Rhythms of Recovery - 9780415807500

Korn (mental health counseling, Capella U.) offers mental health practitioners and students a guide to methods for diagnosing and treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that take into account the natural rhythms of the mind, body, and spirit, such as circadian rhythms and the rhythms of time, and using a holistic approach to recovery. She shows how ancient and contemporary cross-cultural principles of medicine and healing can be integrated with psychotherapy and counseling to treat trauma. She explores the healing rhythms of nature at three levels: the innate capacities within the individual, or forms of psychophysiologic and biological self-regulation; the rhythms exchanged in relationships, specifically between practitioner and client; and the rhythms and resources people derive from the natural world. She describes paradigms of hysteria and posttraumatic stress disorder, including how culture and gender inform diagnosis; the psychosomatic symptoms of PTSD and the role of yoga and breathing in treatment; dissociation and its relationship to trance, possession states, hypnosis, and metanormal experiences associated with shamanism, as well as assessment and treatment; touch therapies for PTSD and the concept of somatic empathy; assessment and therapies for PTSD, complex PTSD, acute stress disorder, and developmental trauma disorder; nutrition programs; the basics of integrative posttrauma therapy and complementary and alternative, traditional medicine, and innovative methods; and the use of botanical medicines, detoxification, and psychoactive plants. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)