APPI Book Wins BMA Competition

Cognitive-Behavior Therapy for Severe Mental Illness, published by American Psychiatric Publishing Inc. last November, has won first prize in the mental health category of the 2009 British Medical Association Medical Book Competition.

The authors of the book are Jesse H. Wright, M.D., Ph.D., Douglas Turkington, M.D., David G. Kingdon, M.D., and Monica Ramirez Basco, Ph.D.

The main objective of the competition is to encourage the production of high-quality medical books. Prizes are awarded in 26 categories, with an overall winner selected from among them. All entries are individually reviewed and appraised by physicians and educators interested in medical publishing. Reviewers are asked to consider accuracy, currency, originality, book production quality, and whether the title meets the needs of its audience.

Cognitive-Behavior Therapy for Severe Mental Illness is a “how to” guide for using cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for some of the most common and difficult-to-treat psychiatric conditions. It is based on the work the authors have carried out together presenting courses and workshops, previous writings on cognitive-behavioral therapy, and the steady outpouring of research that has documented favorable results when CBT is used to treat severe mental illness. By showing CBT in action in the accompanying DVD, the authors give readers a picture of how CBT methods can be used to tackle challenging clinical problems.

Kingdon, a professor of mental health care delivery at Royal South Hants Hospital and the University of Southampton, one of the book's two authors based in the United Kingdom, welcomed the award as an endorsement of the successful research in this area.

“We're really pleased that the book and DVD have been acknowledged in this way,” he said. “We hope that this will mean that even more mental health professionals and, most importantly, the people experiencing severe mental health problems with whom they work will benefit from it.”

The book may be ordered at <www.appi.org/book.cfm?id=62321>.