Reflective Practice in Mental Health: Advancing Psychosocial Practice With Children, Adolescents and Adults (Reflective Practice in Social Care)

274 Pages·2010·1.04 MB·English

by  Martin Webber

Reflective Practice in
Mental Health
Reflective Practice in Social Care Series
Edited by James Blewett, King’s College London, UK
This series takes a practice-led, reflective approach to key areas of work in social care.
Books in the series tackle the complexities and dilemmas that practitioners face every day,
by using a series of case examples. Each book focuses on a different area of social work,
including vulnerable children, looked after children and mental health. The discussion
within each book is built around case studies, in order to give clear examples of how an
integrated knowledge base can be applied to practice. This series is essential reading for
all post-qualifying social work students and social work practitioners. James Blewett is a
registered social worker with 25 years’ experience in the care field. He is currently national
chair of the research dissemination network Making Research Count, based at the Social
Care Workforce Research Unit, King’s College London.
other books in the series
Reflective Practice with Vulnerable Children and their Families
James Blewett
ISBN 978 1 84310 931 0
Reflective Practice in Care Proceedings and with Looked After Children
Anna Gupta
ISBN 978 1 84905 033 3
of related interest
A Multidisciplinary Handbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Health for
Front-line Professionals
2nd Edition
Nisha Dogra, Andrew Parkin, Fiona Gale and Clay Frake
ISBN 978 1 84310 644 9
The Social Worker’s Guide to Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Steven Walker
Foreword by Stephen Briggs
ISBN 978 1 84905 122 4
Social Perspectives in Mental Health
Developing Social Models to Understand and Work with Mental Distress
Edited by Jerry Tew
Foreword by Judy Foster
ISBN 978 1 84310 220 5
Mental Health Interventions and Services for Vulnerable Children and Young
People
Edited by Panos Vostanis
Foreword by Richard Williams
ISBN 978 1 84310 489 6
Reflective
Practice
in Mental
Health
Advanced Psychosocial Practice with
Children, Adolescents and Adults

Edited by Martin Webber and Jack Nathan
Forewords by James Blewett and Alan Rushton
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
London and Philadelphia
Figure 4.1 reprinted with permission from Taylor & Francis
Chapter 4 prologue reproduced with permission from PCCS Books (Fleischman 2009)
First published in 2010
by Jessica Kingsley Publishers
116 Pentonville Road
London N1 9JB, UK
and
400 Market Street, Suite 400
Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
www.jkp.com
Copyright © Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2010
Foreword copyright © Alan Rushton 2010
Series editor’s foreword copyright © James Blewett 2010
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including
photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently
or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the
copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron
House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Applications for the copyright owner’s written
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Warning: The doing of an unauthorised act in relation to a copyright work
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Reflective practice in mental health : advanced psychosocial practice
with children, adolescents and adults / edited by Martin Webber and
Jack Nathan ; forewords by James Blewett and Alan Rushton.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-84905-029-6 (alk. paper)
1. Psychiatric social work--Great Britain. 2. Mental health services--Great Britain. 3.
Child mental health services--Great Britain. 4. Psychiatric social work--Great Britain-
-Case studies. 5. Mental health services--Great Britain--Case studies. 6. Child mental
health services--Great Britain--Case studies. I. Webber, Martin. II. Nathan, Jack, 1954-
HV690.G7R44 2010
362.2’04250941--dc22
2010006848
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 84905 029 6
ISBN pdf eBook 978 0 85700 396 6
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
MPG Books Group
This book is dedicated to Andrea, Caitlin and Freya
who endure my long hours at the keyboard (Martin)
This book is dedicated to Jill Thompson, my
soulmate and mentor, and my children, Jess and
Lily, who ensure I remain grounded (Jack)
Acknowledgements
Martin Webber would like to thank Andrea for her perseverance and
his daughters Caitlin and Freya for their creative contributions to the
manuscript. He would also like to thank his co-editor, Jack Nathan,
who has provided a critical review of each Chapter and has helped
Chapter authors to work to their brief and keep to their deadlines.
He is very grateful for the contributions of all authors in this volume;
their wisdom and expertise have immensely enriched this book. Finally,
he would like to acknowledge the inspiration of his predecessor, Alan
Rushton, without whom the MSc in Mental Health Social Work with
Children and Adults and this book would, quite simply, not have been.
Jack Nathan would like to begin by acknowledging Alan Rushton, a
young social worker in the late 1970s determined to cultivate a culture
of research in our profession. As the founding father, Alan developed the
MSc in Mental Health Social Work with Children and Adults in a way
that brought together research as well as advanced practice long before
the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) had been dreamt of. It
goes (almost) without saying that I will remain ever grateful to the authors
for giving so generously of their time and knowledge. Modesty forbids
Martin Webber from taking credit for the energy, enthusiasm and skill
that enabled this book to become a reality. I want to end by thanking our
small but creative team at the Institute of Psychiatry. With Martin at its
helm, ensuring we steer a forward-looking path, supported by Caroline

Grimbly’s quiet thoughtfulness and the no-nonsense intelligence that
the Programme Administrator Julie Smith brings, I am lucky to be a
member of this talented group.
Paul Godin would like to thank Jacqueline Davies, John Davis
and Anne Nixson for their very useful comments on previous drafts of
Chapter 2.
Pete Fleischmann would like to thank Professor Mike Fisher, Jolie
Goodman and Dr Angela Sweeney for their comments on earlier
versions of Chapter 4.
Contents
List of Abbreviations 11
Series Editor’s Foreword 13
James Blewett, King’s College London, UK
Foreword 15
Alan Rushton, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, UK
Introduction 19
Martin Webber, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, UK
Part I: Context 26
1. The Making of the Advanced Practitioner in Social Work 29
Jack Nathan, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, UK
2. Sociology of Mental Disorder: Critical Perspectives 46
Paul Godin, City University London, UK
3. A Stress-Vulnerability Model of Mental Disorder: Implications
for Practice 64
Tirril Harris, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, UK
4. Mental Health Service User/Survivor Research 82
Pete Fleischmann, Soc ial Care Institute for Excellence, UK
5. The Evidence Base for Psychosocial Mental Health Practice 100
Martin Webber
Part II: Theoretical Perspectives 119
6. The Place of Psychoanalytic Theory and Research in Reflective
Social Work Practice 121
Jack Nathan
7. Reflective Practice Using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: Its
Uses in Social Work 140
Florian Ruths, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust,
London, UK
8. Reflective Practice Using Systemic Family Therapy 160
Judith Lask, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, UK
9. Reflective Practice Using Attachment Therapy 179
Felicity de Zulueta, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust,
London, UK
10. Towards a Working Group: Applying Theory from Group
Dynamics and Group Analytic Psychotherapy 199
Caroline Grimbly, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, UK
Part III: Advanced Reflective Practice in Action 211
11. Psychosocial Mental Health Practice in Children
and Family Services 213
Rebecca Peters, London Borough of Hackney, UK
12. Psychosocial Practice in Community Mental Health Services 223
Tony West, independent social worker, UK
13. Psychosocial Practice in Inpatient Mental Health Services 234
Paul Richards, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust,
London, UK
14. The Person on the Receiving End 244
Don Brand and Sarah Carr, Social Care Institute for Excellence, UK
15. Challenges and Opportunities for Psychosocial Practice in
Mental Health 254
Martin Webber and Jack Nathan

Contributors 263
Subject Index 266
Author Index 270