Real Behavior Change in Primary Care: Improving Patient Outcomes and Increasing Job Satisfaction

Patricia Robinson · Debra Gould · Kirk Strosahl

Jan 2011 · New Harbinger Publications

About this ebook

As a primary care provider, you are on the front lines of medical treatment. Oftentimes, you're the first medical professional patients come to when they experience problems with their health. While some of these problems can be resolved by traditional medical treatment, many others are driven by underlying psychological issues and unhealthy lifestyle choices that you may feel powerless to affect. Between repeat patient visits and the frustrating progression of preventable symptoms and conditions, it's no wonder so many medical and behavioral health providers feel burned out and at a loss for effective solutions.

This guide was designed to help you find those solutions and recapture the ability to effectively help patients achieve optimal health and happiness. Real Behavior Change in Primary Care offers ten-minute interventions that provide your patients with the tools they need to change unworkable and unhealthy behaviors. Each short yet powerful intervention utilizes empirically supported skills from acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a form of cognitive behavioral therapy, to help you empower patients to take charge of the psychological blocks that keep them from resolving their health problems. You'll also apply ACT skills to your own life and learn to better manage stress, recover from burnout, and rediscover the meaning behind your work as a health care provider.

Help patients suffering with:

Chronic disease

Alcohol and substance abuse

Chronic pain

Anxiety and depression

Trauma and abuse

About the author

Patricia J. Robinson, PhD, is a consultant and trainer for Mountainview Consulting Group in Yakima, Washington. She is a pioneer in ACT and in the design and evaluation of behavioral health services for primary care settings. Her published works include The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Depression and Behavioral Consultation and Primary Care: A Guide to Integrating Services.

Debra A. Gould, MD, MPH, is associate clinical professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. She has practiced family medicine and taught medical students and family medicine residents for more than seventeen years. Her interests include evidence-based practice, mental health issues in primary care, community medicine, practice-based research, and physician wellness.

Kirk D. Strosahl, PhD, is associate clinical professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine and cofounder of acceptance and commitment therapy. He has worked for over two decades in primary care medical settings, collaborating with family medicine residents, physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician's assistants, and training family medicine residents.