[.ca] Family Therapy of Neurobehavioral Disorders: Integrating ... (ISBN 0789000776)

Thought provoking, if not revolutionary in its assertions:
Johnson and McCown elloquently argue that existing and grossly fragmented mental health systems are failing the burgeoning number of patients now living with neurological disorders. This results, the authors argue, into people with a truly biopsychosocial malaise that the authors label as "neurobehavioral disorders." These disorders occur occur because the brain and society are multiple systems. This is usually forgotten when a neurocompromised individual hits the inevitable social wall fostered on those destined for "rehabilitation". Since so much of the brain's activity is influenced by the perception of uncontrollable stress, neurocompromised individuals face a bleak outlook, further decimating what useful neural organization they have. Indeed, brain damage is simply part of a complex social negative feedback loop that results in the essence ot most patients' impairments. At first glance, the authors' intentions seem misguided and clumsy. They present a text much too simple for the neuropsychologist or neurologist, yet much too tedious for the social worker or therapist that is charged to intervene with these patients. But by following this tactic throughout, they reiterate how fragmented treatment for these patients remains. To do so, they had to present a book destined to "fall between professional cracks", primarily to illustrate their radical notion that a new health care subspecialty is needed. These professionals would be trained in both neuropsychology and in systemic and social paradigms. We are not talking about adding a year fellowship, but instead, the argues vociferously demand a new profession. Do we really need yet another layer of health care providers? Johnson and McCown convince us that we do. Nothing short of a new profession can solve the growing problems associated with people whose cognitive injuries or illnesses would have recently been fatal. A pair of recent translations, including Spanish may find this book falling on a more receptive audiences, where systems may be taken less fippantly. As is often typical of this research teem and their associates, the notions of chaos theory-nonlinear dynamics- remains the most speculative, yet the most intriguing. This follows a patern in their earlier work that many of us hope will be continued with the clinical sensitivity and the combined research accumen these scientists show.