Kaplan & Sadock’s Pocket Handbook of Clinical Psychiatry

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Psychotherapies

scientific understandings of illness. A major task of narrative psychotherapy is to be a good listener and to connect empathically with the patient’s story. Narrative approaches are invaluable for psychotherapy integration because they provide a metatheoretical orientation from which to understand and practice psychotherapy. Vocational rehabilitation Vocational rehabilitation is a centerpiece of psychiatric rehabilitation. It empha sizes independence rather than reliance on professionals, community integra tion rather than isolation in segregated settings for persons with disabilities, and patient preferences rather than professional goals. It includes a wide range of interventions designed to help people with disabilities caused by mental illness improve their functioning and quality of life by enabling them to acquire the skills and supports needed to be successful in usual adult roles and in the envi ronments of their choice. Normative adult roles include living independently, attending school, working in competitive jobs, relating to family, having friends, and having intimate relationships. Animal therapy Also known as pet therapy or animal-assisted therapy, this treatment modality en courages the creation of a human-animal bond that can have a calming or soothing effect on certain individuals who may struggle with symptoms associated with anxiety, substance use disorders, trauma- and stressor-related disorders, autism spectrum disorder, depression, and schizophrenia. Animal therapy may also help patients develop social or behavioral skills, improve motor skills, or increase mo tivation to exercise (eg, take the pet for a walk) or interact with others. In some cases, the animal may reside at a facility that the patient visits. This is common with larger farm animals for which the patient may lack space or resources to provide proper care. Pet therapy may also involve smaller domesti cated animals like dogs or cats, and the patient may act as a handler/owner. Animal therapy is a type of complementary treatment and should not replace other treatments.

Psychotherapies

For a more detailed discussion of this topic, see Chapter 33, Psychothera pies, p. 2638, in CTP/X.

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