Evidence from Within: A New Paradigm for Clinical Practice
Rowman and Littlefield, 2008
To read the introduction and first chapter, click here.
About Evidence from Within
This book squarely addresses the questions “Does psychotherapy work? When does it work and how well?” It proposes a practical and innovative model of psychological and psychiatric assessment and treatment. Having read this book, the practitioner should have a set of valuable, new techniques for conducting a results-oriented psychotherapy. The book and the methods it advocates can be used as a practice guide for any office-based mental health clinician. Emphasized is the therapist’s responsibility to deliver a treatment that is effective and has built-in provision for independent monitoring of treatment progress. Apart from psychological assessment and self-report questionnaires, information about diagnosis and progress comes from a finely-tuned collaboration between therapist and patient. The approach described has been evolved and tested by the author and his colleagues for over fifteen years. The book is replete with clinical illustrations that capture the dilemmas typically faced by practicing psychotherapists.
In addition to giving detailed descriptions and justifications for the techniques recommended, included is a chapter reviewing the current literature on the value of specific interventions versus those that are less structured and primarily relationship based, as well as one on the application of the methods to child and adolescent treatment. An additional chapter compares methods based on a medical model with those tied primarily to a psychological model. The chapter discusses the reliability of each way of gaining clinical data and conducting treatment. Almost any psychological or psychiatric school of thought or treatment method is compatible with the model treatment described in the book, providing appropriate assessment and monitoring of treatment progress are done.
What Others Say about Evidence from Within
“What a gift this remarkable book will be to the entire community of therapists and clients seeking their counsel! It presents the therapeutic endeavor in terms that bring to mind ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ Frankel’s method is collaborative, dignified, and totally inclusive. He describes a shared commitment of all participants based in the faith that dedicated tender care and meticulous tracking are the most important elements — more than any particular therapeutic style — of successful therapy. Emphasized in this book are ways a therapist can and should confirm his or her clinical observations. The therapist takes responsibility for a therapy that is both fully collaborative and is, at each point in the work, demonstrated to be effective.”
~ Sylvia Boorstein, Ph.D., author of Happiness Is An Inside Job: Practicing for a Joyful Life
“Steven Frankel writes about the interpersonal process of psychotherapy better than anybody I have read, sharing his own struggles, feelings, and mistakes with refreshing honesty. This book outlines a collaborative process for integrating psychological assessment into long term psychotherapy. With this method, the deeper issues of the client are illuminated, brought into the client-therapist relationship and clarified so that they may be worked on and resolved. Evidence from Within: A New Paradigm for Clinical Practice is a must read for anyone looking for new ways to help their clients.”
~ Stephen E. Finn, Ph.D., former President of the Society for Personality Assessment
Author of In Our Clients’ Shoes: Theory and Techniques of Therapeutic Assessment
“Counter to the conventional wisdom that psychotherapy is a private and confidential two-year interchange between therapist and patient, Steven Frankel presents a passionate advocacy of a therapy model involving therapist, patient, psychologist-assessor, and often enough when indicated family member, in an ongoing evaluative and monitoring process throughout the therapy, and into a continuing follow-up period thereafter. All the claimed advantages are vigorously propounded, for greater transparency and accountability, a more focused and self-correcting therapeutic course, a private-practice friendly situation and even economic advantage. It is a model offered for thoughtful consideration by the mental health professional practitioner world.”
~ Robert S. Wallerstein, M.D., former President of the International Psychoanalytic Association
Author of numerous books and articles including Forty-Two Lives in Treatment
