Book review: Introducing Mental Health: A Practical Guide (Second edition)

★ ★ ★ ★

The first edition was published in 2006 and the authors have done an excellent job of bringing this edition up to date. It is written in a way that readers can either digest it from cover to cover or just dip in and out, selecting elements relevant to themselves, whether that be a chapter or a few pages. The new chapter on criminal justice and review of Mental Health Act are examples of this style.

Chapters offer readers leading concepts and skills while offering techniques to assist in clinical practice. This can be seen in the updated recovery process now based on current practice rather than outdated medical model.

Sections on Caldicott guardians, the Mental Health Act and criminal justice reflect modern clinical practice. However, these lack the ‘infoboxes’ so useful in earlier chapters.

If there is one criticism,