This manual is designed for therapists and describes how to provide Transcending Self Therapy (TST) in four individual adjunctive therapy sessions. TST is an evidence-informed, integrative-cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based treatment approach for mental health issues, including substance abuse and depression. In addition to integrative-CBT, TST also acknowledges the need to better connect to others and a passionate pursuit that is in line with one’s moral compass and/or spiritual beliefs. In this way, TST facilitates clients living a life in accordance with their values in a culturally-sensitive way. Sessions focus on identifying and changing unhealthy thinking and behavioral patterns as core elements of integrative-CBT, while also acknowledging the importance of problem-solving, coping skills, goal setting, and psychosocial functioning.
Created by frontline mental health providers to be practical and feasible, TST requires only the time that is frequently expected in treatment programs. The manual is designed for maximum ease of use, with a step-by-step style, case examples, and comprehensive information on the TST treatment approach, strategies for overcoming obstacles to recovery, case conceptualization, treatment planning, and session outlines.
See also the corresponding, Transcending Self Therapy: Four-Session Individual Integrative Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Book for Clients as well as the group manuals, Transcending Self Therapy: Group Integrative Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Book for Facilitators and Transcending Self Therapy: Group Integrative Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Book for Clients.
Jarrod Reisweber, Psy.D., Ed.S., is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist specializing in substance abuse treatment at the H.H. McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. He received his graduate training at The College of William and Mary and James Madison University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Reisweber worked with Aaron T. Beck, M.D., in directing a research project investigating the impact of Cognitive Therapy on clients with substance use disorders, as a clinician utilizing Cognitive Therapy to treat individuals with schizophrenia, and while co-authoring multiple articles and the book Cognitive Therapy for Adolescents in School Settings. Dr. Reisweber has also co-authored many book chapters and developed the psychological perspective Transcendent Self Theory which was featured in his book Psychology of Religion: From a Transcendent Self Theory Perspective. He has trained clinicians worldwide in a variety of settings and authored numerous psychological interventions. Supporting his work on this project and many others are his wonderful wife Dr. Erika Reisweber and three children.
Brian L. Meyer, Ph.D., LCP, is a Clinical Psychologist and the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder/Substance Use Disorders Specialist at the H.H. McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University. He obtained his A.B. from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in clinical psychology with a specialization in adolescents and families from Duke University. Dr. Meyer has worked in the child welfare and the child and adult mental health fields as a clinician, administrator, teacher, policy maker, program developer, expert witness, researcher, and trainer. He has been the Deputy Clinical Director of the New Mexico CYFD Protective Services Division, the Executive Director of the Albuquerque Child and Family Guidance Center, and the Executive Director of the Virginia Treatment Center for Children. In his current roles, Dr. Meyer provides evidence-based treatments for Veterans who have problems with PTSD, substance abuse, depression, TBI, and other co-occurring conditions; works with Veterans and their families to address post-combat adaptations; supervises psychology trainees; and develops and conducts research on treatments for PTSD and co-morbid conditions. Dr. Meyer is also a nationally in-demand speaker on a wide range of content areas including the treatment of trauma and co-morbid conditions, complex trauma, the effects of trauma and substance abuse on families, Veterans’ mental health, mindfulness meditation, secondary traumatization and self-care, and collaborative courts. He has been happily married to his wife Sharla for 31 years and has three adult children whom he adores.