Integrative Mental Health Care

Making sense of complementary and alternative treatments in mental health care.

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In mental health care as in medical care, more and more clinicians are turning to unconventional diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to treat their patients in the most effective way possible. In fact, recent surveys have indicated that outof- pocket costs in the U.S. for nontraditional treatments of psychiatric disorders equal costs of the more standard, covered medical therapies. Integrating traditional methods of therapeutic care (i.e., pharmacologic treatments, cognitive-behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, etc.) with complementary and alternative medical (CAM) approaches—including the use of vitamin and mineral supplements, mindfulness training, yoga, light therapy, music, biofeedback, energy therapies, acupuncture, and other mind-body treatments—has been shown to be more effective than taking the traditional route alone. However, very few resources or guidelines exist for clinicians on how exactly to go about incorporating these nontraditional approaches into treatment. Likewise, very few trustworthy manuals exist for patients on what their options are in terms of CAM methods. This book makes sense of it all by offering practitioners a concise, evidence-based guide to the day-today management of common mental health problems using a CAM approach. The first part of the book lays the foundation, explaining the basics of complementary and integrative methods in mental health care. The second part, organized by core symptom, guides practitioners through the process of creating an effective and sound CAM treatment plan.