Social Work in Mental Health

In the context of massive changes in the mental health treatment and care systems of developed countries, social workers often feel the brunt of providing adequate community care services for mentally ill persons, alleviating the burden placed on the families of those with mental disabilities, and mobilizing resources and support systems that will facilitate a person¿s adjustment in society after release from an institution. Social Work in Mental Health explores how social work...
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In the context of massive changes in the mental health treatment and care systems of developed countries, social workers often feel the brunt of providing adequate community care services for mentally ill persons, alleviating the burden placed on the families of those with mental disabilities, and mobilizing resources and support systems that will facilitate a person¿s adjustment in society after release from an institution. Social Work in Mental Health explores how social work academics and practitioners have been responding to these adverse conditions to provide quality and humane services to mentally ill persons. It offers suggestions for supporting the recovery and empowerment process of the mental health care consumers and for developing programs with a wide range of psychosocial, vocational, and housing support systems.

To help you navigate the changing organizational and social environment of social work practice in the mental health field, Social Work in Mental Health discusses key topics such as:

• the ethics of informed consent
• recovering from mental illness, internalized stigma, low expectations, and dehumanizing clinical practices
• the segregation of mental health and general health care services
• how deinstitutionalization has caused vulnerable adults to end up in unsuitable community settings
• utilizing support systems and counseling to sustain young, emotionally disabled persons in the community
• the mental hygiene movement and early psychiatric social work practice
• transferring therapeutic programs from one culture to another
• the impact of changes or orientation within psychotherapy on social work practice
  
  Social Work in Mental Health will show you how to make recovery a reality for people suffering from mental disabilities. Social workers are often caught between a rock and a hard place--between clinicians who lack empathy and the ability to communicate and patients and families who are frustrated and feel shut out of the therapeutic process. Social workers, people with mental illness, families, and mental health care providers need to pick up this helpful guidebook and learn to work together to build communication, informed participation, and a meaningful road toward recovery.