Books

Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: An Assessment of the Evidence.

Committee on Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Institute of Medicine (David Spiegel, M.D., Contributor). The National Academies Press, Washington D.C., 2008.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee on Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was charged by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to review and assess the evidence on the efficacy of pharmacologic and psychologic treatment modalities for PTSD. The committee was given five major tasks: review the scientific evidence and make conclusions regarding efficacy; note restrictions of the conclusions to certain settings, populations, and so on; comment on gaps and future research; answer several questions related to the goals, timing, and length of treatment; and finally, note areas where the evidence base is limited by inadequate attention or poor quality. This report contains the committee’s conclusions about the strength of the evidence regarding the efficacy of various treatment interventions.

Everyone's Guide to Cancer Survivorship:  A Road Map for Better Health 

by Ernest H. Rosenbaum, M.D., David Spiegel, M.D., Patricia Fobair, LCSW MPH, Holly Gautier R.N. Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, October 2007.

The CDC's National Action Plan for Cancer Survivorship estimates that there are "9.6 million persons living following a cancer diagnosis." And this number is strictly related to patients. It does not include family members, friends, or caregivers.
For anyone approaching life from the perspective of remission, respected oncologist Dr. Ernest Rosenbaum leads a team of 34 oncology specialists and medical contributors—some of whom are both doctors and survivors themselves—in creating a guide specifically geared for cancer survivorship.

Complementary and Alternative Treatments in Mental Health Care 

edited by James H. Lake, M.D., and David Spiegel, M.D . Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., 2007.

The widespread use of nonconventional treatments, or complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and the increasing evidence supporting their therapeutic benefits call for a concerted scientific effort to integrate treatments that work into mainstream medicines. Answering that call is the groundbreaking Complementary and Alternative Treatments in Mental Health Care, a concise, practical reference that reviews the many CAM approaches used in North America and Europe to treat—or self-treat—mental health problems, and the history and rationale for a variety of CAM treatments, including the risks and benefits of their integration into mainstream mental health care. 

Traumatic Dissociation: Neurobiology and Treatment

edited by Eric Vermetten, M.D., Ph.D., Martin J. Dorahy, Ph.D., and David Spiegel, M.D. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., 2007.

Traumatic Dissociation: Neurobiology and Treatment offers an advanced introduction to this symptom, process, and pattern of personality organization seen in several trauma-related disorders, including acute stress disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the dissociative disorders. Our understanding of traumatic dissociation has recently been advanced by neuroimaging technology, empirically-based investigation, and an acknowledgment of its importance in psychopathology. The authors of this volume tie these findings together, tracking the condition from its earliest historical conceptualization to its most recent neurobiological understanding to provide even greater insight into traumatic dissociation and its treatment. 

Trance and Treatment: Clinical Uses of Hypnosis (2nd Edition)

by Herbert Spiegel, M.D. and David Spiegel, M.D. Basic Books, 1978; Reprinted by American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., Washington D.C., 1987; Second Edition 2004.

What is hypnosis? Despite widespread misconceptions, hypnosis is not a treatment in itself; instead, it is a facilitator—a useful diagnostic tool that can help the practitioner choose an appropriate treatment modality and accelerate various primary treatment strategies. The second edition of this remarkable work (first published 25 years ago) is written to provide both beginning and seasoned practitioners with a brief, disciplined technique for mobilizing and learning from an individual's capacity to concentrate. Putting to rest both exaggerated fears about hypnosis and overblown statements of its efficacy, this compelling volume brings scientific discipline to a systematic exploration of the clinical uses and limitations of hypnosis.

Health and Behavior: The Interplay of Biological, Behavioral, and Societal Influences by Committee on Health and Behavior: Research, Practice and Policy, Board on Neuroscience and Behavioral Health, Committee on Health, Behavior, Institute on Medicine

(David Spiegel, M.D., Contributor). The National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2001.

