Jerome D. Frank

A thorough update of Jerome Frank's groundbreaking work on the science and philosophy of psychotherapy.In this updated edition of Persuasion and Healing, Julia B. Frank, MD, and Bruce E. Wampold, PhD, examine psychological healing in both scientific and cultural terms, building upon Jerome D. Frank and his colleagues' sixty years of research into the mechanisms of psychotherapy and the nature of therapeutic relationships. J. D. Frank's insights into the common features of effective psychotherapy shed light on an enormous range of therapeutic activities, from professional care offered by people of diverse training to faith healing, indigenous healing, relief of suffering in medical illness, and other disruptions of people's relationships and core beliefs. This edition applies Frank's scientifically supported, transdiagnostic, humanistic principles to narrative and cognitive behavioral individual and group psychotherapies in both traditional and newer forms. The authors look beyond the bounds of professional services, discussing applications of the principles of psychotherapy that promote resilience in the face of the increasing worldwide burden of mental illnesses and demoralization related to rapid technological change, cultural dislocation, violence, and disasters of many kinds. Therapeutic innovations supported by Frank's work range from the training and deployment of lay mental health workers in low-resource areas to digitally enhanced care.This classic work is a must-read for anyone dedicated to understanding psychotherapy in all its forms as the application of the compassionate principles of persuasion and healing to the mental health challenges of a troubled world.

This popular study of "psychological healing"treats topics ranging from religious revivalism and magical healing to contemporary psychotherapies, from the role of the shaman in nonindustrialized societies to the traditional mental hospital. Jerome and Julia Frank (who are father and daughter) contend that these therapies share common elements that improve the "morale"of sufferers. And in combating the "demoralizing meaning"that people attach to their experiences, the authors argue, many therapies are surprisingly similar to rhetoric (the art of persuasion) and to hermeneutics (the study of meanings). Highly acclaimed in previous editions, Persuasion and Healing has been completely revised and expanded. In addition to a broadened exploration of the role of demoralization in illness, this latest edition offers updated information on topics including self-help, family therapy, psychopharmacology, psychotherapy for the mentally ill, and techniques such as primal therapy and bioenergetics. As they explore the power of "healing rhetoric"in these activities, the authors strengthen the ties among the various healing profession.

Originally published as Sanity and Survival in 1967, Random House reissued this classic work with a new introduction in 1982. Distributed by University Press of America.