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Overview
A step-by-step guide for therapists who want to start implementing homework or to increase the effectiveness of assignments, this hands-on book is ideal for clinicians from any theoretical orientation. Presented are creative strategies for developing meaningful homework assignments, enhancing compliance, and overcoming typical homework obstacles. Nearly 50 reproducible forms are featured along with detailed recommendations for using them to accomplish five broad therapeutic goals: increasing awareness, scheduling activities, improving emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness, and testing assumptions. Also provided are tips for working with special populations, including adolescents, older adults, couples, and clients with severe depression or anxiety. Bursting with helpful tools, tips, and examples, the volume is designed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" format with lay-flat binding for ease of photocopying.Synopsis
A step-by-step guide for therapists who want to start implementing homework or to increase the effectiveness of assignments, this hands-on book is ideal for clinicians from any theoretical orientation. Presented are creative strategies for developing meaningful homework assignments, enhancing compliance, and overcoming typical homework obstacles. Nearly 50 reproducible forms are featured along with detailed recommendations for using them to accomplish five broad therapeutic goals: increasing awareness, scheduling activities, improving emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness, and testing assumptions. Also provided are tips for working with special populations, including adolescents, older adults, couples, and clients with severe depression or anxiety. Bursting with helpful tools, tips, and examples, the volume is designed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" format with lay-flat binding for ease of photocopying.
Doody Review Services
Reviewer:Gary B Kaniuk, Psy.D.(Cermak Health Services)
Description:This is a guide to understanding and implementing homework assignments in psychotherapy. It also includes reproducible forms which can be used by the purchaser for their own clients (limited photocopy license).
Purpose:According to the author, "early in my training, I was taught the benefits of psychotherapy homework, but was given little guidance about how to do it." He continues: "Over the years, however, I realized that I needed more than the nuts and bolts of therapy homework. I needed a way to think about homework so that I could design and implement it for any client, at any time, and for any clinical problem. This book is the result of my search." The book meets the author's worthy objectives.
Audience:According to the author, "the hope is that a book that achieves broad objectives will benefit a broad audience." These include therapists and researchers. I would add that graduate students in psychology and social work would also greatly benefit from this book. Dr. Tompkins is the director of professional training at the San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy and assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
Features:The book includes everything about homework assignments that you ever wanted to know but were afraid to ask. Dr. Tompkins presents a step-by-step approach, giving both philosophy and application in a very readable book. I especially enjoyed the application chapters, such as: chapter 4, Homework to Increase Awareness; chapter 6, Homework to Increase Emotion Regulation; chapter 7, Homework to Increase Interpersonal Effectiveness. Chapter 10 is particularly valuable because it addresses homework with special populations, including older adults, children and adolescents, couples and families, group therapy members, and highly anxious clients. The appendixes include the reproducible forms (approximately 50), which contain everything you need for most patient groups. I enjoyed this book because it is so practical.
Assessment:This is a great book if you are a therapist who assigns homework on a regular basis (or would like to). Everything is thoroughly explained here, which is wonderful for novice therapists or students. The topic of homework is covered top to bottom here, which makes it unique. Most books only treat the topic superficially but the material here is comprehensive. And, finally, the reproducible forms are great, providing homework assignments to address many clinical issues. I highly recommend this book.