Health-care professionals, patients, families, community leaders, and policy makers all struggle to understand interactions between health and behavior and to use that knowledge to improve the health status of individuals and populations. Health and behavior are related in myriad ways, yet those interactions are neither simple nor straightforward. Given the wide acknowledgment that cigarette smoking is linked to a variety of deadly diseases, for example, why do people start smoking? And given equally convincing evidence connecting excess weight with cardiovascular disease and other health problems, why are so many people far above their optimal weight? Does such unhealthy behavior indicate a simple lack of willpower? How does the social environment influence these behaviors? Does stress make people sick, or does illness produce stress? This report presents current knowledge about links between health and behavior, about the influence of the social environment on these behaviors, and about interventions to improve health through modifying behavior or personal relationships. It also addresses what must still be learned to answer questions like those above.

Group Therapy for Cancer Patients: A Research-based Handbook of Psychosocial Care

by David Spiegel and Catherine Classen, Basic/Perseus Books, New York, 2000.

Psychiatrist David Spiegel was the first to demonstrate that group support for cancer patients results in significantly enhanced survival times and in measurably greater quality of life-less anxiety, less depression, and half as much pain. His landmark research was first published in The Lancet and later featured on Bill Moyers' PBS series Healing and the Mind; now, with psychologist Catherine Classen, he articulates the principles of conducting supportive-expressive group treatment with the medically ill.

Efficacy and Cost-Effectiveness of Psychotherapy

edited by David Spiegel, M.D. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc. 1999.

In recent years, many have questioned the effectiveness of psychotherapy techniques. Advances in psychopharmacology have diverted attention from the many benefits of psychotherapy. 
Psychotherapists from around the world have compiled their research and clinical experience as it applies to various psychotherapeutic treatments in this invaluable reference. These leading experts describe their methods of assessment and treatment and provide new evidence for the effectiveness of these interventions.

Living Beyond Limits

by David Spiegel, M.D., New York: Times Books, 1993; Ballatine Books, 1994.

Based on Dr. Spiegel's study and over fifteen years of clinical research, Living Beyond Limits outlines the scientifically proven program that Dr. Spiegel's patients follow and offers concrete guidelines that men and women with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses can use to live fuller -- and possibly even longer -- lives. Dr. Spiegel's book offers a cogent exploration of how mind and body interact in healing and how we can live better not by denying or avoiding illness, but by bringing our full resources to bear in facing it. 

Dissociation: Culture, Mind and Body edited

by David Spiegel, M.D. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., 1994.

Dissociation: Culture, Mind, and Body is the first book to combine cultural anthropology, cognitive psychology, neurophysiology, and the study of psychosomatic illness to present the latest information on the dissociative process. A variety of leading experts in each of these fields bring their knowledge on the unique role that dissociation plays in moderating social and psychological effects on the body. Dissociation: Culture, Mind, and Body is an invaluable resource for every student of dissociation and is designed for professionals in cross-cultural psychiatry and the influence of the mind on the body. 

Cancer, Culture and Communication

by Rhonda J. Moore (Editor) and David Spiegel (Editor). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum, 2004.

The ability to communicate effectively with cancer patients and their family members has been linked to patient satisfaction, reduced psychological morbidity, enhanced health and reduced clinician "burn-out". Yet, despite what we know about the benefits of effective communication, cancer clinicians have only recently begun to receive routine training in the psychosocial and emotional aspects of cancer patient care. This book is for physicians, nurses, hospice and palliative care professionals and public health professionals who would like to understand the ways we can improve clinician-patient communication in culturally diverse medical settings. It is also suitable for graduate level courses in medical education, oncology, and health care.

Dissociative Disorders: A Clinical Review

by David Spiegel, M.D. (Editor). The Sidran Press: Lutherville, MD, 1993.

Also published as Spiegel D (ed): Dissociative Disorders. Review of Psychiatry, Volume 10, Section II. Washington, D.C., London, England: American Psychiatric Press, 1991.

Unity of consciousness is an achievement, not a given. From this point of view, dissociative phenomena are not an oddity but rather a central problem in the study of psychopathology. The issue is no longer why dissociative symptoms occur; it becomes rather why they do not occur more often. The continuity of experience, memory, and identity is an accomplishment. The complexity of mental processing requires that most of it occur out of consciousness, making it possible if not probable that certain perceptions and memories may seem dis-integrated.