Review by Family Resource Centre volunteer, Nik:

The million-dollar question is “how do you convince someone who is in denial to take treatment?”. This book provides the skills to achieve acceptance of treatment in a practical way without resentment or damage to relationships. The skills described have been proven to be effective by many professionals.

A family member myself, I can relate to the lack of support and “how to” skills needed to work effectively with loved ones with mental illness. The books to assist family members and care givers are also scarce. This book tries to fill this void and deals with how to effectively and constructively convince a person with mental illness to undergo treatment.

The author, Xavier Amado, is a clinical psychologist with wide professional experience, and whose brother has schizophrenia.

Recent studies show that about 50 percent of those suffering from mental health issues may not recognize that they are sick and need help. Therefore, non-adherence to treatment plans is a common problem. Persuasion or nagging by family members often results in the loved one becoming more stubborn, taking it as interference in personal life and privacy, and may result in damage of relationships. The denial or non-recognition of being ill in many cases further aggravates the illness and may result in dire legal and life-threatening consequences. The author provides tools for family and health professionals as to how they can potentially avoid this.

The author and his colleagues developed a communication technique and tools for how to convince a patient to undertake treatment, LEAP: Learning – Empathize – Agree - Partner.
The book consists of 4 parts. Part 1 contains the facts and myths about denials of illness, current studies on this common problem termed “anosognosea”, the possible causes and complications of not addressing it. Some facts in this part that I find of interest are:

- About half of the patients with serious mental illness don’t take their medications mostly because of the poor insight into illness.
- Poor insight is another symptom of the disorder, and has nothing to do with being defensive or stubborn.
- Denial of the diagnosis is not due to ignorance of symptoms of the disorder but a symptom itself. Studies have shown that many patients with poor insight into their own illnesses are excellent at diagnosing the same illness in others.
- Research shows that awareness of the positive effects of medications can be more important to medication adherence than insight into the illness itself.
- Studies show that getting seriously mentally ill persons into treatment early and keeping them there are very important for not worsening and for earlier recovery.

Part 2 describes “How to Help Using LEAP”. Here, the author describes the right and wrong approaches. Part 3 is titled “Staying on Guard and Next Steps”. This part deals with different treatments where there is poor adherence, how to proceed with involuntary treatment, and recognizing the warning signs. Part 4 addresses the LEAP theory and research and practical advice on LEAP. The issue of violence and mental illness is discussed in a chapter. the end of the book lists recommended resources.
The skills incorporated in LEAP have much wider application and usefulness besides convincing a patient to take treatment. Frustration due to different opinions, arguments, conflict or an impasse happens almost every day at home, work or schools that sours relationships. With this in mind, Dr. Amador has written another widely acclaimed book titled “I’m Right, You’re Wrong, Now What: Break the Impasse and Get What You Need”.

Review by Family Resource Centre volunteer, Nik:

The million-dollar question is “how do you convince someone who is in denial to take treatment?”. This book provides the skills to achieve acceptance of treatment in a practical way without resentment or damage to relationships. The skills described have been proven to be effective by many professionals.

A family member myself, I can relate to the lack of support and “how to” skills needed to work effectively with loved ones with mental illness. The books to assist family members and care givers are also scarce. This book tries to fill this void and deals with how to effectively and constructively convince a person with mental illness to undergo treatment.

The author, Xavier Amado, is a clinical psychologist with wide professional experience, and whose brother has schizophrenia.

Recent studies show that about 50 percent of those suffering from mental health issues may not recognize that they are sick and need help. Therefore, non-adherence to treatment plans is a common problem. Persuasion or nagging by family members often results in the loved one becoming more stubborn, taking it as interference in personal life and privacy, and may result in damage of relationships. The denial or non-recognition of being ill in many cases further aggravates the illness and may result in dire legal and life-threatening consequences. The author provides tools for family and health professionals as to how they can potentially avoid this.

