Women with Serious Mental Illness

Women with serious mental illness (SMI) include those with schizophrenia, severe depression, bipolar disorder, and/or complex posttraumatic stress disorder whose illnesses significantly impair daily functioning. While these women commonly present in psychotherapy and research samples, their needs are rarely addressed in academic literature and mental health training programs.

Women with Serious Mental Illness focuses on these women's experiences, including the history of mistreatment, marginalization, and oppression they have encountered within their everyday lives and within the mental health system. With decades of combined clinical experience, Drs. Lauren Mizock and Erika Carr offer evidence-based strategies for mental health professionals working with this overlooked population. Built on a framework of feminist theory, concepts on the intersectionality of oppression, and a more holistic view of recovery, the book examines the impact of racism, sexual objectification, trauma, relationships, work, and class on the development and presentation of symptoms of mental illness in these women. These discussions are then synthesized into an effective treatment intervention, Gender-Sensitive and Recovery-Oriented Care (G-ROC), which values an equal therapeutic relationship and validates the client as an expert on their own mental health. Chapters include worksheets, discussion questions, and case narratives for easy practical application in research or training programs. Women with Serious Mental Illness underscores the need for improved care for women, men, and gender nonbinary people with serious mental illness. Using these tools, clients can begin the process of seeking hope, empowerment, and self-determination beyond the effects of mental illness.

Lauren Mizock, PhD is Core Faculty in the Clinical Psychology PhD program at Fielding Graduate University. Dr. Mizock is the co-author of Acceptance of Mental Illness and Researcher Race, in addition to over 40 publications. She is also the co-chair, with Dr. Carr, of the Task Force for Women with Serious Mental Illness in the Society for the Psychology of Women of the American Psychological Association (APA). Dr. Mizock is a licensed clinical psychologist and maintains a private practice in San Francisco, CA.

Erika Carr, PhD is in a tenure-track position as an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine and also serves as Director of the Behavioral Intervention Service and Director of the Inpatient Psychology Service at Connecticut Mental Health Center in New Haven, CT. Dr. Carr provides clinical care with individuals who experience serious mental illness and has a particular interest in positive behavioural supports (PBS) and women who experience serious mental illness. Dr. Carr is on the American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force for Serious Mental Illness, and serves as Chair of the Section on Community Mental Health/State Hospitals in Division 18 - Psychologists in the Public Sector within APA. Dr. Carr is also involved in advocacy locally and nationally as she seeks to advance the experience of women with serious mental illness.