Book Review: Adapting Psychotherapy for an Underserved Population

Abstract

This is a book which cou ld be considered by some with loyalti es to th e idealism of th e community mental health movement to contain more than a littl e nostalgia. To put it in context, the case vignettes make referen ce to the several inner-city neighborhood satellite clinics, where community mental heal th patients are treated by Ha hnemann University faculty, psychi atric residents, psychology interns, mental health worker trainees, soc ia l workers and per manent staff psyc hotherapists. As described in th e vign ettes, it was no t unusual fo r patients to walk in without appointments, nor was it unusual for therapists to make home visits. This book is based on Hahnemann 's exper ience of its intimate involvement in urban community mental health centers during th e 1970 's. T his involvement had begun to shift even before this reviewer 's residen cy at Hahnemann . The book's introduction includes a review of th e literature through 1978 on characteristics of the population served by community mental health , characteristics of successful therapists, and methods used in trea tm ent. Fo llowing th is review is a summary based on th e author's personal ex periences in supervision and case conferences, observation of th erapy sessions, and the results of a questionnaire. T he questionnaire, wh ich was completed by th erapi sts from various di sciplines, seeks to identify factors associate d with success and failure of treatment outcomes. Diagnosis and medications are not included