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Robert Paul Liberman

Publications and source records attributed to Robert Paul Liberman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Recent advances in social skills training for schizophrenia.

Social skills training consists of learning activities utilizing behavioral techniques that enable persons with schizophrenia and other disabling mental disorders to acquire interpersonal disease management and independent living skills for improved functioning in their communities. A large and growing body of research supports the efficacy and effectiveness of social skills training for schizophrenia. When the type and frequency of training is linked to the phase of the disorder, patients can learn and retain a wide variety of social and independent living skills. Generalization of the skills for use in everyday life occurs when patients are provided with opportunities, encouragement, and reinforcement for practicing the skills in relevant situations. Recent advances in skills training include special adaptations and applications for improved generalization of training into the community, short-term stays in psychiatric inpatient units, dually diagnosed substance abusing mentally ill, minority groups, amplifying supported employment, treatment refractory schizophrenia, older adults, overcoming cognitive deficits, and negative symptoms as well as the inclusion of social skills training as part of multidimensional treatment and rehabilitation programs.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy↗
PubMed2003

Disease management in Latinos with schizophrenia: a family-assisted, skills training approach.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a skills training program designed to teach disease management to Latinos with schizophrenia treated at a community mental health center. Ninety-two Latino outpatients with schizophrenia and their designated relatives were randomly assigned to 3 months of skills training (ST) versus customary outpatient care (CC) and followed for a total of 9 months. The skills training approach was culturally adapted mainly by including the active participation of key relatives to facilitate acquisition and generalization of disease management skills into the patients' natural environment. There was a significant advantage for the ST group over the CC group on several symptom measures, skill acquisition and generalization, level of functioning, and rates of rehospitalization. There were no significant differences between the groups on quality of life or caregiver burden. Skills training had a direct effect on skill acquisition and generalization, and utilization of disease management skills led to decreased rates of rehospitalization. Incorporating an intensive, culturally relevant generalization effort into skills training for Latinos with schizophrenia appeared to be effective in teaching disease management and viable in a community mental health center.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2003

Integrating treatment with rehabilitation for persons with major mental illnesses.

Psychiatric treatment and rehabilitation are integrated, seamless approaches aimed at restoring persons with major mental disorders to their best possible level of functioning and quality of life. Driven by a thorough assessment, treatment and rehabilitation are keyed to the stage and type of each individual's disorder. Examples of coordinated treatment and rehabilitation are pharmacotherapy, supported employment, social skills training, family psychoeducation, assertive community treatment, and integrated programs for persons with dual diagnoses. The authors conclude by proposing seven principles to guide mental health practitioners in their integration of pharmacologic and psychosocial interventions.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Rehab rounds: Involving families in rehabilitation through behavioral family management.

Introduction by the column editors: A wide variety of family psychoeducational approaches for persons with serious and persistent mental illness have been developed and used by mental health professionals since the introduction of such approaches in the 1960s (1). From 1970 to 1975, multifamily psychoeducation was implemented for large numbers of clients and relatives at the Oxnard Mental Health Center (2) and was followed by systematic studies of multifamily therapy at the Maudsley Hospital in London in 1976 (3) and Camarillo State Hospital in California in 1978 to 1980 (4). The type of intervention that arose from this work comprised a series of educational sessions followed by training in communication and problem-solving skills. Behavioral learning principles were used to promote acquisition of knowledge, coping skills, and problem solving for families. Other procedures and variants on this theme have proliferated throughout the United States and in many other countries (5). Most of these approaches have in common an adherence to practical goals that are individualized for each family and an educational rather than a "therapeutic" slant. In an attempt to overcome the obstacles to widespread clinical use of family interventions, a variety of dissemination strategies have been tried, including academic detailing, consensus building among all stakeholders (6), and the development of modules consisting of trainers' manuals, consumers' workbooks, slide shows, and video-assisted learning (7,8). This month's column describes one of the variants of family psychoeducation-behavioral family management-and its components, illuminated by case vignettes and results of efficacy studies.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed2002

Rehab rounds: training professionals in use of positive methods for community integration of persons with developmental disabilities.

Mainstream psychiatry has all but ignored the clinical needs of persons with developmental disabilities. With some notable exceptions, individuals in this group have been served in the community by behaviorally oriented psychologists or relegated to long-term institutional care. However, effective interventions are available, beginning with a functional analysis of the antecedents and consequences of targeted problem behaviors. Procedures for building adaptive coping and functional skills or compensating for their deficiency have been developed that are based on skills training, wraparound supports for employment and community living, stimulus control, and contingencies of reinforcement. Applied behavior analysis using task analysis, stimulus control, and contingencies of reinforcement also spawned some of the first techniques--including the token economy--shown to improve functioning and reduce psychopathology among persons with schizophrenia. One of the premier organizations to have documented the efficacy of person-centered, behavior-analytic, and community-based wraparound support services for persons with developmental disabilities is the Institute for Applied Behavior Analysis in Los Angeles. The institute was founded 20 years ago and has served more than 1,000 children, adolescents, and adults with developmental disabilities. Its staff have designed and empirically validated nonaversive techniques for modifying the behaviors that place their clients or others at risk of harm or injury and that often lead to the clients' ejection or isolation from community life. In this Rehab Rounds column the authors describe and evaluate the institute's training and consultation activities.

Adolescent↗