Self-Harm in Young People: A Therapeutic Assessment Manual

Summary:
Self-harm is a distressing and all too common presentation to emergency departments, and yet there is no clear understanding of what it represents, and success rates of interventions to prevent future episodes are enormously variable.

Therapeutic Assessment for self-harm is a pragmatic model, developed by the authors of this book and forming an organic part of the psychosocial assessment following a self-harming incident. Its main features are that firstly, a therapeutic intervention at the time of distress, compared with a standard psychosocial history and risk assessment, improves patients' responses and their willingness to engage in further therapy, and secondly, that there is a vast range of evidence-based interventions that can be used to build a 'toolkit' that individual practitioners can employ with their patients.

Therapeutic Assessment is evidence-based, simple and easy to learn, and this book presents the techniques in a clear, accessible and user-friendly way. Based on extensive research, it will form an essential reference for psychiatrists and clinical psychologists, and for any health professional involved in the assessment of young people who self-harm.

• Uses a novel Therapeutic Assessment approach to young people presenting with self-harm, developed by the authors
• Generous use of case examples and illustrations throughout
• Key points boxes emphasise the most crucial messages
• Comprehensive, evidence-based and referenced
• Essential reading for mental health professionals working with self-harming or suicidal young people

• Denis Ougrin was awarded the 2008 Denis Hill Prize at the Institute of Psychiatry for developing Therapeutic Assessment

Table of Contents:
Foreword
About the Authors
Defining Self-Harm
Prevalence and Natural History of Self-Harm
The Genetics of Suicidal Behaviour
The Neurobiology of Self-Harm
Psychosocial and Psychiatric Factors Relating to Adolescent Suicidality and Self-Harm
Effective Interventions
Engagement
Hopes and Expectations from Self-Harm Assessments: Adolescents' Versus Clinicians' Views
Testing Therapeutic Assessment in Real Life
TA Overview
History Taking
Developing Understanding
Instilling Hope
Assessing and Enhancing Motivation
Using a Future Oriented Reflexive Approach
Problem-Solving Techniques
Using Systematic and Narrative Approaches to Create Exits
Using CBT Techniques

About the Author(s):
Dr Dennis Ougrin MB BS MRCPsych, Kraupl Taylor Research Fellow, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK

Dr Tobias Zundel, MB BS MRCPsych Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

Dr Audrey Ng MBBCh MRCPsych MA Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

Readership:
Psychiatrists (10,000 in the UK, inlcuding 1000 specialising in child and adolescent psychiatry), clinical psychologists (approx 7000 in the UK).

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