CONSUMER'S GUIDE TO MENTAL HEALTH

Balanced and clearly written, this sensible guide to mental health services touches on the major topics without losing sight of the interests and reservations of those involved. When treatment is indicated, where to find a therapist and how to evaluate progress are discussed adequately, and more cursory delineations of a few forms of therapy are provided--a weak section, inferior to Kovel's more numerous and precise characterizations in A Complete Guide to Therapy. In addition to introducing general considerations (legal rights, fee schedules), Mishara and Patterson look closely at the more common problem areas--drug and alcohol abuse, sexual conflicts, aging, suicide, children and adolescents. Unlike the Ehrenbergs (in The Psychotherapy Maze, p. 763), the authors manage to include both positive and negative aspects of each area (shock treatment, hospital environment criteria) without alarming the prospective client or favoring particular theories, A basic but lightweight reference, similar in tone to Park and Shapiro's When You Need Help, with more attention to adult options, less on childhood heeds.