Although all of these chapters provide the mainstream clinician with valuable information, they also contain some implicit values associated with Western psychology and psychiatry.

At least, a book about many of the newest ideas in psychiatric treatment focused on detailed aspects with clinical guidelines on particular treatments in complementary and alternative medicine! Lake and Spiegel have found astute chapter authors committed to the understanding of treatments previously considered strange, exotic, or quackery.

This book gives an expertly written and concise introduction to a rang of complementary and alternative treatments in mental health and may sever as a truly inspirational guide to anybody wishing to expand the boundaries of conventional psychiatric practice.

With relatively little in the way of printed material for comparative purposes, this book is seemingly unique and definitely informative. The chapters describing and explaining "Non-conventional Biological Treatments" and "Spirituality, Mindfulness, and MindBody Practices: are the most educational, and the material was well balanced and fair in its assessment of the advantages and disadvantages regarding their use.[Complementary and Alternative Treatments in Mental Healthcare] is an excellent beginning, as it does not talk down to those less familiar with these modalitities and enables providers to open a realistic dialogue with their patients.

The widespread use of nonconventional treatments, or complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and the increasing evidence supporting their therapeutic benefits call for a concerted scientific effort to integrate modalities with demonstrated efficacy into mainstream medicine.

Answering that call is the groundbreaking Complementary and Alternative Treatments in Mental Health Care, a concise, practical reference that reviews the history of and rationale for the many CAM approaches used in North America and Europe to treat -- and self-treat -- mental health problems, including the risks and benefits of their integration into mainstream mental health care. Two dozen experts present current information on safe, effective mental health treatments -- including herbals, stress management, homeopathy, Ayurveda, and traditional Chinese medicine -- that have not yet been fully examined or endorsed by the institutions of conventional biomedicine. Chapters on specific CAM treatments conclude with brief case vignettes illustrating their appropriate uses.

Written for both conventionally and nonconventionally trained mental health care professionals, Complementary and Alternative Treatments in Mental Health Care provides both an ideal reference for clinicians whose patients inquire about CAM therapies and a critical, balanced review of the nonconventional modalities most widely used in Western countries to treat mental or emotional problems.