The Paradox of Mental Health

In the Paradox of Mental Health, the authors argue that our society is experiencing another pandemic-one of mental illness. This mental illness pandemic is maintained and escalated by conceptual "viruses" rooted in the normative, psychological medical model paradigm consistent with Western ideology. Therapeutic practice based on systems theory and social constructionism is offered as an antidote to alleviate the over-reliance on the medical model. The authors first "do therapy" on the concept of the normative, medical model; then explicate the concepts and application of systems theory and social constructionism; and finally, offer potential solutions to the mental illness pandemic.

Raphael J. Becvar, Dorothy Stroh Becvar, Lynne V. Reif

Foreword by Benjamin J. Evans, Johnny Faulkner, and Amy Smith Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Paradoxes of Mental Health/Illness: Philosophy and Theory Chapter 1: The Paradox of Mental Health: On the Limits of Living Consciously Chapter 2: Believing is Seeing: Exploring the Limits of Knowing Chapter 3: Before the Beginning Chapter 4: Contributions from Social Science and Mental Health Professionals Chapter 5: On the Clinical Bias Chapter 6: Conceptual Bites in Summary of the Paradox Chapter 7: Wondering Part II: Systemic and Social Constructionist Concepts for Therapy Chapter 8: About Systems Theory, Constructivism, and Social Constructionism. Chapter 9: Requiem for Systemic Marital and Family Therapy Chapter 10: The Ecosystemic Story: Implications for Therapists Chapter 11: Reflections on Values in Systems Theory and Social Constructionism Chapter 12: A Story about Systemic and Social Constructionist Therapy Chapter 13: Afterword References Index About the Authors