Customer Reviews

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Bipolar Disorder, Second Edition

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This book states its' purpose, limitations, and offers a lot of helpful information on how to prevent hypomania and mild depression from escalating to full major depression and manic episodes. I believe that the book has a lot to offer in communication skills for everyone. It is helpful not only for therapist but for those afflicted with manic-depressive illness and their family members.

This book should be read by anyone trying to optimize treatment of bipolar disorder through the use of cognitive-behavioral therapy. In fact it should be read both by patients and by therapists and possibly psychiatrists too. The book is well written, well organized, and fairly easy to understand. It is not intended to be a comprehensive guide to surviving bipolar disorder- if the reader wants a comprehensive guide, see Torrey's "Surviving Manic Depression" and Miklowitz's "Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide". But for just learning about cognitive-behavioral therapy, this book is excellent. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".

Finally, a book on CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) for the rest of us! Everyone who deals with bipolar disorder will find Basco's work very helpful. I've read many books on CBT, including those by Ellis and his students -- they have great ideas, but they are not so easy to put into practice if you are cycling through the mood swings of manic depression. Basco customizes the CBT approach for bipolar and explains the process clearly. Multiple studies have shown this approach's usefulness. If you and your health care provider prefer a cognitive approach to help manage your bipolar symptoms, this book (now in paperback) is your best resource.

The intended audience for this book are therapists, but the information is laid out in language that is accessible to the lay reader. It gives a very informative overview of what is involved and expected in cognitive-behavioral therapy in particular for those suffering from bipolar disorder. As a patient, I found it useful to read, even though it is not a self-help book. There is a workbook by Dr. Basco for people with bipolar disorder which is a self-help book that is very useful. I would recommend the workbook first for patients, followed by this book if they want to learn more.

The book presents an excellent review of the subject. It is geared for the practitioners, primarily non-MDs. Manualized approach is helpful.

Having very little first hand experience with bipolar, this book really gave me a thorough understanding of the disorder and extremely useful clinical information for treatment plan development. I haven't found another source that is a comprehensive as this work. The treatment recommendations are simply awesome! Just wish there were more resources like this one. Excellent book!

This book is intended for therapists, but the authors explicitly state that it can be useful for patients. I am a patient with bi-polar disorder and find it readable and helpful (though I have not put much effort into implementing all of the ideas). The authors give several therapeutic stratagies to go along with (not replace) treatment with medication. These include monitoring symptoms; monitoring thought patterns; setting limits when on the manic side and setting goals when on the depressive side; developing action priorities to keep activities focused and productive; and more. The authors also very strongly advocate adhering to the medication regimine prescribed by the psychiatrist, but encourage the patient to be an active participant in developing the lifetime plan for living with bipolar disorder.

This little book explains very well some of the problems in a bipolar family. My 12 year granddaughter informed me that she already "knew that stuff" and hates to talk about it, but I'm glad I purchased it anyway. I do recommend the book especially for children who have someone in the family with BPD who can read to them and answer questions.

I find the information very informative from a clinical side and I'd highly recommend it.