 The Clinical Manual of Couples and Family Therapy is a succinct, well-written volume that provides evidence for the wisdom behind treatment of the family and/or involvement of the family when treating the patient. 

Clinical Manual of Couples and Family Therapy

 I would recommend it for medical students who have been thrust into the role of primary decision maker for their patients, and clinicians who would appreciate a pocket supervisor to help them make treatment decisions. 

Manual of Inpatient Psychiatry

 The specific cause of Capgras syndrome has been hypothesized from neuropsychological and psychodynamic views. 

That’s Not My Child: A Case of Capgras Syndrome

 Anyone working in the mental health field will recognize that in patients with extreme irritability, explosive behavior, or quick mood changes, bipolar disorder (BD) is often unquestionably diagnosed. 

Poor Practice, Managed Care, and Magic Pills: Have We Created a Mental Health Monster?

 The Naked Lady Who Stood on Her Head will appeal to lay readers who like to solve puzzles, as well as to seasoned clinicians who will be challenged by its wide array of intricate cases. 

The Naked Lady Who Stood on Her Head: A Psychiatrist’s Stories of His Most Bizarre Cases

 Deliberate self-harm (DSH) is a behavior in which a person commits an act with the purpose of physically harming himself or herself with or without a real intent of suicide. 

Treating Self-Harm in Children and Adolescents

DSM-IV, published in 1994, did not include a cannabis withdrawal disorder diagnosis. DSM-IV-TR clearly stated the reason for the omission: “Symptoms of possible cannabis withdrawal . . . have been described in association with the use of very high doses, but their clinical significance is uncertain.”1

Marijuana Withdrawal Syndrome: Should Cannabis Withdrawal Disorder Be Included in DSM-5?

The title of Gardiner Harris’s front-page story in the March 6 New York Times was blunt: “Talk Doesn’t Pay, So Psychiatry Turns Instead to Drug Therapy.” For those of us who see our profession as a humanistic calling, this piece is likely to provoke a mixture of sadness and anger. 

Psychotherapy is Alive and Talking in Psychiatry

 A well-written volume that provides evidence for the wisdom behind treatment of the family and/or involvement of the family when treating the patient.   

Every case of patient violence against clinicians provides lessons to be learned in safety management. Here: some key points that can enhance physician safety and help minimize the risks.

Patient Violence Against Health Care Professionals

Here is a “pocket guide” for clinicians drawn from actual cases. With some modification, the list could become a patient information sheet or office policy.

A “Pocket Guide” to Avoiding the Most Common Boundary Pitfalls

 Pascal’s “Wager” uses “reason” to conclude that even though the existence of God cannot be determined, one should nevertheless “wager” as though God exists, because one has everything to gain, and nothing to lose. 

Tales From the New Asylum: Pascal’s Wager

 Psychiatrists can be enormously helpful, they have experience in dealing with very difficult problems and are less fazed than others by some of the difficulties that arise. 

Psychological Healing in Haiti

 Apart from the lack of evidence supporting their use, is there any reason not to use patient opioid agreements and urine drug testings? 

How Useful Are Patient Opioid Agreements and Urine Drug Testing?

 Wall, echoing their grief. . . the tall green willow. . . rooted beside a stream 

The Green Willow

 Is it possible to “forgive” Jared Lee Loughner for what he is alleged to have done? Is it morally justifiable to do so? 

Who Can Forgive Jared Loughner?

Childhood and adolescent bullying-and, recently, cyberbullying-is a major public health problem with potentially devastating consequences. In any prevention effort, students need hope and to learn the skills to end the abuse, as described here.

Bullying and Suicide

Major mood disorders have been associated with increased suicidal behavior. This is especially true in patients with a mixed, manic-depressive, or dysphoric-agitated state.

Can Suicide Be Prevented?

 This book is recommended for therapy trainees who are interested in relational psychodynamic approaches and concerned with putting these seemingly abstract concepts into “real world” practice. 

Psychiatric Times Vol 28 No 2