Persuasion and Healing

Book excerpt: A thorough update of Jerome Frank's groundbreaking work on the science and philosophy of psychotherapy. In this updated edition of Persuasion and Healing, Julia B. Frank, MD, and Bruce E. Wampold, PhD, examine psychological healing in both scientific and cultural terms, building upon Jerome D. Frank and his colleagues' sixty years of research into the mechanisms of psychotherapy and the nature of therapeutic relationships. J.D. Frank's insights into the common features of effective psychotherapy shed light on an enormous range of therapeutic activities, from professional care offered by people of diverse training to faith healing, indigenous healing, relief of suffering in medical illness, and other disruptions of people's relationships and core beliefs. This edition applies Frank's scientifically supported, transdiagnostic, humanistic principles to narrative and cognitive behavioral individual and group psychotherapies in both traditional and newer forms. The authors look beyond the bounds of professional services, discussing applications of the principles of psychotherapy that promote resilience in the face of the increasing worldwide burden of mental illnesses and demoralization related to rapid technological change, cultural dislocation, violence, and disasters of many kinds. Therapeutic innovations supported by Frank's work range from the training and deployment of lay mental health workers in low-resource areas to digitally enhanced care. This classic work is a must-read for anyone dedicated to understanding psychotherapy in all its forms as the application of the compassionate principles of persuasion and healing to the mental health challenges of a troubled world.