Customer Reviews (1)

POTENTIALLY DAMAGING TO A CHILD'S SELF-ESTEEM!
This book is written for young people, primarily adolescents. Ido not believe that any child should be exposed to this book; if thechild has suffered through a disaster and heard the term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and wants to know if that is what s/he is going through, the disaster counselling resources available from FEMA and the Red Cross -- and mentioned on the last page of text in this book -- would be far preferable to reading this strange compendium.THIS BOOK HAS A MAJOR FLAW WHICH EXTENDS THROUGHOUT: IT FAILS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT PTSD IS A NORMAL, ALTHOUGH MINORITY, REACTION TO AN ABNORMAL OCCURRENCE.Only once do the authors state that at least 25% of disaster victims suffer from PTSD, and they completely fail to draw from this that PTSD is thus so statistically significant as to be a normal response, not some aberration.Instead, the authors broadly postulate and without citation to any autority,, on page 54, that "[t]he people most likely to develop PTSD are those who have difficulty acknowledging or expressing their emotions," thereby branding their young readers to see themselves as suffering from a mental illness, at worse, or at best from a personal flaw. More effective would have been a neutral phraseology such as "How a Disaster Makes You Feel," even if PTSD is an accurate diagnosis to an adult clinician.It is obvious, even prior to reading their biographies, that neither author is a psychologist. (But read on and discover that little of this book is even about a child's response to a natural disaster).The book also fails to recognize that different children have experienced different levels of destruction in a disaster, and that this external factor affects the severity of each child's response...Also of note is that of this book's measly 61 pages, 42 are devoted to cursory examples of different types of natural disasters (when undoubtedly the reader has only suffered from one and her/his parent has purchased this book to deal with it).The book is also primarily devoted to preparing for and surviving during the disaster, not POST disaster results.That portion of this book titled "After Disaster Strikes" does not commence until page 52!Even the reading list associated with this book is confusing.Of the 12 suggested books, all but one describe various prior disasters, and the 12th is Melodie Beattie's Codependent No More (clearly not a book for children).I cannot imagine what possessed the authors to write this peculiar book and then to call it "Everything You Need To Know About Natural Disasters and PTSD." Even more so, I am astounded and perturbed that it was ever published!IF THERE WERE SUCH A CATEGORY, I WOULD GIVE THIS NEGATIVE STARS. ... Read more

Product Description
Dresden Univ. of Technology, Germany. Brings together recent findings on the course of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its development through life. Discusses the methods of coping with PTSD at different stages of life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Frightening & Sadistic!!!!
I'm sorry, but this book is very close to being psychotic and is an extraordinarily frightening contribution to the important and necessary reserach on autism.Our child was diagnosed with autism at the tender age of one.His history included long-term neonatal intensive care incubation, subsequent neurosurgery, and several other traumatic medical events that terrified him and also precluded the nurturing physical contact he needed.My husband and I, and in time our son's therapists, concluded that the root of his problem was post traumatic stress syndrome (ptss), not autism. I searched earnestly for research on the link between ptss and autism and found nothing except the work by Ken Lenchitz.I eagerly ordered his book, anxious to read his findings and conclusions.The book begins well, and Lenchitz makes the strong point that infants have sensory recall of even their earliest experiences, so that even the youngest children are vulnerable to ptss.This sympathetic (and I think valid) viewpoint is sadly at odds with the opinion of the mainstream medical community, and I felt encouraged reading the early chapters of Lenchitz's book.But as Lenchitz begins to explore other aspects of the "cause" and treatment, the book takes a terrifying turn into misogynistic, mother-blaming, Freudian craziness.I will not attempt to summarize the convoluted, sadistic therapy that Lenchitz proclaims to be the only cure.Suffice it to say I would just as soon give my 2 year old child daily electro-shock treatment and lithium....and sincerely hope that Lenchitz's career is limited to research and does not include treating patients.

