McGraw-Hill Education Counseling and Psychotherapy Today

Today's counseling and psychotherapy-related careers require practitioners to grasp and respond to a continually changing context. This comprehensive and contemporary introduction to the field prepares students to engage productively with a variety of theoretical models, practice settings, and patient problems. The author draws on her experience as a practicing therapist and professor in presenting theory, practice, and research in a clear and compelling style. Starting with the big picture of psychotherapy within its sociocultural context and fundamental issues, Austad then reviews the major theoretical models. Students are encouraged to develop a mental model that helps them to compare and contrast key features of each theory and to understand the settings in which each best applies. About the Author Carol Shaw Austad is a clinical psychologist who lives in New Britain, CT. She grew up in Waterbury, CT and attended the University of Connecticut. She graduated with a B.A. in psychology from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. During the time she lived in Canada, she was deeply impressed with the health care system rendered by the Canadian government. This experience had a great impact upon her thinking about health care and psychotherapy. Austad received her Ph.D. from the University of North Texas where she obtained instruction in long-term psychodynamic therapy from a number of supervisors. She completed an internship at Connecticut Valley Hospital, a state institute for the chronically mentally ill, worked at a private psychiatric hospital for a year, and for a staff model health maintenance organization, Community Health Care Plan, in New Haven CT. After five years as a managed care psychologist she assumed a full term position at Central Connecticut State University while maintaining a part time position in the HMO. Currently, she is a Full Professor at CCSU and teaches psychology. Austad is the co-editor of Psychotherapy in Managed Health Care: The Optimal Use of Time and Resources and a book about ethics, psychotherapy, and managed care entitled Is Long-term Psychotherapy Ethical in an Era of Managed Care" published by Jossey Bass.