Hidden Addictions: Assessment Practices for Psychotherapists, Counselors, and Health Care Providers

Media portrayals and diagnostic criteria convey an image of an addicted person as someone whose deficient coping skills and severely compromised functioning are readily apparent. Yet addictions remain some of the most frequently missed diagnoses in health and mental health care settings. This occurs, in large part, because most people with addictions do not fit the stereotype. In the context of psychotherapy, the typical patient with an addiction will present depression, anxiety, marital problems or a general sense that life is not working. This book addresses how addictions can be recognized more often and accurately assessed in the context of psychotherapy. Along with learning about the standard assessment instruments, the reader is introduced to methods for asking the appropriate questions and listening to the clinical dialogue for signs of a undisclosed addiction. This book provides a great deal of knowledge about addictions and their assessment in a way that is relevant to clinical practice.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 What qualifies as an Addiction Chapter 2 Lessons Learned From a Brief History of Addiction Treatment Chapter 3 The Need For Addiction Assessment in Health Care Settings Chapter 4 Impediments to Accurate Addiction Assessment Chapter 5 Standardized Approaches to Substance Based Addictions Assessment Chapter 6 Assessment of Process Addictions Chapter 7 Clinical Interview Based Approaches to Assessment Chapter 8 Addiction Assessment with Diverse Populations Chapter 9 The Nature of the Addiction: A Further Source of Camouflage Chapter 10 Transforming the Assessment Process into Treatment Chapter 11 Assessing Hidden Addictions in Psychotherapy: Case Illustrations Chapter 12 Autobiographies of Addiction

About the Author :
Marilyn Freimuth is professor of Clinical Psychology at the Fielding Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California where she specializes in substance abuse diagnosis, addiction treatment and the theory-practice relationship. She also maintains a private practice.

Review :
This book is as academic as a serious textbook needs to be but it is also very readable, practical and persuasive. Psychotherapists reading this book are sure to realize that addressing addictions is certainly their role and that they have many of the skills that addiction specialists use to loosen or eradicate addictive behaviours. Marilyn Freimuth provides much of the additional information that is needed to uncover these behaviours, to screen for abuse and dependence and to expand the psychotherapeutic process to deal with them.The book should move a pre-contemplative psychotherapist through contemplation to action with just one bound; but why only psychotherapists? This book should have a wider readership. Uncovering and dealing with hidden addictions would improve the practice of most health professionals and social workers. This book provides a much-needed resource for psychotherapists and other clinicians who have not had extensive exposure to assessment and treatment of addictions. Marilyn Freimuth has done a wonderful job of compiling a large amount of relevant information into a comprehensive and manageable volume. Overall, this book is an excellent educational resource that is worthy of inclusion in any clinician's library. Kudos to Freimuth for a job well done. This book is the optimal reference for both practicing professionals and postgraduate students in the mental health field. Although it is not an easy task to provide coverage and depth at the same time, Freimuth has done a good job. She has provided a reader-friendly reference book for helping professionals to assess and benefit their clients. Postgraduate students, too, will find the book very useful, particularly the summaries at the conclusion of each chapter. For researchers and scholars, this book serves as an academic refresher—an impetus to reformulate our research agenda. This is because the author has re-conceptualized the construct of addiction in a new and very productive context. The publication of this book will call attention to the roots of the problem of addictions, not just the manifestations of it.. Freimuth helps health-related professionals of various orientations understand how to asses for and recognize addictive behaviors and their consequences in patients who come in for different reasons. This book provides a wealth of information to help therapists and other health professionals recognize and assess for possible 'hidden addictions' among their patients and clients. Even when patients seek treatment for other problems, many have co-occurring problems with alcohol, other substances, or 'process addictions' such as excessive shopping, gambling, or cybersex. Therapists will benefit from the author's description of multiple assessment strategies designed to uncover addictive behavior patterns that will facilitate treatment planning. I highly recommend this valuable resource for all therapists and clinical students in training. Marilyn Freimuth has written a book that is edifying, illuminating, and immensely practical. It is also a must for every psychotherapist's desk. Dr. Freimuth provides a valuable source of information for helping clinicians sort through the confusion that the typical substance abuser, addict, and alcoholic brings to the therapeutic encounter. Not only does this text help dispel the misinformation about addiction that often contributes to both the misdiagnosis and poor clinical management of the addicted individual, this book also provides many pragmatic hands-on methods for helping the addicted patient recognize and accept their diagnosis. This book is the optimal reference for both practicing professionals and postgraduate students in the mental health field. Although it is not an easy task to provide coverage and depth at the same time, Freimuth has done a good job. She has provided a reader-friendly reference book for helping professionals to assess and benefit their clients. Postgraduate students, too, will find the book very useful, particularly the summaries at the conclusion of each chapter. For researchers and scholars, this book serves as an academic refresher—an impetus to reformulate our research agenda. This is because the author has re-conceptualized the construct of addiction in a new and very productive context. The publication of this book will call attention to the roots of the problem of addictions, not just the manifestations of it. Graduate students learning the mysteries of addicition will find this mateiral illuminating and clinically useful and experienced therapists will welcome this refocusing of therapeutic emphasis in dealing with a broader range of seemingly nonaddicted but potentiallly addictive patients.