Customer Reviews

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Chronic Pain

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Chronic Pain has been of invaluable aid to me in my work with my first chronic pain patient. By reading this book my understanding of how many of the central ACT-metaphores are applied in practice has widened and gained context. We get to follow Elisabeth, a woman who is perceived by society to be broken, as she actively chooses to commit towards leading a more vital life.
Thanks to the author, Joanne Dahl, the all important therapeutic relationship - that is somewhat easier to describe than to grasp - gaines here another dimension and comes to life. What's very pervasive in the book, is the empathic view that the patient is a strong, capable and unique individual who has done everything in her powers to overcome her problems. Because I believe that human suffering is universal, I will revisit this book time and time again to assist me in my work with patients, regardless of the nature of the problem they might seek for.

As a clinical psychologist who works almost exclusively with patients with chronic pain and illness, I am drawn to the approaches like ACT that incorporate mindfulness and acceptance in dealing with these conditions. This book is a very good glimpse into how ACT can be applied to people with chronic pain and I expect that I will use a lot of what I have read here to work with my patients. However, my major gripe with this book is the VERY poor quality of the text itself. It is literally riddled with typographical and grammatical errors. I suspect that the first author's first language is not English, but this is no excuse for the abysmal quality of the book. I have not made it through a single page without finding at least one error that should have been caught by SOMEONE in the process of putting the book together. These errors unfortunately take away from the credibility of these very well-qualified and talented authors. If you can overlook the poor editing, the book has some very valuable approaches and ideas.

These reviewers are not exaggerating; there are multiple typos on nearly every page. The poor editing broke the flow of the book and I found myself frustrated during the read (perhaps this isn't very ACT minded of me). While reading, I thought we would never accept this of a graduate psychology student's academic or professional writing, yet they can sell it to me for $20. The ACT principles are communicated intelligently and clearly in this book.

I have to agreee with Steve Hickman. There are many thoughtful and inspiring approaches within ACT and this book has been helpful with understanding chronic pain from an ACT perspective. The authors must be very disappointed with the book. It is the worst example of editing that I have seen in a textbook or any book for that matter. I would suggest that future buyers wait for a new edition or borrow one in the mean time