reviews of the seeking safety book
"This landmark volume presents a cutting-edge approach to the treatment of patients who depend on drugs to soothe the pain of PTSD. In stunning detail, Najavits shows how the same therapist can treat both conditions concurrently. Her kinder and gentler approach is a welcome change from traditional confrontational interventions....All therapists attempting to help these patients should have this book to guide them."
-Aaron T. Beck, MD, University of Pennsylvania
"Fabulous! This treatment manual provides practical, clearly described procedures for treating an extremely difficult group of clients. The organization of the treatment is superb. From my perspective, the most important parts of a comprehensive treatment are here attention to the client's safety, targeting substance use simultaneously with targeting PTSD, integrating ideals and values (I love the quotations!), a core of cognitive-behavioral interventions, a focus on interpersonal relationships, and attention to the needs of the therapist. Very impressive. Obviously written by an experienced clinician."
-Marsha Linehan, PhD, University of Washington
"As empirically guided treatment manuals begin to emerge in greater numbers and varying quality, Najavits maintains an essential and elegant balance between a lucid map of treatment directions, on the one hand, and the complex dynamics of the clinical territory on the other. This is a very important work that I highly recommend for clinicians of every stripe."
-Howard J. Shaffer, PhD, CAS, Harvard Medical School
-Aaron T. Beck, MD, University of Pennsylvania
"Fabulous! This treatment manual provides practical, clearly described procedures for treating an extremely difficult group of clients. The organization of the treatment is superb. From my perspective, the most important parts of a comprehensive treatment are here attention to the client's safety, targeting substance use simultaneously with targeting PTSD, integrating ideals and values (I love the quotations!), a core of cognitive-behavioral interventions, a focus on interpersonal relationships, and attention to the needs of the therapist. Very impressive. Obviously written by an experienced clinician."
-Marsha Linehan, PhD, University of Washington
"As empirically guided treatment manuals begin to emerge in greater numbers and varying quality, Najavits maintains an essential and elegant balance between a lucid map of treatment directions, on the one hand, and the complex dynamics of the clinical territory on the other. This is a very important work that I highly recommend for clinicians of every stripe."
-Howard J. Shaffer, PhD, CAS, Harvard Medical School
published reviews of Seeking Safety
Excerpts of reviews from professional journals, per www.amazon.com
"The Seeking Safety manual itself is designed to be clinician-friendly and provides a plethora of patient and therapist information and handouts. Each chapter proves to be easily accessible, including a summary of the session coping skill, a therapist orientation to the topic, ideas for session preparation, session content, and examples of tough cases. Also included in each coping skills chapter are patient materials. These are thoughtfully designed, adding key points, examples, alternatives and suggestions, and ideas for how to apply the material to daily life. In the protocol introduction, there is a wealth of information about PTSD and substance abuse and a section on what is not part of the treatment (focused trauma work). Therapist processes are also addressed throughout the manual with a kind eye to the difficulty of helping individuals with this dual diagnosis recover. The Seeking Safety manual is action-oriented, information and detail-focused and is also attentive to the emotional pain that brings people into treatment....In sum, Seeking Safety has scientific merit, clinical wisdom, provides an excellent philosophy and protocol for the 'time and resource-strained clinician,' and patients like it!"--Journal of Trauma Practice
"Given the prevalence of patients with both post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse diagnoses and their complex interactions, this volume makes an important and timely contribution."
--Psychotherapy Research
"I am impressed with the work and thought that has gone into this publication. It is a fairly comprehensive work on how to manage the dual disorders of PTSD and substance abuse."--Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
"...valuable reading for anybody who has contact with this group of patients."--Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
"The strength of this manual is its comprehensiveness. The book reveals the author's extensive clinical experience working with this population and her keen ability to apply the basic principles of cognitive-behavioral and interpersonal therapies in ways that are concrete and practical....fills a long-standing gap in the assessment and treatment of PTSD and substance abuse. Najavits' thoroughness and her commitment to ongoing research in this area are illustrated by her inclusion of a questionnaire for patients and therapists who use the manual to provide input about what worked and what didn't. Psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and any clinicians who conduct therapy with this population will benefit from owning this manual."
--Psychiatric Services
"This manual provides a well-researched treatment approach developed specifically for the difficult-to-treat but common dual diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse. The author gives much of herself, her thoughts and past experiences in the preface, including reservations that are no easy answers....the book is a very useful tool, well organized and imaginative."--Addiction Today
"The Seeking Safety manual itself is designed to be clinician-friendly and provides a plethora of patient and therapist information and handouts. Each chapter proves to be easily accessible, including a summary of the session coping skill, a therapist orientation to the topic, ideas for session preparation, session content, and examples of tough cases. Also included in each coping skills chapter are patient materials. These are thoughtfully designed, adding key points, examples, alternatives and suggestions, and ideas for how to apply the material to daily life. In the protocol introduction, there is a wealth of information about PTSD and substance abuse and a section on what is not part of the treatment (focused trauma work). Therapist processes are also addressed throughout the manual with a kind eye to the difficulty of helping individuals with this dual diagnosis recover. The Seeking Safety manual is action-oriented, information and detail-focused and is also attentive to the emotional pain that brings people into treatment....In sum, Seeking Safety has scientific merit, clinical wisdom, provides an excellent philosophy and protocol for the 'time and resource-strained clinician,' and patients like it!"--Journal of Trauma Practice
"Given the prevalence of patients with both post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse diagnoses and their complex interactions, this volume makes an important and timely contribution."
--Psychotherapy Research
"I am impressed with the work and thought that has gone into this publication. It is a fairly comprehensive work on how to manage the dual disorders of PTSD and substance abuse."--Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
"...valuable reading for anybody who has contact with this group of patients."--Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
"The strength of this manual is its comprehensiveness. The book reveals the author's extensive clinical experience working with this population and her keen ability to apply the basic principles of cognitive-behavioral and interpersonal therapies in ways that are concrete and practical....fills a long-standing gap in the assessment and treatment of PTSD and substance abuse. Najavits' thoroughness and her commitment to ongoing research in this area are illustrated by her inclusion of a questionnaire for patients and therapists who use the manual to provide input about what worked and what didn't. Psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and any clinicians who conduct therapy with this population will benefit from owning this manual."
--Psychiatric Services
"This manual provides a well-researched treatment approach developed specifically for the difficult-to-treat but common dual diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse. The author gives much of herself, her thoughts and past experiences in the preface, including reservations that are no easy answers....the book is a very useful tool, well organized and imaginative."--Addiction Today