Author Description

The primary focus of this volume is to support practice by individuals and teams that deal directly either with individuals diagnosed with mental disorder or with those whose presentation causes the same dilemmas for practitioners. The book draws on experience gained across a wide spectrum of settings: within the NHS, the National Offender Management Services (NOMS) and the wider criminal justice services, as well as various services for children, young people and their families.The subject matter of this text covers antisocial, offending and challenging behaviours: in particular behaviours that create unusual levels of anxiety in practitioners or the public. Valuable insights are offered, with examples, into ways of thinking about these problems and practical guidance is offered on the way professional teams and the individuals within them can develop and maintain effective work. Whilst not explicitly focussed on those identified as having a personality disorder, the material concerns individuals with psychological difficulties that are pervasive, enduring and which have a particularly intrusive impact on caring staff members working with them.This book is a valuable contribution to service improvement and provides essential support for our ability to provide effective intervention and a more capable workforce to assist those with complex and often challenging needs.