Dean Schuyler

Read about the case of Mr A, a 61-year-old Vietnam veteran who suffered a severe abdominal insult and nearly died. Mr A summoned the motivation to rehabilitate himself and...

Read about the case of Mr A, who, at the age of 60, was placed in the community living center at a Veterans Administration hospital in Charleston, South Carolina....

Review the case of Ms A, a 70-year-old woman with multiple somatic complaints, and find out how psychotherapy helped her manage her disorder.

Read about the case of Mr A, who was admitted to the Veterans Administration hospital after he had several falls and showed signs of debilitating weakness. With a diagnosed...

How do you approach a patient who has been diagnosed with cancer but refuses to undergo treatment? The latest Psychotherapy Casebook entry delves into this issue and offers guidance.

Have you ever felt demoralized? How did you recover from this state? Here, read about the case of Mr A, who responded with demoralization after being diagnosed with a...

Read this patient case to find out how a psychotherapeutic intervention helped Mr A, a 70-year-old man who was admitted to a nursing home unit at the end of...

Read about the case of Mr A, a 70-year-old man who was admitted to the nursing home unit of a hospital on an "end of life" contract. At the...

For a doctor working with an older-aged population, meeting patients with severe medical illness is an everyday occurrence. Some symptoms can be treated and some must be borne by...

Caretakers often devote a significant part of their lives to taking care of a dying spouse but then must establish a new identity once their loved one passes on....

Aging for many men and women poses problems they haven' t had to face before. Many people cannot continue to do what was successful in the past. Aging also...

Older individuals with chronic illness often suffer considerable anxiety thinking about their illness. Although chronic illness alone represents something patients often can do little to control, they can learn...

When our patients are distressed, they often seek to attribute their concern to a physical cause. At times, they are correct. At times, however, they are not correct. Some...

Read about the effect of cognitive therapy on a young nurse who experienced anxiety, disrupted sleep, fatigue, and weight gain while in the process of forming her own identity. 

Read this patient case to find out how befriending helped Mr A, a 70-year-old patient receiving palliative care, focus on this stage of life.

There is no clear clinical strategy for treating the agitated, acting-out, demented patient. Dr Meyers summarizes what is known and describes her experience with Mr A, a 71-year-old man...

Cancer patients who undergo radiation are treated by an oncologist, but they may also need a psychiatrist or psychologist to speak with about their adjustment to having cancer. In...

A diagnosis of cancer often evokes anxiety. In some instances, the anxiety is specific to the cancer diagnosis; in others, it is typical of the patient's response to many...

Your patients' caretakers include more than the internists, residents, and clinicians you work with. Here, Dr Schuyler discusses his experiences working with some of the most important caretakers your...

Palliative care involves addressing the needs of both end-of-life patients and their families. Here, read about Mrs A, the primary caretaker of her ill husband. Follow her journey as...

Who teaches medical trainees to communicate effectively with their patients? Does patient engagement yield more and better information relevant to treatment? Dr Schuyler answers these and other questions in...

What happens when a veteran who has always been in good health is faced with a life-threatening disease? In this issue of the Psychotherapy Casebook, Dr Schuyler discusses how...

Have you ever wondered "When will these thoughts go away?" Then, you should read about the case of Mr A, a 50 year-old man who experienced significant loss of...

Providers of palliative care suggest that the referral should come at the time of diagnosis of a severe medical illness, rather than later. Join Dr. Schuyler in developing a...

Those involved in palliative care suggest that referral should come much earlier in the patient's course, such as at the time of diagnosis of a severe medical illness. Here,...

In this case vignette and discussion, read about a 75-year-old man who contemplated suicide as a result of social isolation and receive recommendations for decreasing loneliness in elderly patients.

There are 2 complementary approaches to palliative care—that of the psychologically minded internist and that of the medically informed psychiatrist. Neither is right or wrong, and they both have...

Palliative care improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illnesses. In this article, the authors, a psychiatrist and a nurse...

Read about 2 patient cases that illustrate a looming problem and potential association for individuals with long-term posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)—the development of dementia. Both patients were veterans who...

Find out how Dr Schuyler applied the cognitive model to help Mr A, a 70-year-old married man who retired at 60 years of age after a busy, productive work...

What happens when the patient is a doctor? Being a psychiatrist who recently experienced his first surgery and first hospitalization, Mr A blurs the line between health care provider...

Review the case of Mr A, a 70-year-old man who was admitted to a geriatric unit after he experienced several falls at home and a bout with hepatitis that...

Review the case of Mr A, a 60-year-old man, who is undergoing physical therapy and psychotherapy following surgery and several months spent bedridden in intensive care. 

Cognitive therapists spend a great deal of time establishing a relationship with everyone they treat. Some patients just want a friend to meet with and talk to. And, for...

When a patient at the end of life decides to commit suicide, who is responsible? The physician? The family members? The goal of this case vignette and discussion is...

Read this patient case and commentary to find out how an elderly inpatient in a nursing home unit made the switch from end-of-life care to long-term care through psychotherapy...

What is involved in providing end of life care? After 3 years of working as a palliative care psychiatrist at a Veterans Administration hospital, Dr Schuyler discusses the challenges...

Read about the psychiatrist's role as part of a palliative care team and discover what tasks should be identified and mastered for optimal end-of-life care.

Find out how cognitive therapy helped Mr A, a 70-year-old man who was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, adjust to his new life stage—residing in a nursing home...

Families grieve the loss of a loved one, but hospital staff members are less often acknowledged in their grief.  Dr. Schuyler met with Mr. A over a 4-month period,...

Here, Dr Coker illustrates the benefits of inpatient hospice care to a patient at the end of life and explores the challenges that he has encountered educating others about...

Read this case presentation and discussion to find out how a palliative care approach helped Mr A, a 78-year-old veteran with end-stage cardiac disease and several medical comorbidities, have...

In this Psychotherapy Casebook article, Dr Schuyler outlines his strategy for training third-year medical students about issues in palliative care. By emphasizing the psychological role inherent in providing palliative...

In this Psychotherapy Casebook article, Dr Schuyler continues outlining his strategy for training third-year medical students about issues in palliative care. Read the article to find out how you...

This true patient case and commentary features the story of Mr A, a 35-year-old veteran with debilitating multiple sclerosis, who is facing the emotional consequences of his illness while...

Read about the case of Mr A, a 70-year-old man who was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a terminal illness progresses through loss of function to death without hope...

In this issue of our regular column, Dr Schuyler discusses the case of Mr A, a 77-year-old man who was being managed by a hospice when he started regular...

Review the case of Mr A, a 50-year-old man who is living with a chronic illness, and find out how a brief psychotherapeutic intervention helped him and his wife...