Taking Control of Your Seizures: Workbook(Treatments That Work)

The primary aim of Taking Control of Your Seizures: Workbook is to improve the lives of patients with seizures. Both epileptic seizures and nonepileptic seizures (NES) are prevalent and potentially disabling. The Workbook is designed to be used by a patient with seizures in conjunction with his or her counselor. The Workbook contains step-by-step guidelines that enable patients to take control of their seizures and their lives. The companion Treating Nonepileptic Seizures: Therapist Guide enhances effectiveness by providing session-by-session instructions for counselors who use the Workbook with patients with NES. The authors developed this treatment approach based on extensive clinical experience and research with epilepsy and NES. Many patients who have completed the Taking Control process experience fewer seizures, reduced symptoms, and a greater sense of well-being.

Table of Contents:
Contents Chapter 1 Introduction for Patients Chapter 2 Session 1: Making the Decision to Begin the Process of Taking Control Chapter 3 Session 2: Getting Support Chapter 4 Session 3: Deciding about your Medication Therapy Chapter 5 Session 4: Learning to Observe your Triggers Chapter 6 Session 5: Channeling Negative Emotions into Productive Outlets Chapter 7 Session 6: Relaxation Training Chapter 8 Session 7: Identifying your Pre-seizure Aura Chapter 9 Session 8: Dealing with External Life Stresses Chapter 10 Session 9: Dealing with Internal Issues and Conflicts Chapter 11 Session 10: Enhancing Personal Wellness Chapter 12 Session 11: Other Seizure Symptoms Chapter 13 Final reading: Taking Control: An On-Going Process Appendix I Biofeedback: Experiencing the Sensation of the Brain Changing Itself Appendix II YOGA by Rosa Michaelis Appendix III Meditation About the Authors

About the Author :
Joel M. Reiter, MD, is Associate Clinical Professor and Director of Neurology Training, Emeritus, at UCSF - Santa Rosa Family Practice Residency. He conducted a private practice in Neurology for 35 years, devoting clinical and research time to investigating behavioral interventions that improve seizure control and quality of life for individuals with epilepsy. He is boarded in Neurology and received degrees from Harvard, NYU, and UCSF. In 1981, he and Dr. Donna Andrews founded the Andrews/Reiter Epilepsy Research Program. He subsequently published Epilepsy: A New Approach and other pioneering work; lectured internationally on neurobehavioral management of epilepsy; and served as the sole neurologist in Bhutan. Donna Andrews, PhD, is Director of Therapy Research at the Andrews/Reiter Epilepsy Research Program. At age 18, she contracted viral encephalitis followed by complex partial seizures refractory to multiple antiepileptic medications. She had a unique insight that enabled her to achieve complete seizure control. She utilized this experience to develop treatment methods that allowed her to work effectively with thousands of patients. She and Dr. Reiter researched these methods and describe them in Taking Control of Your Seizures: Workbook. Dr. Andrews has a Master's in Rehabilitation Administration from the University of San Francisco; a Ph.D. in psychology from the SFPSP; and travels the globe to lecture and treat patients. Charlotte Reiter, FNP, earned her B.S. in Nursing and Family Nurse Practitioner certification from SSU where she was the first nursing graduate to be chosen as a commencement speaker. She brought skills honed developing patient education materials for UCSF's Family Practice residency program to writing and editing Taking Control of Your Epilepsy: A Workbook for Patients and Professionals. As a College FNP at Santa Rosa Junior College, she coordinated with the Enabling department to provide services for students with epilepsy and developmental disabilities. She edits publications for the Andrews/Reiter Epilepsy Research Program and writes/edits for the Tarayana Foundation, a Bhutanese nonprofit. W. Curt LaFrance, Jr., MD, MPH, is Director of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurology at Rhode Island Hospital (RIH) and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology at Alpert Medical School, Brown University. He is the neuropsychiatrist for the RIH Comprehensive Epilepsy Program and a faculty member of the Brown Institute for Brain Science. He studied at Wake Forest University (BA in psychology), Medical College of Georgia (MD), and Brown University (MPH). He trained in Brown's combined residency in neurology and psychiatry and is double boarded. His research is in neuropsychiatric aspects of epilepsy, somatoform disorders, and Traumatic Brain Injury. He is co-editor of Gates and Rowan's Nonepileptic Seizures.

Review :
"Years ago, Reiter and Andrews developed a multifaceted behavioral approach for the treatment of epilepsy, which was modified and appears to be particularly effective in the treatment of nonepileptic seizures. This Therapist Guide by LaFrance and Wincze and the accompanying Workbook, derived from the original Reiter and Andrews program are, together, a unique and sorely needed contribution. For the first time, there is a truly comprehensive outline for the behavioral management of epilepsy and nonepileptic seizures that should not only be valuable for the treatment of individual patients, but also serve as a basis for focused clinical research." --Jerome Engel, Jr., MD, PhD, Jonathan Sinay Distinguished Professor of Neurology, Neurobiology, and Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and Director, Seizure Disorder Center, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA "Understanding the distinctions between epileptic and non-epileptic seizures has presented a medical conundrum for over two thousand years. Dr. LaFrance and his colleagues have taken a grip on these difficult subjects. Not only have they taken on the responsibility of setting up treatment programs, they have embarked upon controlled trials, at last confirming the effectiveness of psychological interventions. This Therapist Guide and Workbook for patients are unique in the complex field of neuropsychiatry. These books serve to emphasize what can be done for people with all kinds of seizures and lay out a management strategy which will set a gold standard, especially for people with non-epileptic seizures." --Michael Trimble, MD, Professor Emeritus of Behavioural Neurology, Institute of Neurology, University of London "Overall, Taking Control of Your Seizures is an important update to the previous edition, as it is more broadly focused and acknowledges the limitations of traditional medical models. It should be highly recommended not just to patients, but also to their families and caregivers." --Allan Bernstein, MD, The Magazine of the Sonoma County Medical Association "The core strength of the Workbook is that it represents the most comprehensively developed informed cognitive behavioral approach to epilepsy available and benefits from 30 years of experience providing epilepsy-specific counseling and use. It is delivered in a packaged step-by-step method that is 'turn-key' for an office practice... This book is unique and fills a space that is being filled in social media by anecdotal guidance from patients. This book is a major contribution to the field of clinical epilepsy care, providing a validated treatment method that can be administered by a variety of providers... It is a clinical tool appropriate for any healthcare provider who wants to help their patient obtain a higher state of wellness and develop a patient-centric care model focused on what matters most to patients themselves. I highly recommend this book to any healthcare providers treating patients with epilepsy or NES." --Epilepsy & Behavior "This workbook and therapist guide provide welcome resources for managing nonepileptic seizures. They deserve wide reading and application by psychiatric and neurological clinicians who encounter patients with this disorder." --The American Journal of Psychiatry