A must for families affected by autism
Dr. Kenneth Lenchitz, one of the leading researchers on autism, and post-dramatic stress disorder, has completed a book that questions the current methods of treating autism and introduces new theories on possible cause."Autism and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder : Ending Autistic Fixation" is an insightful and important book for families affected by autism. ... Read more

Product Description
Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Post-traumatic Stress Disorder," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

Product Description
Through literature review and their own research, Drs. McKenzie and Wright demonstrate the profound relationship between early infant trauma and the later development of serious emotional disorders. This model goes beyond prevalent thinking to show that biological research only measures the results of the disease process, and does not address the origins of mental illness. This book identifies primary prevention and offers new treatment methods based on recongition of the two-trauma mechanism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A View Worth Considering
Drs. McKenzie and Wright boldly strike out in an interesting and novel direction in their attempt to explain a possible etiology for schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorders and other forms of mental illness. The writing is well-documented (although heavily psychoanalytically oriented) and offers enough theoretical insight to pique the reader's clinical curiousity. Based upon my clinical experience, I suspect that some of what Drs. McKenzie and Wright propose is verifiable and will be confirmed. At this point, further empirical studies must be done to validate the hypotheses and move it from a clinical research level to experimental. All in all, it is worth reading as research in progress, particularly for those of us who must deal with schizophrenia or emotional trauma. ... Read more

Product Description
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is a psychiatric disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of life-threatening events such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or violent personal assaults like rape. People who suffer from PTSD often relive the experience through nightmares and flashbacks, have difficulty sleeping, and feel detached or estranged, and these symptoms can be severe enough and last long enough to significantly impair the person's daily life. PTSD is marked by clear biological changes as well as psychological symptoms. PTSD is complicated by the fact that it frequently occurs in conjunction with related disorders such as depression, substance abuse, problems of memory and cognition, and other problems of physical and mental health. The disorder is also associated with impairment of the person's ability to function in social or family life, including occupational instability, marital problems and divorces. PTSD is associated with a number of distinctive neurobiological and physiological changes. PTSD is treated by a variety of forms of psychotherapy and drug therapy.This new book presents leading research from around the world. ... Read more

Product Description
Aging and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) explores the psychological sequelae of severe trauma in elderly patients and the manifestations in old age of psychological symptoms secondary to trauma experienced earlier in life. Although methodological issues have made the scientific study of PTSD difficult, a number of well-designed research projects have begun to identify some of the key factors of aging and PTSD. Do elderly patients respond differently to stress than younger people, and do the effects of early stress change over time? These questions are the focus of the bookÂs 22 contributors. Research with World War II combat veterans, Holocaust survivors, elderly victims of trauma, and abused elderly persons provides new insight into why they might experience trauma differently than younger individuals. Longitudinal data collected over a 14-year period provide a fascinating comparison of psychological distress and PTSD among older and younger people. ... Read more

Product Description
Univ. of Florida, Gainesville. Pocket-sized quick reference argues that comorbidity is a key tool for understanding the mood and anxiety disorders. Discusses why comorbidity is so important as a conceptual tool, considers diagnostic overlaps and distinctions in depression, and reviews the epidemiology of their comorbidity. Softcover. ... Read more

Product Description

This updated Second Edition of the comprehensive text, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, covers the diagnosis and management, as well as the new molecular biological and imaging studies of this often misunderstood condition.

This text will be of interest to all professionals working in the field of psychiatry, especially to those with a specific interest in the treatment of anxiety disorders.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder:

• stands as the most comprehensive book on PTSD management for clinicians
• is clinically relevant for the practising psychiatrist: it includes a useful chapter on diagnostic dilemmas and one on symptom exaggeration
• is co-edited by leading international authorities and includes material on ethnocultural issues

New chapters cover:

• breakthroughs in the scientific understanding of PTSD
• symptom exaggeration
• child patients

Product Description
Out of all of the information that we experience, only a subset will become part of our memories. Attentional processes, engaged during an event's unfolding, are essential for allowing us to transform an experience into a memory, and emotion can critically modulate those attentional processes, increasing the likelihood that an emotional experience becomes part of our memory stores. This book reviews behavioural and neuroimaging evidence that has revealed effects of emotion on memory and attention in individuals with and without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). ... Read more

Product Description
This authored text-reference will be the first comprehensive text in the rapidly growing field of psychological trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder.

