Working With Serious Mental Illness

Book excerpt: When working in the field of mental illness, the best evidence is people's lived experience. The third edition of Working with Serious Mental Illness maintains its focus on research data, but this is framed by clients' personal perspectives to provide clear, practical advice for practitioners. Aimed at nurses and healthcare practitioners working with mental illnesses such as severe depression, bi-polar disorder and psychosis, this book provides solutions for engaging and working with clients and their families. It vividly presents lived experience and the recommendations of clients, then proceeds through developing and implementing effective interventions and how to reflect on client relationships to ensure sustained success. Easy to read and packed full of practical tips and strategies, this is the ideal book for all healthcare practitioners working with patients with serious mental illness, their families and their carers. It will also be valuable reading for staff working in acute and community mental care settings who lack specialist training in serious mental health disorders, for nursing students, mental health nurses and general nurses working in mental health, primary care and community settings. - Focuses on the lived experiences, observations and recommendations for practitioners of people who use mental health services - Combines theory and practice in a skills and intervention-based approach - Presents down-to-earth intervention ideas designed for practitioners working at the front line - Practical advice is provided in a user-friendly, clearly accessible way - Contributions from experts and editors who are leaders in their field - All content fully revised and updated to reflect changes in mental health service provision - New chapters on Parity of Esteem, Working with the Principles of Trauma Informed Care and Looking After Ourselves - All-new colour design and format