing with the specific illness. I use the DSM-IV at times to get more information, but generally the psychiatrists make the diagnosis and we case managers do the treatment plans and work to develop ways to meet each client's need. This book has given me fresh insight and new ways to approach mental illness that, had I not read it, I might not have thought of. Since I'm doing post-graduate work at the University of Arizona part-time, I was able to check this book out for an extended six-month period. That time is almost up, so I'm going to buy the book now. It's worth the money for anyone who has to deal with people with a wide range of mental illnesses. It also helps the reader keep in mind that the person is ill, but that the illness does not define the person. Highly recommended for anyone working on the "front lines" of mental health treatment.
Rating:
Summary: First-class resource for the mental health practioner.
Review: The author describes her book as being a "comprehensive, systematic guide to treating mental disorders" and comprehensive and systematic it is! Seligman's work is research-based, yet practically oriented. The approach is a cogent, focused, rubric for diagnosis and treatment planning. As a practioner-to-be,this book has been of enormous benefit because it "ties it all together." Professor Seligman begins each section with a description of the disorder, then gives an overview of the characteristics of people who typically present with the disorder; she also gives an "overview of teh qualities of style and personality that typify clinicians likely to be successful in treating the disorder, along with a review of the research on treatment and information on the prognosis." One work that does all of this? You can't go wrong.
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