Book 2: Summary Psychological Therapy in a Pharmacological World

On Consciousness and Psychotherapy (the forward to Dr. Campbell’s Psychological Therapy in a Pharmacological World)  Per Thomas Bittker, M.D.

"Forty years ago, while I was in the process of attempting to promulgate my own modest revolution on how we deliver psychiatric services to a community, I confronted another young psychiatrist who had been part of a group which I perceived to be the psychiatric political establishment in this community. Many in the group were so challenged by my efforts as to question my ethics in developing an alternative system of care.  In the midst of the intense evening discussion that followed I was able to engage Dr. Campbell and found in him a kindred spirit who had the capacity to rise above the rigidity of thought that often imprisons us. Together we were able to achieve a creative resolution to our differences. Since then, I have considered Jim both friend and a most creative thinker.

This book is one of a series of books that challenges how we think about life, suffering and how best to enlighten those that turn to us for guidance. The book arrives at a critical historical nexus, and if we read it carefully, we can see a way out of our current morass in providing cost-effective psychiatric and psychological treatment.

Dr. Campbell cautions us that we have become too reliant on a strict pharmacological model of diagnosing and treating psychiatric disorders. Not that medications are not useful, but an over-reliance on drugs not only causes us to risk mistreating our patients, but it dis-empowers them. 

If we can appreciate that much of what contributes to our suffering springs from how we think about ourselves, our history and relationships, and we are capable of reframing these experiences, then we are free to select new ways of thinking and may empirically test this in our daily lives.

From Dr. Campbell’s perspective how we think, listen and speak powerfully influences how we feel and live. It expands our consciousness and our power over our lives.

His book is an exceptional guidebook to a healthier perspective on our lives and warrants inclusion as an essential adjunct to the psychotherapy of our patients. Indeed, for many individuals it may be sufficiently powerful to reduce their reliance on excessive pharmacotherapy and excessive dependence on their psychotherapists. The latter may be seen as a threat to some, but given the constraints on our current health care system, any effort such as this that empowers our patients to help themselves warrants enthusiastic support."