Abnormal Psychology
Clinical Perspectives on Psychological Disorders
Susan Krauss Whitbourne
"With its case-based approach, Abnormal Psychology: Clinical Perspectives on Psychological Disorders helps students understand the human side of psychological disorders. The Tenth Edition ties concepts together with an integrated, personalized learning program, providing students the insight they need to study smarter and improve performance. The subtitle, Clinical Perspectives on Psychological Disorders, reflects the emphasis on the experience of clients and clinicians in their efforts to facilitate each individual's maximum functioning. Each chapter begins with an actual case study that typifies the disorders in that chapter, then returns to the case study at the end with the outcome of a prescribed treatment on the basis of the best available evidence. Throughout the chapter, the author translates the symptoms of each disorder into terms that capture the core essence of the disorder. The philosophy is that students should be able to appreciate the fundamental nature of each disorder without necessarily having to memorize all of its diagnostic criteria. In that way, students can gain a basic understanding that will serve them well regardless of their ultimate professional goals. In this edition, the author refreshes many of the cases to reflect stronger ethnic, international, gender, sexual orientation, and age diversity. In particular, the cases in each chapter are based on cases intended to reflect the importance of cultural variations that psychologists see in their private offices, clinics, hospitals, and counseling centers. Above all, the study of abnormal psychology is the study of profoundly human experiences. To this end, the author has developed a biographical feature entitled "Real Stories." You will read narratives from the actual experiences of celebrities, sports figures, politicians, authors, musicians, and artists. Each story is written to provide insight into the particular disorder covered within the chapter. By reading these fascinating biographical pieces, you will come away with a more in-depth personal perspective to use in understanding the nature of the disorder. The author has developed this text using a scientist practitioner framework. In other words, you will read about research informed by clinical practice. The author presents research on theories and treatments for each of the disorders based on the principles of evidence-based practice. This means that the approaches are tested through extensive research informed by clinical practice"--