disappointing
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This is a disappointing read. I was especially disappointed by the level of understanding of recovery approaches and the expertise of people who use services and the chapter on assertive outreach. A better intro, despite it being older, is Hawton etal. I write this as BABCP accredited cognitive behaviour therapist.
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A five star read.
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This book is essential reading for both trainee and experianced cognitive behavioural therapists The book introduces the reader to the key therapy principles,skills and processes of cognitive behavioural therapy. It is a well structured and written book. What I found very useful was that at the end of each chapter there were recommended activies to follow. I look forward to the authors next book.
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plug the gap
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I have to agree that there are limits to the cbt technique driven approach. I thought the book provided an oppurtunity to step out of this reductionist technique box however. I felt the authors were trying to understand the persons difficulties from a 'its not surprising you think and behave like this' perspective in addition to offering people a different way of understanding themselves and their difficulties; maybe people can arrive at alternative ways of perceiving, liberating them from their often shackled lives. Its only one view of course.
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Tries to be all things to all people
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I'm an accredited CBT therapist and bought this book largely based on the five star review I read on Amazon.
All I can say is the book is a bit optimistic and tries to take an 'objective' view of CBT and its limits whilst at the same time appearing to do what the hard-sellers of CBT are doing.
CBT is on everyone's lips at the moment and, as a nurse CBT therapist (and a trained psychotherapist) myself, who has also worked in various mental health settings over the years, the book is a bit academic and not too informative. The hard-sell approach to CBT via the Layard report and NICE guidelines, like this book, neglects to really tackle those client's experiences that don't fit into the model of changing thoughts and behaviours. I'm the first to admit that what I offer clients won't touch the really deep stuff and I know a lot of clients can't stand the CBT model.
Whilst at the moment it's great for CBT business to have veryone clamouring for our services(I've never had so much work!) it's unfair on psychotherapists and CBT therapists to suggest that because CBT has produced fairly basic evidence (what this book claims to be "the gold standard"), that somehow it can deal with every diagnosis in every setting. It simply can't and should not be promoted in that way.
I'm sorry to be a damp-rag reviewer, but it's a lot of money for a pretty mediocre text. Sorry.
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Not the best book on the subject
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I work in the NHS in mental health teams and it seems to me that any reviewer who gives this book 5 stars must be a mate of the authors. The book fails to recognise the very real limits of CBT as a collection of techniques, particularly in CMHT settings. CBT is not the wonder cure assumed by such a book and suggesting that such a basic approach to thought and behaviour modification is anything other than 'basic' is flatly irresponsible.
Work in CMHT's and in-patient settings seeks to respect the context of a person's suffering using a multitude of approaches. This books fail to address such issues in-depth, taking instead a cursory internalist position that simply cannot be applied to mental health settings in the way the book suggests.
CBT has its place amongst other manual-based techniques, but as a mental health worker of twenty years standing, I know for a fact that it does not do what this book claims.
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