Handbook of Self-Help Therapies (original) (raw)
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Self-Help: The Oxymoron of Our Age Introduction
Nothing is unclear to the understanding; it is only when we fail to understand that things appear unintelligible and confused. 1 Carl Jung might have formulated this aphorism with regard to psychic illness and the dangers of naïve interpretation but it applies equally well to complicated and potentially fatal physical illnesses which defy attempts at establishing direct causation. Carl Jung's Modern Man In Search Of A Soul provides a highly insightful look at the lack of a sense of meaning in life which he claims is the crisis that guarantees all the other social crises that man faced in the 20 th century and which have shown no signs of abatement in the 21 st . Taking Modern Man as the starting point, this essay will seek to establish the link between the crisis of meaning in life that Jung elucidated and the need of people suffering from illness to find meaning and purpose behind their illness because, ultimately, regaining health is not the only concern of the ill. As Bernie Siegel very succinctly phrases it in his best-selling book, Love, Medicine and Miracles: 'Getting well is not the only goal. Even more important is learning to live without fear, to be at peace with life, and ultimately death.' 2 This essay aims to evaluate the insistently optimistic attitude towards life-threatening illnesses such as cancer that is espoused by the growing body of literature on self-help and alternative, holistic therapies and the relationship between the self and the illness that these self-help books help cultivate. A term such as self-help is ambiguous and has been used in a variety of contexts; for the purposes of this essay self-help will refer to the healthy-minded outlook and insistent optimism towards serious and often incurable illnesses that is popularised by authors such as Bernie Siegel and Norman Cousins. These eulogise a program of self-healing; the aim of these guides is to release our 'vis medicatrix naturae' 3 or the healing power that we contain within ourselves as Norman Cousins described in his pathography, Anatomy of an Illness, one
Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 2012
is BSW (Melbourne), MA, East-West Psychology (C.I.I.S. San Francisco) is a transpersonal psychotherapist and health educator and is currently enjoying her time as a freelance writer on a range of subjects, including psychology, women's health, aging, wellness, simplicity, green spirituality, environmental issues, organic growing, downshifting and alternative technology. Marian is the author of eight books (www.marianvaneykmccain.com), co-editor of the magazine 'GreenSpirit' and also a blogger, columnist and book reviewer. A lover of all things green, she lives, very simply, in rural Devon with her soul mate and partner, Sky McCain. She welcomes visits to her books' Website (above) and to her primary Website at www.elderwoman.org In this era of confusing proliferations of therapies and extreme boom of spirituality books and trainings promising instant relief and gratification, it is refreshing to find a book designed for the neophyte which is highly stranded in the long-established tradition. The book is a rare combination of simple and accessible wisdom, professional expertise, and wit and humour, the writer achieving the difficult task of offering serious support without taking herself too seriously. "Self therapy made easy" is written for normal people empowered to solve their own problems and deal with their own issues and who are fully capable of doing so. Written by a highly qualified psychotherapist and based on many years of clinical expertise and personal practice, the book is an informative, inspirational and easy-to-read guide to understanding how the normal, human mind works and how we can all take charge of our own
Self-management: its place in the management of chronic illnesses
Australian Health Review, 2003
Self-management programs are now regarded as important facets in the overall care of people with chronic illnesses. They are seen as producing long-lasting benefits both to participants and to the health system in terms of reduced hospitalisations and reduced lengths of stay, as well as decreasing medication usage. In this article we examine what constitutes self-management and the evidence supporting the views that the benefits are unequivocal. We argue that greater attention to research design is required before the benefits can be assessed. We also argue that greater attention must be paid to access issues for people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CALD) and lower socioeconomic status.
Self-management interventions for chronic disease: a systematic scoping review
Clinical Rehabilitation, 2014
Objective: To investigate the contributions of physiotherapy and occupational therapy to self-management interventions and the theoretical models used to support these interventions in chronic disease. Data sources: We conducted two literature searches to identify studies that evaluated self-management interventions involving physiotherapists and occupational therapists in MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, CINAHL, EMBASE, AMED (Allied and Complementary Medicine), SPORTdiscus, and REHABDATA databases. Study selection: Four investigator pairs screened article title and abstract, then full text with inclusion criteria. Selected articles (n = 57) included adults who received a chronic disease self-management intervention, developed or delivered by a physiotherapist and/or an occupational therapist compared with a control group. Data extraction: Four pairs of investigators performed independent reviews of each article and data extraction included: (a) participant characteristics, (b) the self-management intervention, (c) the comparison intervention, (d) outcome measures, construct measured and results. Data synthesis: A total of 47 articles reported the involvement of physiotherapy in self-management compared with 10 occupational therapy articles. The type of chronic condition produced different yields: arthritis n = 21 articles; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic pain n = 9 articles each. The theoretical frameworks most frequently cited were social cognitive theory and self-efficacy theory. Physical activity was the predominant focus of the self-management interventions. Physiotherapy programmes included disease-specific education, fatigue, posture, and pain management, while occupational therapists concentrated on joint protection, fatigue, and stress management. Conclusions: Physiotherapists and occupational therapists make moderate contributions to selfmanagement interventions. Most of these interventions are disease-specific and are most frequently based on the principles of behaviour change theories.
Self-management interventions: Proposal and validation of a new operational definition
Journal of clinical epidemiology, 2016
Systematic reviews on complex interventions like self-management interventions often do not explicitly state an operational definition of the intervention studied, which may impact the review's conclusions. This study aimed to propose an operational definition of self-management interventions and determine its discriminative performance compared with other operational definitions. Systematic review of definitions of self-management interventions and consensus meetings with self-management research experts and practitioners. Self-management interventions were defined as interventions that aim to equip patients with skills to actively participate and take responsibility in the management of their chronic condition in order to function optimally through at least knowledge acquisition and a combination of at least two of the following: stimulation of independent sign/symptom monitoring, medication management, enhancing problem-solving and decision-making skills for medical treatment...
Promoting Self-Management and Patient
2018
The complexity of health care is increasing, associated with several factors including ag‐ ing populations and expanding comorbidities, growth in options for health interventions and patients’ access to information from electronic and other media. Management of chronic conditions with high morbidity such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic pulmonary disease and depression constitutes a major burden of clinical care worldwide and an increasing problem for primary care because responsibility for chronic care shifts from hospitals to health professionals in primary care. Recently, there has been increasing attention focussed on another player/stakeholder in this quest to improve pa‐ tient outcomes–the patient. As of 9 September 2011, the new World Organization of National Colleges, Academies and Academic Associations of General Practitioners/Family Physicians (WONCA) EU definition of general practice includes as its 12th characteristic “Promotion of patient em‐ powerme...