Approach to the Psychiatric Patient: Case-based Essays

Some of the country s most eminent psychiatrists and psychologists including basic scientists, social scientists, clinicians, clinical researchers, psychopharmacologists, and psychoanalysts have contributed essays. Each author was asked to discuss a specific aspect of a case, as if providing a curbside consult to a colleague or student. In addition to presenting a perspective on our knowledge base, each author highlights pertinent dilemmas, ambiguities, and limitations. In so doing, the authors help create a richly complex mosaic that reflects a sophisticated biopsychosocial approach to patients.

All of the authors are affiliated with one or more of the following institutions: Weill Cornell Medical College, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Rockefeller University.

Approach to the Psychiatric Patient is a thought-provoking accompaniment to standard psychiatric textbooks. Not only does it provide interesting perspectives on psychiatric knowledge, theory, and practice, it encourages an approach that combines curiosity, skepticism, and compassion.