Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 152
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9¼
978-1-4422-1615-0 • Hardback • August 2012 • $59.00 • (£45.00)
978-1-4422-1617-4 • eBook • August 2012 • $56.00 • (£43.00)
John A. Biever, M.D., is a general and child/adolescent psychiatrist in private practice at the Quittie Glen Center for Mental Health in Annville, PA. He is a founding faculty member of the Central Pennsylvania Institute for Mental Health, where he and other faculty members present educational and training programs intended to promote sound mental health throughout the mid-state region and beyond. He is a consultant in child psychiatry to the Pennsylvania State Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the Penn State University College of Medicine.
Maryann Karinch is the author or co-author of 18 books, most of which focus on human behavior. She has led specialized training in body language with the Department of Homeland Security, staff and faculty at George Mason University, and members and guests of the International Spy Museum. Maryann's website is at www.karinch.com.
Foreword by Mark Whitacre, “The Informant”
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1: Something for (Almost) Everyone
2: Entering the Land of the Lost
3: What Causes the Need to Dissociate?
4: Eccentric versus Sick: Spotting the Difference
5: The Uphill Trek to a Diagnosis
6: Treating the Symptoms: Everyone’s Nightmare
7: Treatment That Heals
8: Coming Back Home
Epilogue
Appendix
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
About the Authors
The Wandering Mind seamlessly weaves clinical narrative and biomedical science in a way that makes dissociative conditions accessible to both the lay reader and seasoned practitioner. This work is both timely and valuable in our attempts to understand a growing psychiatric population struggling with the dissociative scars of trauma and war.
— Amir A. Afkhami, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Global Health Division, School of Public Health and Health Services, George Washington University
Biever and Karinch, in their marvelous book, The Wandering Mind, demonstrate time and again that they have been engaged with individuals in dissociative states. And they write in a manner that enables us to experience this engagement and attain a deeper understanding of dissociation. They help us to understand the person who is experiencing a disorder of dissociation, not a diagnosis. The wisdom of this book may equally be applied to individuals with all sorts of disorders.
— Dan Hughes, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and author of Attachment-Focused Family Therapy Workbook and Brain-Based Parenting, among other works
Biever, a psychiatrist in private practice, and Karanich, a science writer, cover the dissociation waterfront. The book is written through the lens of Biever, who expertly describes daydreaming, fantasy-prone personalities, and charismatic leaders. He differentiates dissociate identity disorder (DID) from dissociative fugue, dissociative amnesia, depersonalization disorders, and false memories, using examples from the literature as well as his own case studies. Karanich is probably responsible for the reader-friendly tone of the book, with its clear description and sympathetic presentation of dissociative phenomena. This is especially evident in the discussion of a Dr. Saroj Parida, whose DID ended a brilliant career when an alter personality committed insurance fraud that led to his incarceration. This is only one of the strands in a rich tapestry. The book includes an excellent glossary. This book can serve as an introduction to the field for nonclinicians; for clinicians, it provides an opportunity to expand and deepen understanding of this complex human capacity. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.
— Choice Reviews