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The purpose of this sourcebook is to provide a widely encompassing set of written self-help practice exercises that cover a variety of individual and relational conditions. They can be used as alternative or additional resources in the promotion of mental health as well as in the prevention, psychotherapy, and rehabilitation of mental illness.
The use of the Internet implies an interactive involvement in the process of acquiring information. To retain such information and incorporate it in one’s daily life, that information needs to be in writing, either in printed form for reception or in one’s handwriting or typing for recording reactions and responses (Pulier, Mount, McMenamin, & Maheu, 2007). If the Internet is indeed the most revolutionary...
This chapter expands and updates Norcross’s (2006) original proposal to integrate self-help within psychotherapy through reading self-help books and autobiographies, and viewing films. This relatively passive approach can be expanded with active and interactive mental health interventions (health promotion, prevention, psychotherapy, and rehabilitation) through (1) distance writing (DW) in its various...
The field of mental health technology is full of advertising from major publishing houses about handouts, sourcebooks, reproducible instructions, and materials that can be used by partcipants. These advertisements attest to the tremendous growth of between-session homework assignments in psychotherapy (Kazantzis, Deane, Ronan, & L’Abate, 2005; Kazantzis & L’Abate, 2007). The rationale for...
Another advance relevant to the evolution of self-help in mental health interventions lies in low-cost approaches to promote physical and mental health. These approaches are based on the substantial evidence of positive outcomes in survival and mortality rates derived from (1) nutrition (diet, omega fatty acids, vitamins, and supplements); (2) nonverbal activities (relaxation, meditation, exercise,...
The use of distance writing (DW) in health promotion, prevention, psychotherapy, and rehabilitation has come of age in many ways (Esterling, L’Abate, Murray, & Pennebaker, 1999; L’Abate, 2007a, 2007c, 2007d; Lepore & Smyth, 2002), including autobiographies (Demetrio & Borgonovi, 2007), journaling and diaries (Levine & Calvanio, 2006), expressive writing or the Pennebaker paradigm (Kacewicz,...
A parallel advance in the field of mental health, in line within the advent of DW and homework assignments, has been the growth of self-help mental health sourcebooks or practice exercises. The practice exercises entail participants doing DW and receiving verbal or written feedback from professionals (L’Abate, 1991, 1992, 2001, 2002, 2004a, 2004b, 2007a, 2007b, 2007c; L’Abate & Goldstein, 2007)...
This chapter expands on the use of the dictionary in the various mental health approaches discussed in the previous chapters. Many practice exercises in this sourcebook require the use of a dictionary. Therefore, it is important to proffer a rationale for this requirement, which is not yet based on sufficiently supported empirical evidence. Unfortunately, I have no data to support it, except for my...
The selected case studies in this chapter are taken from our files of years ago, when Bess L. L’Abate and I started to introduce programmed writing and self-help practice exercises in our part-time private practice (L’Abate et al., 2005). (The three individuals presented below for Section I gave written permission.) A complete practice exercise of social training, designed to decrease impulsivity...
As summarized in the previous chapters, one admittedly extreme advance relevant to the conduct and delivery of mental health interventions in this century is the administration of homework assignments interspersed with rare, infrequent face-to-face talk-based sessions. The purpose of the sessions would be to check on the immediate outcome obtained by doing homework after completing each assignment...
The purpose of this practice exercise is to learn more about the disorder that is affecting your child and your family. Please answer all questions or instructions fully.
The purpose of this practice exercises is to help you understand your character better You will be asked to complete in writing practice exercises containing a great many questions about the many parts that make up your character. Participation in working on this practice exercises is completely voluntary, and working on these practice exercises will be completely up to you. It is completely up to...
We prepare for life through education. We even prepare for a driving license through education. Yet we often assume that being married or entering a relationship will take place naturally, without preparation. Marriage is one of the most responsible roles of our lives, but getting married and becoming a partner is expected to happen without any effort on our part. The purpose of this practice exercises...
Define what each behavior listed below means to you. Use a dictionary or the Internet if you need information. Give two examples to make sure you understand the definition. It might take you more than a day to write down all these definitions. Take your time. After you have completed this list, go to item No. 2.
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