The Power Threat Meaning Framework is a new perspective on why people sometimes experience a whole range of forms of distress, confusion, fear, despair, and troubled or troubling behaviour. It is an alternative to the more traditional models based on psychiatric diagnosis. It was co-produced with service users and applies not just to people who have been in contact with the mental health or criminal justice systems, but to all of us. The Framework summarises and integrates a great deal of evidence about the role of various kinds of power in people's lives; the kinds of threat that misuses of power pose to us; and the ways we have learned as human beings to respond to threat. In traditional mental health practice, these threat responses are sometimes called 'symptoms'. The Framework also looks at how we make sense of these difficult experiences, and how messages from wider society can increase our feelings of shame, self-blame, isolation, fear and guilt. The main aspects of the Framework are summarised in these questions, which can apply to individuals, families or social groups: 'What has happened to you?' (How is Power operating in your life?) 'How did it affect you?' (What kind of Threats does this pose?) 'What sense did you make of it?' (What is the Meaning of these situations and experiences to you?) 'What did you have to do to survive?' (What kinds of Threat Response are you using?) In addition, the two questions below help us to think about what skills and resources people might have, and how we might pull all these ideas and responses together into a personal narrative or story: 'What are your strengths?' (What access to Power resources do you have?) 'What is your story?' (How does all this fit together?)

A straight talking, myth busting book about psychiatric diagnosis and the flaws therein by a leading critical voice.

This is an overview of The Power Threat Meaning Framework, which is a new perspective on why people sometimes experience a whole range of forms of distress, confusion, fear, despair, and troubled or troubling behaviour. It is an alternative to the more traditional models based on psychiatric diagnosis. It was co-produced with service users and applies not just to people who have been in contact with the mental health or criminal justice systems, but to all of us. The Framework summarises and integrates a great deal of evidence about the role of various kinds of power in people's lives; the kinds of threat that misuses of power pose to us; and the ways we have learned as human beings to respond to threat. In traditional mental health practice, these threat responses are sometimes called 'symptoms'. The Framework also looks at how we make sense of these difficult experiences, and how messages from wider society can increase our feelings of shame, self-blame, isolation, fear and guilt. This overview publication is structured as follows: Part 1: Summary of the PTM Framework, its core principles, purposes and scope. This brief summary orients the reader to the main features of the PTM Framework. Part 2: Summary of theory and research underpinning the PTM Framework. This briefly recaps some of the conclusions from the literature on the role of factors from various fields, including biological, psychological, social, political and cultural, in the origins and persistence of emotional distress and troubling behaviour. Part 3: The Power Threat Meaning Framework. This demonstrates how theory and research can be used to support a meta-approach, the Power Threat Meaning Framework. The relationship between the various elements of the PTM Framework is illustrated through the Foundational Power Threat Meaning Pattern. Part 4: Provisional General Patterns arising out of the Foundational Pattern. Some General Patterns that emerge from the Foundational Power Threat Meaning Pattern are outlined. These patterns can be used as a basis and resource for the co-construction of new personal and social narratives, as well as suggesting alternatives to diagnosis for service delivery/administrative/legal/service planning/research and related purposes. Part 5: Personal narratives within the Power Threat Meaning Framework. The role, purpose and possible formats of personal narratives within the PTM Framework are illustrated and discussed, along with options for non-medical language use.

Given that people who are distressed often choose to go for help in therapy, it is therapists' duty and responsibility to deconstruct practices and to be clear about the ethics, values and effects of the practices they use. This book is based on the values and ethics of justice and responsibility, to resist domination and totalising discourses.

The first edition of Formulation in Psychology and Psychotherapy caught the wave of growing interest in formulation in a clinical context. This completely updated and revised edition summarises recent practice, research, developments and debates while retaining the features that made the first a leading text in the field. It contains new chapters on personal construct formulation, formulation in health settings, and the innovative practice of using formulation in teams. The book sees formulation as a dynamic process which explores personal meaning collaboratively and reflectively, taking account of relational and social contexts. Two case studies, one adult and one child, illustrate the use of formulation from the perspectives of expert clinicians from six different theoretical positions. The book encourages the reader to take a constructively critical perspective on the many philosophical, professional and ethical debates raised by the process of formulating people’s problems. Among the issues explored are: The social and political context of formulation Formulation in relation to psychiatric diagnosis The limitations of formulation Controversies and debates about formulation This readable and comprehensive guide to the field provides a clear, up to date and thought-provoking overview of formulation from a number of perspectives, essential for clinicians working in all areas of mental health and social care, psychology, therapy and counselling.

