Social Skills Training for Schizophrenia: A Step-By-Step Guide

The authoritative presentation of social skills training (SST)--a highly effective, recovery-oriented intervention for people with serious mental illness--the third edition of this complete manual has been significantly revised with over 60% new material. SST can be implemented by a range of providers in diverse clinical and community settings. In a convenient large-size format, the book is packed with practical tools, including clinical vignettes, dialogues, reproducible curricula (Skill Sheets) for 84 skills, guidance for selecting skills to teach based on participants’ needs, and tips for overcoming roadblocks. Purchasers get access to a companion website with downloadable copies of the Skill Sheets as well as online-only resources: 84 Social Skill Handouts for clients and 17 assessment forms and other tools for conducting SST groups.

New to This Edition
*Chapters on specific populations: SST with young people with high clinical risk or first-episode psychosis, older individuals, and those in residential or inpatient settings.
*Chapters on cultural factors in SST; gender, sexual identity, and sexual harassment; and technology-based communication.
*Three additional curricular areas--technology-based communication, school, and problem solving--for a total of 26 more skills than the prior edition.
*Many new reproducible and downloadable tools.

Kim T. Mueser, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy and the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Boston University (BU), and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. He is also affiliated with the BU Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, where he served as Executive Director from 2011 to 2016. Dr. Mueser has served as an editorial board member or editor of numerous peer-reviewed journals. He is a recipient of the Michael S. Neale Award from Division 18 (Psychologists in Public Service) of the American Psychological Association and the Armin Loeb Research Award from the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association. He has coauthored over 400 peer-reviewed journal articles, 20 books, and 100 book chapters.

Alan S. Bellack, PhD, ABPP, until his retirement in 2013, was Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Division of Psychology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Director of the VA Capitol Health Care Network Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC). In recognition of his lifetime research on psychosocial aspects of schizophrenia, he received the Alexander Gralnick Research Investigator Award from the American Psychological Foundation, among other awards. Dr. Bellack is coauthor or coeditor of more than 190 journal articles, 30 books, and 46 book chapters in the areas of schizophrenia, depression, social skills training, and substance abuse.

Susan Gingerich, MSW, is a social worker based in Philadelphia. Ms. Gingerich has worked with individuals with schizophrenia and their family members since the 1980s. She currently serves as Training Coordinator and a trainer for the NAVIGATE program for first-episode psychosis, which integrates social skills training with other treatment components. She received the Larry J. Seidman Award for Leadership from the Psychosis-Risk and Early Psychosis Program Network (PEPPNET). Ms. Gingerich is the coauthor of several books and multiple articles related to her research interests, which include social skills training, illness management and recovery, technology-based support for preventing relapses, family education and support, and training community mental health centers in evidence-based practices.

Julie Agresta, MEd, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker in private practice in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. Since the 1990s, she has provided consultation services to community-based programs and agencies serving adults and children with mental health disorders and developmental disabilities. Ms. Agresta also provides therapy to children, adolescents, and adults. She is President of the Pennsylvania Society for Clinical Social Work.

Daniel Fulford, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy and the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Boston University. Dr. Fulford’s clinical and research interests include motivational and social impairments in serious mental illness; he often uses ambulatory methods, including the development and testing of digital therapeutics, in his work. He has been named a Face of the Future by the Society for Research in Psychopathology and was co-recipient of a Visionary Grant from the American Psychological Foundation. Dr. Fulford has published his work in top journals and serves as Associate Editor for several journals, including the Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science.