Douglass, D. (2011). Self-esteem, recovery and the performing arts: A textbook and guide for mental health practitioners, educators, and students. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. 225 pages. ISBN 978-0-398-08606-0 (hard) $55.95. ISBN 978-0-398-08607-7 (paper) $35.95. ISBN 978-0-398-08608-4 (ebook)

Abstract

Douglass, D. (2011). Self-esteem, recovery and the performing arts: A textbook and guide for mental health practitioners, educators, and students. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. 225 pages. ISBN 978-0-398-08606-0 (hard) $55.95. ISBN 978-0-398-08607-7 (paper) $35.95. ISBN 978-0-398-08608-4 (ebook).There are many recovery models that aim to address the persistent existential problems experienced by those persons living with serious and persistent mental health issues (SMI). The goal of these programs is to provide significant changes in the quality of life of service users and to foster their ability to participate more fully in their communities. Although these programs experience successful outcomes to some degree, as a society, we still struggle to find ways to help persons with SMI to be less marginalized and to achieve their potential. Too often, mental illness takes a terrible toll, leaving families and service users alike to cope with the devastation of its effects. This book describes a unique recovery program utilizing performing arts that brings hope to this situation.Donna Douglass is a music therapist who has spent her life working with persons with SMI. Drawing on her extensive experience as founder and director of the Salem Creative Arts Center, Project Arts, and On Stage!, the author demonstrates how the creative arts approach to recovery promotes cognitive development and learning, decreases stigmatization, and fosters the education of the general public, thereby bridging the relationship between service users and their communities. This book, written in two parts, is intended as a resource for mental health practitioners as well as educators and their students. Part 1 provides background information and research on issues in mental health and recovery, while part 2 provides a practical how-to guide to produce musical theatre with persons with SMI.Chapter 1 documents a brief but well-researched history and evolution of the treatment of persons with SMI, including the consequences of the development of a new generation of psychotropic drugs and deinstitutionalization plans for this population. Of special interest to music therapists is an empirical study on the effects of the performing arts on recovery for people with SMI that the author conducted with the participants of her On Stage! Program. Pre and posttests were used to determine the outcome of performing musical theatre on work readiness; specifically, the research measured the effectiveness of this program to teach supported education and employment entry skills using the Work-Readiness Skills Assessment Survey (WRSA; Douglass, Martineau, & Dyck, 1997).Chapter 2 provides an in-depth explanation of the SelfEsteem Recovery Model (SEIR) used by Douglass. This chapter is particularly useful to students and educators as it describes the factors related to recovery with great insight. The author illustrates the recovery process by presenting eight goals and consequent objectives comprising The Recovery Wheel, an assessment and evaluation tool to measure the progress of her clients toward the pre-vocational SEIR goals.In chapters 3, 4, and 5, the author continues to provide comprehensive information on how musical theatre performances and the SEIR program can reduce stress, develop resilience, reduce generalized performance anxiety, build cognitive skills, and promote the reduction of stigma for persons with SMI. The author generously shares a wealth of personal experience and provides pertinent research integrated with valuable practical guidance helpful to anyone working in the arts with persons with SMI. Interspersed throughout the text are personal stories that provide revealing examples of the scope of mental health problems of the persons enrolled in the SEIR program and its astounding positive effects on recovery. …