Handbook of Rehabilitation Psychology. - book review

Journal of Rehabilitation, July-Sept, 2002 by Stacie Robertson

The Handbook of Rehabilitation Psychology is a comprehensive book focusing on the various subjects important to individuals interested in Rehabilitation Psychology. The book is divided into four sections, clinical conditions, critical factors, social interpersonal issues, and professional issues. In addition, the text includes an extensive list of potential resources, a list of acronyms related to the field, and a glossary that defines relevant terms. The editors indicate that the purpose of this book is to provide a resource book that fills a void in the field of rehabilitation psychology. They contend that regardless of the growth of the field there is not a comprehensive, up-to-date resource book. Overall this book does fulfill that mission, which is its strongest asset. As mentioned, this book is made up of four sections. I will first discuss each of the sections and then provide an overall review.

The first part of the text provides information on clinical conditions. This part is made up of eleven chapters and includes information on various types of disabilities such as spinal cord injury, stroke, neuromuscular and musculoskeletal disorders in children, and psychiatric rehabilitation. Different experts in the field wrote each of the chapters with each following a similar format. The positive aspects of these chapters are that they each provide an extensive look at issues related to each clinical condition. Specifically, chapters such as the one on traumatic brain injury provide medical information (e.g., epidemology, assessments and interventions, and presentation), community reintegration information (e.g., family issues, vocational concerns, and sexuality), models and standards of care, and information about economic issues. As a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology with a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling I found that some of the information was novel while some of the information I had gained from various other master's level courses. I believe that I learned the most from the information discussing current concerns and the role of the rehabilitation psychologist. My only criticism of this section is that the authors did not follow a similar format with regard to who was the expected reader. Some chapters offered a comprehensive view, including medical aspects, psychosocial concerns and issues of assessment, while other chapters provided an extensive amount of information but eliminated some of the more basic medical aspects. If used as an introductory text students would require supplemental information, but if used with individuals with some basic background they may become disinterested in reviewing the basics offered in other chapters.

The second part of this text addresses critical factors. This part is made of eleven chapters that include information on measures and assessments related to the field, outcome measures, and information on research methodologies. This part of the book also includes chapters on unique rehabilitation issues such as alcohol abuse in rehabilitation and constraint induced movement therapy. In reading this part of the book I was able to think of various graduate courses that could be enhanced by incorporating the information found in these chapters. Specifically the chapter on the assessment of psychopathology and personality in people with physical disabilities addresses how disability factors affect test results, and would enhance any course addressing psychological assessments regardless of the discipline (e.g., rehabilitation, counseling, health, and/or clinical psychology).

This second part of the text also looks at unique rehabilitation issues. These chapters provided useful information that I have not obtained from courses in either of my graduate programs. The chapter on forensic issues provides very practical information about admissible testimony and what to expect in courtroom testimony. Other chapters in this part review innovative treatments and the role of the rehabilitation psychologist in these treatments. One such innovative treatment is addressed in the chapter on constraint-induced movement therapy. This chapter discusses a treatment approach for physical rehabilitation that incorporates operant conditioning with a possible relationship to cortical reorganization. Similar to the first part of the book, my only criticism is that some authors geared their chapters toward offering introductory information, such as the chapter that includes an explanation of reliability, validity, and levels of measures, while others presupposed some background knowledge.

The third part of the text provides information on social interpersonal issues. This section is made up of five chapters that include vocational behavior, cultural issues, injury prevention, social support issues, and social psychological issues. This section, similar to the other sections, offers both traditional information and information that addresses the new directions of the field. The best example of this is the chapter on vocational behaviors. It provides information traditionally examined in this area such as the nature of work and career development, but also provides information on new directions such as preventing potential disabilities and disability management issues. The chapter I found most exciting, in this part, was the chapter on cultural issues. Although cultural issues are brought up in many of the other chapters, the one specifically devoted to culture examines how cultural differences can be used to enhance the rehabilitation process for individuals of African-American descent.