Customer Reviews

Social Skills Training for Schizophrenia: A Step-by-Step Guide

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This book on social skills training is useful not only for schizophrenics but also for other clients whose treatment includes the need to use role play to teach various skills. I purchased it for use in a new Dual Dx program at our agency but immediately saw its use for training staff to do more role play in our CBT-based substance abuse tx program for all clients.

This step by step guide is very clear and user friendly. It is comprehensive and by outlining the activities step by step, it's a recipe for success.

This is the book the reader is seeking if they are developing, maintaining or teaching a day treatment program for chronically, severely mentally ill persons. While the title specifically mentions schizophrenia the target population for social skills training will also include 'consumers' who have other severe mental illness or social deprivation which has caused their regression. Thus it is appropriate for persons who are training 'consumers' who suffer from chronic depression, organic brain syndromes, anxiety disorders, moderate to severe dementia and other illnesses.

This book appears to be written with the realization that teachers in adult day programs for the mentally ill will not necessarily possess advanced degrees and their supervisors may have degrees in another area of expertise. It remains very readable, has very little psychobabble nor fluff. The format is one which provides quickly learned and well structured lessons for the consumers. More importantly for today's treatment climate, it is laid out to guide the reader toward batter ability to document lesson plans and individual progress notes in a way which is easy for supervisory site visitors to follow. This is a vital point for programs which are licensed by state departments of mental health.

For readers who have 'consumers' with significant impediment to learning social skills because of anxieties or personality disorders I'd recommend the reader evaluate a text which can familiarize them with DBT. Some of these are:
*Dialectical Behavior Therapy in Clinical Practice: Applications across Disorders and Settings,
*Depressed and Anxious: The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Workbook for Overcoming Depression & Anxiety,
*Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook: Practical DBT Exercises for Learning Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation, & Distress Tolerance (New Harbinger Self-Help Workbook).

The beginning stuff was informational but not to helpful....but the stuff in the second half...now that is what I am looking for!!!