Maintaining Balance:  
Professional Reading That Makes a Difference

"My mother and my father were illiterate immigrants from Russia. When I was a child they were constantly amazed that I could go to a building and take a book on any subject. They couldn't believe this access to knowledge we have here in America. They couldn't believe that it was free."  (Kirk Douglas)

 

Traumatic Events in the Workplace

Looking for an overview of trauma in the workplace? Free! The U.S. Office of Personnel Management offers A Manager's Handbook: Handling Traumatic Events.

Table of Contents
Foreword
When Tragedy Strikes at Work
How to Listen to Someone Who is Hurting
Recovering from the Death of a Co-Worker
Supervising an Employee with Suicidal Concerns
Helping an Employee Recover from an Assault
Managing After a Disaster
Managing When the Stress Doesn't Go Away
Workplace Violence: Stopping It Before Its Starts
When Domestic Violence Comes to Work
A Final Note: Tips for Coping with Extreme Stress
Appendix: Form for Emergency Phone Numbers

Here's the pdf version of the handbook.

Reducing Aggression in the Workplace

“The only way to address day-to-day forms of aggression—verbal aggression, psychological aggression, emotional abuse—is to change the nature of the conversations people are having with each other.” (Joel Neuman, State University of New York, New Paltz). Interested in learning more?

Read Sadie Dingfelder's article, Banishing Bullying, in APA's online Monitor on Psychology, Vol. 37, No. 7.

Workbook: Gambling Addiction Treatment

Marcy Nichols, CADC I, CGAC II, NCGC II, Counseling Psychology graduate student at LC, has helped fill a gap in professional resources for gambling addiction. She's featured under People and Places on our homepage. Her narrative page contains links to her book's website No Dice: Safety Net to Recovery where readers can view: table of contents, 3 sample chapters, assessment devices & compelling testimonials from people who are in recovery from gambling addiction. Congratulations to Marcy for writing a book that is making a difference!

Changes in Couples Therapy

From: Psychotherapy.net

My How Couples Therapy has Changed! Attachment, Love and Science
by Sue Johnson, EdD

"Just a few short years ago couples therapy was cynically labeled as a set of techniques in search of a theory! Now researchers such as John Gottman and Kim Halford have suggested that even the accepted techniques of this field, such as teaching problem solving and conflict management skills, while beneficial, do not seem to get to the heart of the matter in terms of offering a pathway to lasting change in relationships and do not reflect how happy couples relate to each other outside of therapy. If all this wasn't rough enough, everyone agrees that couples therapy can be very difficult to do. Dealing with two people, two sets of hot emotions, escalating fights and clients who hurt but don't want to slow down, be more reasonable and negotiate is not for the faint of heart. Given all this, it seems almost reasonable that couples therapy is often ridiculed or maligned as ineffective in the media. But in spite of all this, millions of couples persist in seeking out therapists! Perhaps because recent surveys tell us that most people in North America rate finding a loving relationship as their main life goal, placing it ahead of career or financial success. It is fortunate then that the image of couples therapy painted above is not the whole story. In fact this image is simply out of date.

Couples therapy is in the midst of a revolution. The key element in this revolution is the development of a new science of love and love relationships..."

Click here to read this entire article and receive 1 CE credit (for psychologists, counselors, and social workers). You'll find additional psychotherapy articles, interviews with master psychotherapists, videos/DVDs, signed Irvin Yalom books and other resources to inspire therapists.

Send Us Your Recommended Reading...

• if it helped you as a mental health professional
• if it addressed difficult issues in your clinical practice
• if it offered strategies & approaches that worked
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