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When the Caregiver Becomes the Patient

A Journey from a Mental Disorder to Recovery and Compassionate Insight

• By Emil J. Authelet, Harold G. Koenig, Daniel L. Langford

• Price: $24.95
• Binding: Paperback (also available in Hardback)
• Pages: 216
• Published by: Routledge
• Publication Date: 23rd May 2002
• ISBN: 978-0-7890-1294-4

About the Book

Examine a compelling account of a professional caregiver’s inspirational struggle with a mind/body illness and the renewed sense of compassion his recovery provides.

This uplifting narrative is the story of a caregiving professional stricken by panic attacks, a wounded healer desperate to be healed. When the Caregiver Becomes the Patient is the candid and compassionate first-hand account of Daniel Langford’s struggle with the anxiety disorder that signals a physical, cognitive, and emotional crisis that paralyzes him, despite his extensive background as a health care professional, social worker, and pastoral minister. His journey from the disorder’s horrifying onset to the understanding and acceptance of its roots, and finally, to an insight that evokes a renewed appreciation for the human spirit is an inspirational guide to healing and recovery.

The anecdotal form of When the Caregiver Becomes the Patient lends itself to a personal retelling of Langford’s struggle, detailing his sessions with family physician Dr. David Betat, and colleague and co-author Dr. Emil Authelet as they explore the biopsychosocial and spiritual dimension of Langford’s attacks. Their informal dialogues serve as a model of how a lateral relationship between colleagues can create an environment for healing and recovery that can be passed on to others. The book also critiques and reviews existing literature on panic attacks and anxiety disorders related to the author’s search for understanding.

When the Caregiver Becomes the Patient examines:

• panic attacks--cause, treatment, and recovery
• a critique of existing literature on panic attacks
• clinical and spiritual perspectives on anxiety disorders
• critical elements of the healing process
• effects on the caregiver’s relationship with his/her client
• a fresh model for the caregiver/patient relationship
  
  An essential resource for caregivers, counselors and therapists, educators, physicians, and health care and religious professionals, as well as those searching for an understanding of anxiety disorders, When the Caregiver Becomes the Patient reassures those who receive care that the care giver struggles with life as well. That understanding of the mutuality of pain and recovery creates a connection that helps ease the isolation that often accompanies suffering.

Table of Contents

• Foreword
• Preface
• Chapter 1. A Frightening Summer Experience
• Chapter 2. Critique of the Literature on Panic Attacks
• Introduction
• Panic Attack As Defined by the DSM-IV
• The Matrix of Panic Attacks
• Understanding Panic Using an Integrated Model
• Treatments for Panic
• Conclusion
• Chapter 3. Clinical and Spiritual Perspectives on Anxiety, Panic Attacks, and the Malfunctioning of Our Brains: An Interview with Dr. David Betat
• Introduction
• A Dialogue with David Betat, MD
• Chapter 4. The Frightened Child Hiding Behind the Facade of an Adult
• The Dan Langford I First Met
• Struggles with a Mission
• War in the Classroom
• The Crisis of the Inner Child
• A New Level of Self-Awareness
• Recovery
• Chapter 5. The Healing of the Frightened Child
• Introduction
• The Tyranny of the Inner Child
• Ego States and Transactional Analysis
• Recovery
• Chapter 6. How the Suffering of the Caregiver Benefits the Caregiver-Client Relationship—Part 1
• Chapter 7. How the Suffering of the Caregiver Benefits the Caregiver-Client Relationship—Part 2
• Introduction
• What Makes a Good Caregiver?
• We Live Life and Help Others from the Inside Out
• The Critical Elements of the Healing Process
• The Measures of a Therapist’s Integrity and Success
• Conclusion
• Chapter 8. Toward a Fresh Model of the Caregiver-Client Relationship: The Oneness of Human Experience—Part 1
• Introduction
• The Dark Side of the Caregiving Professional’s World
• Pathologies in the Therapist-Client Relationship
• A New Model of the Caregiver-Client Relationship
• Reflection
• Chapter 9. Toward a Fresh Model of the Caregiver-Client Relationship: The Oneness of the Human Experience—Part 2
• Introduction
• The Dark Side of Caregiving
• A New Model of the Caregiver-Client Relationship
• Chapter 10. Reflections on John Powell’s Book Fully Human, Fully Alive: A Dialogue Between Emil Authelet and Dan Langford
• What It Means to Be Set Free Through the Restructuring of Our Thoughts and Perceptions of Ourselves
• Strategies for Becoming Fully Human, Fully Alive
• The Restructuring of Thought and Vision Therapy
• Chapter 11. Finale: Relational Theology and the Circle of Life
• Introduction
• Thinking and Relating Holistically
• Christology
• God’s Original Intention and Our Deepest Need
• The Mutual Interconnectedness Between Therapist and Client
• Authentic Caregiving
• Building a World of Caregivers
• What Is Health?
• The Responsibility of the Therapist
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• Reference Notes Included