The author and his colleagues developed a communication technique and tools for how to convince a patient to undertake treatment, LEAP: Learning – Empathize – Agree - Partner.
The book consists of 4 parts. Part 1 contains the facts and myths about denials of illness, current studies on this common problem termed “anosognosea”, the possible causes and complications of not addressing it. Some facts in this part that I find of interest are:

- About half of the patients with serious mental illness don’t take their medications mostly because of the poor insight into illness.
- Poor insight is another symptom of the disorder, and has nothing to do with being defensive or stubborn.
- Denial of the diagnosis is not due to ignorance of symptoms of the disorder but a symptom itself. Studies have shown that many patients with poor insight into their own illnesses are excellent at diagnosing the same illness in others.
- Research shows that awareness of the positive effects of medications can be more important to medication adherence than insight into the illness itself.
- Studies show that getting seriously mentally ill persons into treatment early and keeping them there are very important for not worsening and for earlier recovery.

Part 2 describes “How to Help Using LEAP”. Here, the author describes the right and wrong approaches. Part 3 is titled “Staying on Guard and Next Steps”. This part deals with different treatments where there is poor adherence, how to proceed with involuntary treatment, and recognizing the warning signs. Part 4 addresses the LEAP theory and research and practical advice on LEAP. The issue of violence and mental illness is discussed in a chapter. the end of the book lists recommended resources.
The skills incorporated in LEAP have much wider application and usefulness besides convincing a patient to take treatment. Frustration due to different opinions, arguments, conflict or an impasse happens almost every day at home, work or schools that sours relationships. With this in mind, Dr. Amador has written another widely acclaimed book titled “I’m Right, You’re Wrong, Now What: Break the Impasse and Get What You Need”.

Review by Family Resource Centre volunteer, Nik:

The million-dollar question is “how do you convince someone who is in denial to take treatment?”. This book provides the skills to achieve acceptance of treatment in a practical way without resentment or damage to relationships. The skills described have been proven to be effective by many professionals.

A family member myself, I can relate to the lack of support and “how to” skills needed to work effectively with loved ones with mental illness. The books to assist family members and care givers are also scarce. This book tries to fill this void and deals with how to effectively and constructively convince a person with mental illness to undergo treatment.

The author, Xavier Amado, is a clinical psychologist with wide professional experience, and whose brother has schizophrenia.

Recent studies show that about 50 percent of those suffering from mental health issues may not recognize that they are sick and need help. Therefore, non-adherence to treatment plans is a common problem. Persuasion or nagging by family members often results in the loved one becoming more stubborn, taking it as interference in personal life and privacy, and may result in damage of relationships. The denial or non-recognition of being ill in many cases further aggravates the illness and may result in dire legal and life-threatening consequences. The author provides tools for family and health professionals as to how they can potentially avoid this.

The author and his colleagues developed a communication technique and tools for how to convince a patient to undertake treatment, LEAP: Learning – Empathize – Agree - Partner.
The book consists of 4 parts. Part 1 contains the facts and myths about denials of illness, current studies on this common problem termed “anosognosea”, the possible causes and complications of not addressing it. Some facts in this part that I find of interest are:

- About half of the patients with serious mental illness don’t take their medications mostly because of the poor insight into illness.
- Poor insight is another symptom of the disorder, and has nothing to do with being defensive or stubborn.
- Denial of the diagnosis is not due to ignorance of symptoms of the disorder but a symptom itself. Studies have shown that many patients with poor insight into their own illnesses are excellent at diagnosing the same illness in others.
- Research shows that awareness of the positive effects of medications can be more important to medication adherence than insight into the illness itself.
- Studies show that getting seriously mentally ill persons into treatment early and keeping them there are very important for not worsening and for earlier recovery.

Part 2 describes “How to Help Using LEAP”. Here, the author describes the right and wrong approaches. Part 3 is titled “Staying on Guard and Next Steps”. This part deals with different treatments where there is poor adherence, how to proceed with involuntary treatment, and recognizing the warning signs. Part 4 addresses the LEAP theory and research and practical advice on LEAP. The issue of violence and mental illness is discussed in a chapter. the end of the book lists recommended resources.
The skills incorporated in LEAP have much wider application and usefulness besides convincing a patient to take treatment. Frustration due to different opinions, arguments, conflict or an impasse happens almost every day at home, work or schools that sours relationships. With this in mind, Dr. Amador has written another widely acclaimed book titled “I’m Right, You’re Wrong, Now What: Break the Impasse and Get What You Need”.

The best book I've read on how to effectively communicate with a loved one suffering from mental illness. A must-read! ( )