Kurzbeschreibung:
Between 25% and 50% of visits to primary care clinics are for somatic complaints with no identifiable organic pathology. While most people are reassured when told they are not ill, a certain percentage is convinced the doctor has missed something serious. For centuries, hypochondriasis and persistent somatic complaints have baffled physicians and mental health professionals alike. Recent decades, however, have seen advances in the understanding and treatment of this problem when it is considered a form of "health anxiety."
In this highly practical and accessible book, Jonathan Abramowitz and Autumn Braddock present a model of health anxiety and hypochondriasis grounded in the most up-to-date clinical science and that incorporates physiological, cognitive, and behavioral processes. They also offer a step-by-step guide to assessment, conceptualization, and psychological treatment that is derived from this model and integrates strategies for psychoeducation, cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy (exposure and response prevention), and dealing with resistance to treatment. The book is packed with illustrative clinical examples and therapist-patient dialogues. Sample forms and handouts are also provided.
This volume, which also addresses motivational problems and other common obstacles in treating individuals with health anxiety, is an essential resource for students and researchers in behavioral medicine and health psychology, and for anyone working with patients in hospitals, primary care settings, academic medical centers, and freestanding mental health clinics.
Beschreibung:
Practical and accessible guidance on dealing with health anxiety and hypochondriasis - a problem affecting up to 25%-50% of primary care patients.This highly practical and accessible book presents a model of health anxiety and hypochondriasis grounded in the most up-to-date clinical science, incorporating physiological, cognitive, and behavioral processes. It also offers a step-by-step guide to assessment, conceptualization, and psychological treatment derived from this model that integrates strategies for dealing with resistance to treatment, psychoeducation, cognitive therapy, and behavioral therapy (exposure and response prevention).The book is packed with illustrative clinical examples and therapist-patient dialogues, and addresses obstacles in treating individuals with health anxiety. Sample forms and handouts are also provided.Between 25% and 50% of visits to primary care clinics are for somatic complaints with no identifiable organic pathology.While most people are reassured when told they are not ill, a certain percentage is convinced the doctor has missed something serious. For centuries, hypochondriasis and persistent somatic complaints have baffled physicians and mental health professionals alike. Recent decades, however, have seen advances in the understanding and treatment of this problem when it is considered a form of 'health anxiety.' These advances are reflected in this upto- date and practical volume by leading experts.This book is thus an essential resource for practitioners, students, and researchers in behavioral medicine and health psychology, and for anyone working with patients in hospitals, primary care settings, academic medical centers, and freestanding mental health clinics.