Editorials
From the Publisher
"Tompkins's book is a gift to novice and seasoned clinicians alike, offering a rich array of strategies to improve the effectiveness of homework assignments and increase client compliance. The text seamlessly integrates theory, research, and clinical practice, and is punctuated with vignettes, illustrative case examples, and many useful handouts and forms. Tompkins writes in an inviting style that is both engaging and educational. He takes readers step by step through the homework process so they can tailor psychotherapy to the unique circumstances of their particular clients, and his attention to ethnocultural and developmental issues is commendable. This is a rich resource for practicing clinicians, instructors, and graduate students."--Robert D. Friedberg, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Penn State Milton Hershey Medical Center/Penn State College of Medicine"An entire book on homework? Fantastic idea! This book does a fabulous job of detailing the nuts and bolts of the effective use of homework in psychotherapy. It is accessible to therapists of all orientations. The writing is clear and direct. Therapists who read this book will find that its message translates directly into clinical skills and interventions that have been shown in controlled studies to be tied to improved client outcomes."--Jacqueline B. Persons, PhD, San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy and University of California, Berkeley
"Adhering to his own admonition that 'vagueness is the Achilles' heel of homework,' Tompkins has written one of the most specific, down-to-earth, and practical texts I have ever read. With thorough explanations, helpful guidelines, and illustrative case examples, Tompkins invites the reader to see how homework can help with any clinical problem."--Hanna Levenson, PhD, Levenson Institute for Training (LIFT), San Francisco, California
"This book fills a critical gap in the psychotherapy literature. Clearly written and well illustrated with numerous clinical examples, this book should prove very valuable to both mental health professionals and students. Dr. Tompkins expertly explains how to collaboratively design effective homework assignments for patients and clients of all ages with a wide range of psychiatric disorders and psychological problems--and how to dramatically increase the likelihood that patients will carry out their assignments and learn from them."--Judith S. Beck, PhD, Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research and University of Pennsylvania
"This is the most comprehensive and helpful guide available for assuring that your clients will get the most benefit out of therapy homework. Tompkins provides a three-step approach that can be used with all homework assignments. Specific suggestions on how to structure homework to fit the client and the problem, secure compliance, and review the homework will prove to be invaluable to clinicians at all levels of experience. The book includes details on helping clients use behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and interpersonal self-help strategies, and on anticipating and overcoming roadblocks. The appendices are a virtual treasure trove of self-report forms that clinicians can use to evaluate clients and tailor homework to almost any imaginable problem. This book will help supplement other therapy treatment manuals and will serve as an important reference tool for clinicians."--Robert L. Leahy, PhD, American Institute for Cognitive Therapy, New York City
Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic
"It is not hyperbole when I say that Tompkins' book is the definitive classic-in-the-making on how to use homework in psychotherapy....It is a smart, well-organized guidebook that explains and demonstrates, in clear and compelling language, the direct and indirect benefits of psychotherapy homework....Tompkins' book is a gift to the thinking, feeling, and seeking-to-understand therapist. It is to be read, reread, tested, adapted, and contemplated over and over again. Few psychotherapy books today maintain credible balance between theory and practice. Thompkins does it with efficiency and elegance."--Bulletin of the Menninger ClinicSexual and Relationship Therapy
"Illustrated with case histories, the book offers a very useful introduction to the field of using homework in psychotherapy. It will enable therapists in CBT and in pyschosexual therapy to use these principles to build on these approaches."--Sexual and Relationship TherapyThe Clinical Psychologist
"Fulfills a vital need by providing a comprehensive text devoted to homework with careful attention paid to the homework nuts and bolts" including the defining features of clinically meaningful homework assignments, tailoring homework to the client, reviewing homework, and enhancing motivation for homework completion....This book is a valuable resource for clinicians and a definite must read for beginning therapists, particularly cognitive behavioral therapists."--The Clinical PsychologistFrom The Critics
Reviewer: Gary B Kaniuk, Psy.D.(Cermak Health Services)Description: This is a guide to understanding and implementing homework assignments in psychotherapy. It also includes reproducible forms which can be used by the purchaser for their own clients (limited photocopy license).
Purpose: According to the author, "early in my training, I was taught the benefits of psychotherapy homework, but was given little guidance about how to do it." He continues: "Over the years, however, I realized that I needed more than the nuts and bolts of therapy homework. I needed a way to think about homework so that I could design and implement it for any client, at any time, and for any clinical problem. This book is the result of my search." The book meets the author's worthy objectives.
Audience: According to the author, "the hope is that a book that achieves broad objectives will benefit a broad audience." These include therapists and researchers. I would add that graduate students in psychology and social work would also greatly benefit from this book. Dr. Tompkins is the director of professional training at the San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy and assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
Features: The book includes everything about homework assignments that you ever wanted to know but were afraid to ask. Dr. Tompkins presents a step-by-step approach, giving both philosophy and application in a very readable book. I especially enjoyed the application chapters, such as: chapter 4, Homework to Increase Awareness; chapter 6, Homework to Increase Emotion Regulation; chapter 7, Homework to Increase Interpersonal Effectiveness. Chapter 10 is particularly valuable because it addresses homework with special populations, including older adults, children and adolescents, couples and families, group therapy members, and highly anxious clients. The appendixes include the reproducible forms (approximately 50), which contain everything you need for most patient groups. I enjoyed this book because it is so practical.
Assessment: This is a great book if you are a therapist who assigns homework on a regular basis (or would like to). Everything is thoroughly explained here, which is wonderful for novice therapists or students. The topic of homework is covered top to bottom here, which makes it unique. Most books only treat the topic superficially but the material here is comprehensive. And, finally, the reproducible forms are great, providing homework assignments to address many clinical issues. I highly recommend this book.
4 Stars! from Doody