Your Depression Map: Find the Source of Your Depression and Chart Your Own Recovery [Paperback]

Randy J. Paterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 9, 2002

Use this breakthrough program to identify the specifics of your depression and map a personalized treatment program that will guide you to lasting wellness. When you are depressed, do you sleep too much or too little? Do you operate in a state of hollow hopelessness ro are you anxious much of the time? Did your depression appear out of the blue, or idd significant events in your life trigger the problem?

If you are grappling with depression, you should know what researchers and treatment professionals alike have found: Depression is a collection of problems, not a single problem. Consequently, there is no single treatment that will help the majority of sufferers. Instead, there are dozens of valuable strategies for overcoming depression, each of them helpful for certain individuals.

How do you know which strategies to try? By examining your own depression, identifying your symptoms and the risk factors that seem to have contributed, and then selecting the approaches found to help with each one. In this first-of-its-kind self-help workbook, a depression treatment expert provides concrete, step-by-step exercises to help you identify the origins, symptoms, and important physicalogical and lifestyle components of your depression, and to generate a Depression Map treatment plan specifically for you.

The author’s depression treatment program, based on the principles of depression mapping, has been so successful that it has been implemented internationally in four languages. Now you can implement Your Depression Map’s evidence-based approach to understand why depression takes hold in your life, and to chart a personalized path to recovery.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Your Depression Map presents a thorough consideration fo the factors that help to explain depression. Directly tied to these factors are effective change methods, which have been subjected to scientific study and put into wide clinical practice. Your Depression Map will help anyone suffering from depression think about his or her experience in a more complete manner, and develop personal pathways out of depression. This is one of the most thorough books about depression available today.”
—Keith S. Dobson, Ph.D., Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Calgary.

From the Publisher

In this breakthrough new workbook, psychologist and depression mapping trainer Randy Patterson, helps readers create customized depression maps based on their own personality and life style. Readers first learn to identify the causes and symptoms of their particular depression, then chart their personalized course of action for receiving outside help, enhancing their life style, deciding about biochemical and physical treatment approaches, controlling thoughts and emotions, managing stress and motivating to get better.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: New Harbinger Publications; 1 edition (November 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572243007
• ISBN-13: 978-1572243002
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #164,245 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a psychologist in Vancouver Canada, specializing in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and related difficulties. In 2002 I established Changeways Clinic (www.changeways.com), which now has seven psychologists. As well as seeing clients, we create treatment protocols and resources for clinicians. Our group therapy protocol for depression, The Core Program, is the most widely used protocol in Canada, and has been implemented in the USA, Great Britain, China, Hong Kong, Australia, and elsewhere. I've recorded many of the stories and exercises we use in the group as a series of eight one-hour talks, and have packaged that with the participants' manual - it's available for purchase from the clinic website.

In 2000, the Changeways protocol for communication skills training formed the foundation of The Assertiveness Workbook, from New Harbinger Publications. In 2002 the same publisher brought out Your Depression Map. Most recently, Private Practice Made Simple was published in June 2010.

I write books, resources, and protocols somewhat narcissistically. Is this something that I would want to read or use? I aim for clarity, a minimum of jargon, and something that can readily be put into practice. I have a few writing projects in the works at the moment, and hope to come out with additional books in the coming years.

I also enjoy teaching, and have offered over 200 training workshops for mental health clinicians on cognitive behaviour therapy, the treatment of depression and anxiety, diversity awareness, and private practice management. In 2012 I will be offering a workshop series on practice management (based on Private Practice Made Simple) in cities across Canada. Many of my workshops are sponsored by outside agencies such as health management organizations; information on hosting is available at the www.changeways.com website.

In 2009 the Clinic initiated PsychologySalon, a monthly talk series offered in Vancouver for the general public. In spring 2011 I launched www.psychologysalon.com, a blog on psychology and professional practice.

In my private time I enjoy travel, and I operate a small orchard in the British Columbia interior. Many of the pictures on my blog come from the farm, and these days much of my writing is done there. I hope you enjoy my work, and that shortly there will be more of it available!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Most Useful Book I've Ever Read, February 9, 2005

By 

David Rook (Washington, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your Depression Map: Find the Source of Your Depression and Chart Your Own Recovery (Paperback)

Severe, recurrent depression virtually ruined me for 4 years, and nothing helped nearly as well as this book. It's not just an incredible accomplishment as a book on depression, it's a model for how self-help books should be written.

It culls all the best knowledge regarding all aspects of depression, from all the most proven fields, condensing and synthesizing this information in an extremely efficient, powerful way. Out of the sea of books and information on depression, and the enormous amounts useless info, this is definitely the best of the best. It doesn't waste your time in any way, and details only the most usueful data of all.

I honestly live by it, and rebuilt my life with it more than anything else.

I was sleeping up to 20 hours per day, bereft of all motivation and willpower, ruined memory and concentration, overwhelmed with hopelesness, financially ruined, socially ruined, and unable to imagine enjoying anything,or to even remember what it was like to enjoy anything. Somehow, in some lucid episode, I came across this book, and committed to reading it just a half hour a day. That's how I began finally climbing out of the cluster of vicious spirals which had been overwhelming me.

This is the first time I've been motivated to write a review on any book -- for, while I have consistently good motivation nowadays, I'm very busy working, socializing, and studying.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "best book on depression", October 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Your Depression Map: Find the Source of Your Depression and Chart Your Own Recovery (Paperback)

This is the first book on Depression, written for the lay public, that reflects the complexity of Depression. I have both treated Depression as a Psychologist for over 20 years, and been treated for it. In both situations, I have tried to read everything available, for the public and for professionals, and this is the best book I have seen.

Every person who has struggled with Depression will find information in this book that will help them. I am recommending it to all my clients and colleagues, and also am using from it for an undergraduate psychology course I teach on "Anxiety, Depression and Resililence".

Thank you Dr. Paterson for integratng and pulling together all this information in such a clear way, and for not cutting any corners. Many lives will be affected in positive ways as a consequence of your writing this book.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb resource and self-help book, February 7, 2003

By 

Jeffrey Fisher, M.A., RCC (Vancouver, BC Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your Depression Map: Find the Source of Your Depression and Chart Your Own Recovery (Paperback)

Your Depression Map is a superb resource for individuals suffering from depression and the health care professionals who endeavor to assist them. Dr. Paterson has clearly shown that he has a passion for helping people to help themselves as the book is filled to the brim with information, tools, and insights that readers can put to use to assist themselves or others with this problem that is so pervasive in our society. As a counselling professional I have read many other books on depression and its treatment. Never have I found a book on depression that is so complete and accessible as this one.