Main description:

'Mental Health Practice: a guide to compassionate care' examines the relationship between mental health professionals and people using services during the recovery process. The disabling distress experienced by many people with mental health problems is viewed from a holistic, person-centred perspective with the road to recovery being seen as the result of true collaboration between professionals and service users.

This book is the second edition of 'Mental health Nursing: the art of compassionate care' and a companion book to 'Recovery: a guide for mental health practitioners'.

The first in-depth exploration of the intentional use of self in mental health care and its significance in the recovery journey, extensively updated
New content on action research, eco-psychology and organisational culture
Story boxes illustrating key themes in compassionate care
Self-enquiry boxes engaging readers in reflective practice
A primer on humanistic psychology and its relevance to mental health care

Contents:

Part 1 Meaning and Behaviour

1 The nature of human distress
2 Social exclusion in the experience of distress
3 Transcultural issues and the experience of distress
4 Gender issues and the experience of distress
5 Creative solutions to crises
6 Working with risk
7 A person-centred approach to assessment
8 Creating pathways to recovery
9 Humanistic approaches to helping and healing

Part 2 The working alliance

10 Beginnings and the working alliance
11 A framework for the working alliance
12 The working alliance as an enabling relationship
13 The working alliance with families and carers
14 Reluctance, resistance and disengagement
15 Endings and the working alliance

Part 3 The therapeutic use of self

16 Dynamics of therapeutic care
17 Intentional use of self in developmentally needed or reparative relationships
18 Person to person relationships
19 Spiritual dimensions of therapeutic care
20 The shadow side of helping

Part 4 Personal management

21 Personal development in professional education
22 Taking care of ourselves
23 Being a reflective practitioner