According to the NIMH, approximately 5.2 million American adults already suffer from post traumatic stress disorder.Caused by everything from combat experience to violent personal assaults to natural disasters and accidents, the incidence of PTSD has already reached epidemic proportions.The profound impact of psychological trauma and the need for proactive and scientifically-based approaches to timely prevention and evidence based treatment is unarguable and mental health programs are seeing a significant rise in the number of PTSD courses offered and services required.As a result, scholars, researchers, educators, clinicians, and trainees in the health care and human and social services need a concise and comprehensive source of authoritative information on psychological trauma and posttraumatic stress.

This volume will offer a foundational understanding of the field as well cover key controversies, the influence of culture and gender, and describe state-of-the-art research and clinical methodologies in down-to-earth terms.Clinical case studies will be used liberally.


*Concise but comprehensive coverage of biological, clinical and social issues surrounding PTSD

*Thoroughly covers evidence-based treatments, enabling the reader to translate current research into effective practice

*Exemplifies practical application through case studies
... Read more

Product Description
Sharon Johnson is the author of the best selling Therapist's Guide to Clinical Intervention now in its second edition.In this new book on PTSD, she lends her practical outline format to understanding PTSD assessment, treatment planning, and intervention.The book begins with a summary information on PTSD definition, and prevalence, assessment, and the evidence basis behind different treatment options. The book offers adjunctive skill building resources to supplement traditional therapy choices as well as forms for use in clinical practice.

This clinician's guide to diagnosing and treating PTSD is written in a concise format with much of the material in outline or bullet point format, allowing easy understanding of complex material for the busy therapist. Thebook includes a definition of the disorder, diagnostic criteria, the neurobiology of the disorder, tools and information for diagnosing clients, information on functional impairment, interventions, treatment planning, skill building, and additional clinician resources.

* Outlines treatment goals and objectives for DSM-IV PTSD diagnosis
* Discusses interventions and the evidence basis for each
* Offers skill building resources to supplement treatment
* Provides business and clinical forms for use with PTSD patients
... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Therapist/Professor Review December 9, 2009

This comprehensive book, authored by Sharon Johnson, is a perfect companion to another text I will be using for my Trauma and Abuse Seminar, taught in the spring of 2010. The evidence-based research coupled with cutting edge treatment concepts, such as Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder will provide students with invaluable information and the book is organized in a way as to be user-friendly and treatment applicable for both students and seasoned clinicians. Confidently I say that the information will generate class discussion and learning activities. I have purchased two copies. One, for my private practice office (as an already well used reference book for treatment of my clients), and one for my faculty office (as a reference for supervision, class preparation, and consultation). I highly recommend this book to professors, to be used for student texts and/or supervision references, and for clinicians, as a practical reference for treatment. Valerie E. Forward Ph.D. Core Faculty, The California School of Forensic Psychology, Alliant International University, Fresno, California

Therapist/professor review
Sharon Johnson has done it again!Like her previous guides to clinical intervention and substance abuse treatment, Dr. Johnson has succeeded in condensing a vast amount of relevant, current, and well-researched material into a form that is practical and user-friendly for teachers and practitioners.This most recent volume is very timely, as the media bombards us daily with the consequences of war, sexual abuse, forest fires, earthquakers, and other natural and unnatural disasters.Although trauma is as old as humankind, the legitimacy of its lingering effects has only recently been understood.Dr. Johnson's book is divided into the biopsychosocial aspects and diagnosis of PTSD and its treatment, with special emphasis on the neurobiology of posttraumetic stress and the development of skills for managing the effects of trauma.The current controversies and issues regarding the diagnosis of PTSD, notably the complicated effects of complex posstraumatic stress disorder, are included.The treatment interventions focus predominantly on evidence-based research, with the result that cognitive behaivoral and pharmacological interventions are covered most thoroughly, while attachment-based psychodynamic interventions are described more briefly, although noted as important and useful.This therapist's guide should be used, not as a superficial handbook of techniques, but as a well documented source of information, applied in the contexts of an effective therapeutic relationship, available clinical supervision, training and consultation.I will be using this text as a university professor and recomending it to my colleagues. Anne Petrovich, Associate Professor, California State University, Fresno

Excellent resources, a little disorganized
I have several of Sharon Johnson's "Therapist Guide" books. They are extremely comprehensive, but poorly organized. However, the books is well worth it, despite that fact. There is rich information that covers numerous perspectives, interventions, and opinions about treating trauma and PTSD. I think the information is superior to many more popular books, but the lack of organization probably keeps this one from standing out as much as it should within the field. ... Read more

Product Description
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is marked by symptomsfollowing exposure to extreme trauma.For loved ones of combatveterans unable to shake the grip of war, the homefront is indeed abattlefield.For many families, the memories of the departure, andall the plans and hopes for tomorrow, are shattered when the loved onereturns.He comes home, but he's different.He returns from thatfaraway place, but yet a part of him seems to be there still,thousands of miles away.For centuries societies have shipped theiryouth off to war, fully expecting them to return home the same, topick up where they left off, to carry on and to "fit in."

