Mental Health Liaison A Handbook for Nurses and Health Professionals

Recent years have seen a rapid growth of interest in the management of psychological problems associated with physical illness, both in acute and primary care. These problems include the management of complex phenomena such as chronic fatigue syndrome, deliberate self-harm, reactions to trauma and body image disturbance as well as psychological aspects of care in cancer, HIV/AIDS and cardiac rehabilitation. This growth has led to new specialist mental health liaison roles, particularly in nursing, but until now there has been little theoretical or practical guidance available. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the developments in this emerging specialty, with guidance and expertise from leading contributors illustrating how the role itself and its core skills are applied in a wide variety of clinical settings. Covering the most common and challenging psychological problems encountered, the book describes in detail working practices and interventions, allowing the reader to learn from best practice and readily see the relevance to their own area of practice.