Users and Abusers of Psychiatry is a radically different, critical account of day-to-day practice in psychiatric settings. Using real-life examples and her own experience as a clinical psychologist, Lucy Johnstone argues that the traditional way of treating mental distress can often exacerbate people's original difficulties, leaving them powerless and re-traumatised. She draws on a range of evidence to present a very different understanding of psychiatric breakdown than that found in standard medical textbooks, and to suggest new ways forward. The extended introduction to this Classic Edition brings the book up to date by revisiting its themes and tracing the changes in mental health practice over the last three decades. The book’s accessibility and clarity have ensured that it remains a classic in a growing field, and it is as relevant today as when it was first published. Users and Abusers of Psychiatry is a challenging but ultimately inspiring read for all who are involved in mental health – whether as professionals, students, service users, relatives or interested lay people.

Are you troubled by hearing voices or seeing visions that others do not? Do you believe that other people are trying to harm you or control you? Do you feel that something odd is going on that you can’t explain or that things are happening around you with a special meaning? Do you worry that other people can read your mind or that thoughts are being put in your head? Think You’re Crazy? Think Again provides an effective step-by-step aid to understanding your problems, making positive changes and promoting recovery. Written by experts in the field, this book will help you to: understand how your problems developed and what keeps them going use questionnaires and monitoring sheets to identify and track changes in the links between your experiences, how you make sense of these and how you feel and behave learn how to change thoughts, feelings and behaviour for the better practice skills between sessions using worksheets Based on clinically proven techniques and filled with examples of how cognitive therapy can help people with distressing psychotic experiences, Think You’re Crazy? Think Again will be a valuable resource for people with psychosis.

Is depression simply the result of chemical imbalances, or Schizophrenia a wholly biological disorder? What role do the broader circumstances of an individual's social, cultural and heuristic world play in the wider scheme of their psychological wellbeing? In this ground-breaking and highly innovative text, Cromby et al deliver an introduction to the the biopsychosocial paradigm for understanding and treating psychological distress, taking into consideration the wider contexts that engender the onset of mental illness and critiquing the limitations in the sole use of the biomedical model in psychological practice. Rather than biologically determined or clinically measurable, readers are encouraged to consider mental illness as a subjective experience that is expressed according to the individual experiences of the sufferer rather than the rigidity of diagnostic categories. Similarly, approaches to recovery expand beyond psychiatric medication to consider the fundamental function of methods such as psychotherapy, community psychology and service-user movements in the recovery process. Offering a holistic account of the experience of psychological distress, this text draws upon not only statistical evidence but places an integral emphasis on the service-user experience; anecdotal accounts of which feature throughout in order to provide readers with the perspective of the mental health sufferer. Taking an integrative approach to the psychology of mental health, the authors draw from a wealth of experience, examples and approaches to present this student-friendly and engaging text. This is core reading for anyone serious about understanding mental health issues and is suitable for undergraduate students taking introductory courses in psychology and abnormal psychology.

This book is a complete guide to Forest School provision and Nature Pedagogy and it examines the models, methods, worldviews and values that underpin teaching in nature. Cree and Robb show how a robust Nature Pedagogy can support learning, behaviour, and physical and emotional wellbeing, and, importantly, a deeper relationship with the natural world. They offer an overview of what a Forest School programme could look like through the year. The Essential Guide to Forest School and Nature Pedagogy provides ‘real-life’ examples from a variety of contexts, sample session plans and detailed guidance on using language, crafting and working with the natural world. This accessible resource guides readers along the Forest School path, covering topics such as: the history of nature education; our sensory system in nature; Forest School ethos and worldview and playing and crafting in the natural world. Guiding practitioners through planning for a programme, including taking care of a woodland site and preparing all the essential policies and procedures for working with groups and nature, this book is written by dedicated Forest School and nature education experts and is essential reading for settings, schools, youth groups, families and anyone working with children and young people.