Though this extraordinary book focuses on the uniqueness of war andPTSD, the disorder is also associated with other large-scale traumaslike natural disasters and personal traumas like rape, sexual abuseand domestic violence.Although the severity of the veteran's trauma,and therefore the effects of that trauma vary from home to home,certainly one principle universally applies: Young people who see orparticipate in the atrocities of combat do not come out of theexperience unscathed.This unique book brings their plight home. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A sensitive, compassionate look at a hellatious problem
This book is a tell-it-like-it-is, no holds barred look at the true, often ugly nature of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the many troubling, often anti-social behaviors that can accompany it.
As one who has been there, I am most grateful for the author's concentration on the effects of PTSD as it relates to the families of combat veterans. She writes "To the spouse, child, parent- this book is dedicated to those who have helped our country's warriors to face the pain of their past, to mourn and to heal. You have suffered terribly on the homefront. For your unselfish love and care, you, too, are deserving of the purple heart."
As a wife of a combat veteran, Colleen knows of where she speaks. There are many personal examples of situations that are common to the problem.- Reading these stories have helped me feel a kinship with all these people brave enough to share their stories.
The author explores secondary PTSD, depression, suicide,the healing power of spirituality, among many other relative subjects.
This is a hopeful, helpful book touching on a subject that begs for more exploration in the public arena. An excellent, courageous resource.

Copy - paste??
While doing a seach for information on living with vets with PTSD there were two books listed.

I found it interesting that the negitive and positive comments (one each) appears to be copy and pasted in each case.

How about someone else reading and then giving the books a real life rating!

A celebration of codependency
I live with a vet who is 100% disabled from PTSD. I picked up this book hoping for some helpful insights. Instead, I read page after page, story after story, of veterans who could only be described as self-centered, inconsiderate to the point of sociopathy, violent and with few redeeming qualities. To compound the harm done by this image to the many PTSD sufferers who are nothing at all like the vets she describes, her tone suggests that the wife (typically) is expected to somehow live through these atrocities almost no matter what it does to her life. Her image of the vet is almost a cruel continuation of the negative image much of society already has about Vietnam vets. In my experience, the kind of violent PTSD sufferer she describes is in the minority.

Her concluding chapter about the possibility of getting better appears out of nowhere and she gives little suggestion how this change is supposed to occur.

If you want to read a book that intelligently explains PTSD to both the sufferer and significant others, try Recovering From the War: A Guide for All Veterans, Family Members, Friends and Therapists by Patience H.C. Mason, also sold on Amazon.com. Give Crisis and Chaos a pass; you're missing nothing.

A heartfelt book about the plight of VietNam vets.
Many will recognize neighbors, friends, ex-spouses, and relatives who were never recognized for their sacrifice made during the unpopular war in VietNam.This book helps us understand why war does not end for veteranswho served in combat zones; the war lives forever for veterans and theirfamilies.A book that cannot be "put down"--must reading foranyone who knows a veteran or wants to understand the legacy of war. ... Read more

Product Description
"I broke into a house, entering from the back door. When I left, two people inside were dead.I don't remember killing them, but I know I must have. All I can remember is the police chasing me. I thought I was in the jungle, with the Cong chasing me, trying to kill me before I could kill them....I was nineteen years old and the Vietnam War was the high point in my life.I didn't come home in a body bag or a wheel chair. Even though I thought I had come home a complete person, it's evident that I didn't"-from the interview with Gary Cone.Interviews with Vietnam veterans and their family members explain as nothing else can the emotional consequences of wartime experiences. Many of these interviewees are now in prison as a result of the substance abuse or violence that characterizes PTSD. ... Read more