• 2012 112pp paperback ISBN: 9781568871431
• A Practitioner's Resource Series Title
Loneliness is among
the most common and challenging client problems presented in clinical settings.
Loneliness is often a factor in many other disorders, including depression, one
of the most frequently diagnosed conditions in the US. Contemporary research reflects the impact of
loneliness and its various forms on social, cognitive, behavioral, physical,
and spiritual domains, identifying the experience as a common predictive and
mediating factor of other mental and physical disorders. Nonetheless, clients and
practitioners often struggle to identify the significance of loneliness during
initial interviews and subsequent sessions.
The authors provide
mental health practitioners with a framework for understanding loneliness and
relevant sequelae. They approach the subject from multiple perspectives,
including psychoanalytic, humanistic, existential, cognitive, and behavioral
systems and solution-focused theories. Definitions, measures, and relevant case
studies are provided to better equip clinicians to identify, assess, and treat
loneliness in children, adolescents, and adults.
Reviews
“An excellent primer on loneliness, this book by Rainer and
Martin offers a refreshing summary of research, clinical experience, theory,
and therapeutic suggestions for mental health professionals. The authors
describe the relationship of loneliness with other mental health conditions,
such as depression and anxiety, and with quality of life, general health,
financial status, LGBT status, and social media, among many. Specific interventions
and case examples are plentiful."
-Leon VandeCreek, PhD,
Professor, Wright State University School of
Professional Psychology, Dayton OH
“The book, Isolated and Alone: Therapeutic Interventions for
Loneliness, is impressive in the breadth of knowledge presented. The authors
provide important detail of research and clinical theory in a readable,
user-friendly manner.”
-Pauline Rose Clance, PhD, ABPP
“The authors have provided a book that meets a missing
component in the clinical literature. . . . After the reader has a firm grasp
of the nature of loneliness and the ramifications in treatment, then research
based interventions are provided which give the therapist many more tools for
helping patients deal with issues related to loneliness. . . . I would highly
recommend this book to therapists who work with all ages and all disability
groups.”
-Frieda
Farfour Brown, PhD, Professor of
Counseling and Psychology, Gardner-Webb University;
author of Crisis Counseling and Therapy
"Perhaps no issue is least discussed and is most important than a client's sense of loneliness. This book helps practicing clinicians to understand how to recognize the impact of loneliness may have on their clients and provides useful tools for overcoming this problem area. If you want help your clients to be less lonely, read this book!"
-Steven Walfish, PhD, The Practice Institute
Table of Contents
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
Loneliness as a psychotherapy issue
What is Loneliness?
Stigma
Who is Lonely?
Impact of Social Technology and Social
Media
Privacy and Loneliness
A brief history on the construct of loneliness
Psychoanalytic Theory
Humanistic Phenomenology
Existential Philosophy
Cognitive Processing
Behavior Therapy
Systems Perspectives
Brief and Solution-Focused Models
Loneliness, lifestyle, AND mental healtH
Loneliness and Depression
Family History and Loneliness
Peerage and Loneliness in Children and
Adolescents
Romantic Relationships
LGBT Experience
Financial Status
Predicting loneliness
Shyness, Loneliness, and Depression
Psychological Drift
Loneliness and pathways to disease
Tests and measures
Psychotherapy considerations, trajectories, and
interventions
JoHari Window
A Working Definition of Psychotherapy
and General Treatment Hypotheses
A Case Study: The Rugged Individual Rides Again
The Experience of Loneliness
Loneliness and Isolation
Yearning
Reframing Isolation Into Solitude
A Case Study: Water, Water Everywhere
Solitude and Healing
Loneliness, Spiritual Well-Being, and
Narratives on the Quality of Life
Meaning and Meaning-Making
A Narrative Protocol
Listening for the Metaphor
A Case Study: A Cupcake Destroyed Me
Autobiographical Reasoning
Cognitive Interventions
Increasing Coping Strategies
Social Skills Deficits
Mastery of Personal Craft
Satisfying Time Alone
Self-Evaluation
The Yin and Yang of Experience
Meditation and Mindfulness
Help Seeking and Social Skills
Change in Relational Contexts
Social Competence
Access and Development of Confidant
Altruism
Integrative approaches
Resilience
Conclusions: Renewal and Aloneness as a
Healing Experience
About the Authors
Jackson Rainer, PhD, ABPP, is a board certified clinical psychologist who
completed his doctorate in counseling psychology in 1986. He is nationally known and respected as a
psychotherapist, teacher, and supervisor.
In urban and rural settings, he has directed community mental health
institutions and agencies, practiced psychotherapy with children, adults,
couples, and families, and taught in universities and professional settings for
a practice life that spans more than 25 years.
His hybrid of professional service is now consolidated into a national
consulting practice for psychotherapy and supervision. Dr. Rainer serves as Department Chair of
Psychology and Counseling at Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia. He is a
former chair of the Publication Board for Division 29, Psychotherapy, of the
American Psychological Association, and is on the editorial and publication
boards of seven psychology journals. He
specializes in work surrounding the crisis of loss due to catastrophic,
chronic, and terminal illness.
Johnathan
Martin, EdS, is
an emerging psychologist, currently in the doctoral program in Clinical
Psychology at Georgia Southern University.
Over the past 5 years, Mr. Martin has enjoyed opportunities to work with
children, adolescents, and adults in both individual and group settings. The breadth of his experience spans
inpatient, community mental health, independent practice, and college venues
located in rural settings of western North Carolina and southern Georgia. Now entering into his fourth year of teaching
as an Adjunct Professor, Mr. Martin is the recent recipient of the 2011-2012
Jack N. Averitt College of Graduate Studies Excellence in Instruction award for
Georgia Southern University.
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