Lucy Johnstone – författare

Users and Abusers of Psychiatry is a radically different, critical account of day-to-day practice in psychiatric settings. Using real-life examples and her own experience as a clinical psychologist, Lucy Johnstone argues that the traditional way of treating mental distress can often exacerbate people's original difficulties, leaving them powerless and re-traumatised.She draws on a range of evidence to present a very different understanding of psychiatric breakdown than that found in standard medical textbooks, and to suggest new ways forward.The extended introduction to this Classic Edition brings the book up to date by revisiting its themes and tracing the changes in mental health practice over the last three decades. The book’s accessibility and clarity have ensured that it remains a classic in a growing field, and it is as relevant today as when it was first published.Users and Abusers of Psychiatry is a challenging but ultimately inspiring read for all who are involved in mental health – whether as professionals, students, service users, relatives or interested lay people.

Users and Abusers of Psychiatry is a radically different, critical account of day-to-day practice in psychiatric settings. Using real-life examples and her own experience as a clinical psychologist, Lucy Johnstone argues that the traditional way of treating mental distress can often exacerbate people's original difficulties, leaving them powerless and re-traumatised.She draws on a range of evidence to present a very different understanding of psychiatric breakdown than that found in standard medical textbooks, and to suggest new ways forward.The extended introduction to this Classic Edition brings the book up to date by revisiting its themes and tracing the changes in mental health practice over the last three decades. The book’s accessibility and clarity have ensured that it remains a classic in a growing field, and it is as relevant today as when it was first published.Users and Abusers of Psychiatry is a challenging but ultimately inspiring read for all who are involved in mental health – whether as professionals, students, service users, relatives or interested lay people.

The first edition of Formulation in Psychology and Psychotherapy caught the wave of growing interest in formulation in a clinical context. This completely updated and revised edition summarises recent practice, research, developments and debates while retaining the features that made the first a leading text in the field. It contains new chapters on personal construct formulation, formulation in health settings, and the innovative practice of using formulation in teams.The book sees formulation as a dynamic process which explores personal meaning collaboratively and reflectively, taking account of relational and social contexts. Two case studies, one adult and one child, illustrate the use of formulation from the perspectives of expert clinicians from six different theoretical positions. The book encourages the reader to take a constructively critical perspective on the many philosophical, professional and ethical debates raised by the process of formulating people’s problems. Among the issues explored are:The social and political context of formulationFormulation in relation to psychiatric diagnosisThe limitations of formulationControversies and debates about formulationThis readable and comprehensive guide to the field provides a clear, up to date and thought-provoking overview of formulation from a number of perspectives, essential for clinicians working in all areas of mental health and social care, psychology, therapy and counselling.

The first edition of Formulation in Psychology and Psychotherapy caught the wave of growing interest in formulation in a clinical context. This completely updated and revised edition summarises recent practice, research, developments and debates while retaining the features that made the first a leading text in the field. It contains new chapters on personal construct formulation, formulation in health settings, and the innovative practice of using formulation in teams.The book sees formulation as a dynamic process which explores personal meaning collaboratively and reflectively, taking account of relational and social contexts. Two case studies, one adult and one child, illustrate the use of formulation from the perspectives of expert clinicians from six different theoretical positions. The book encourages the reader to take a constructively critical perspective on the many philosophical, professional and ethical debates raised by the process of formulating people’s problems. Among the issues explored are:The social and political context of formulationFormulation in relation to psychiatric diagnosisThe limitations of formulationControversies and debates about formulationThis readable and comprehensive guide to the field provides a clear, up to date and thought-provoking overview of formulation from a number of perspectives, essential for clinicians working in all areas of mental health and social care, psychology, therapy and counselling.

Is depression simply the result of chemical imbalances, or schizophrenia a wholly biological disorder? What role do the broader circumstances of an individual’s social, cultural and heuristic world play in the wider scheme of their psychological wellbeing?This award-winning textbook provides a ground-breaking psychological approach to understanding mental distress. Challenging the dominant biomedical model of mental health, readers are encouraged to consider mental illness as a subjective experience that is expressed according to the individual circumstances of the sufferer rather than through rigid diagnostic categories. Approaches to recovery expand beyond psychiatric medication to consider the fundamental function of methods such as psychotherapy, community psychology and service-user movements in the recovery process.This thoroughly-updated new edition:- Has a brand new chapter exploring issues and experiences associated with diagnoses such as ADHD and autism - Features lived experience accounts to help readers understand the real-life issues and challenges people face - Includes running case studies to invite students to consider which interventions and treatments may be appropriate- Includes new learning features such as Critical Reflections and In Focus boxes to highlight debates and encourage critical engagementThis is essential reading for psychology and mental health students who need to develop a critical and holistic understanding of mental distress.

The current mainstream way of describing psychological and emotional distress assumes it is the result of medical illnesses that need diagnosing and treating. This book summarises a powerful alternative to psychiatric diagnosis that asks not 'What's wrong with you?' but 'What's happened to you?' The Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) was co-produced by a core group of psychologists and service users and launched in 2018, prompting considerable interest in the UK and worldwide. It argues that emotional distress, unusual experiences and many forms of troubled or troubling behaviour are understandable when viewed in the context of a person's life and circumstances, the cultural and social norms we are expected to live up to and the degree to which we are exposed to trauma, abuse, injustice and inequality. The PTMF offers all of us the tools to create new, hopeful narratives about the reasons for our distress that are not based on psychiatric diagnosis and to find ways forward as individuals, families, social groups and whole societies.

Do you need your psychiatric diagnosis? This book will help you decide. In this second, updated edition of a best-selling title, Lucy Johnstone revisits the revolution that is underway in mental health. No one doubts that people's distress is very real - but are they actually suffering from illnesses that need a diagnosis? In today's world, where mental health is a crucial topic, this might seem an odd question. And yet even the authors of the diagnostic manuals are admitting that these categories are not supported by evidence. No one has been able to identify the 'chemical imbalances' that are said to cause distress. No one can reliably distinguish one 'mental illness' from another. And the more labels and pills we offer, the faster the increase in mental health problems. Something is badly wrong. Johnstone shows that we need to change the question from 'What's wrong with you?' to 'What's happened to you?' Distress, even its severe forms, arises out of our lives and relationships. Narratives and personal stories show us this truth, whereas labels obscure it. The book ends with a new, hard-hitting analysis of the political, economic and social forces that drive the diagnostic model. In our increasingly competitive, unequal and fragmented world, we are all struggling. We are told the answer lies in finding the right diagnosis. We are encouraged to talk about our 'mental health' instead of the conditions of our lives. And increasingly, we ourselves seek out labels which reassure us that our feelings of shame, failure and difference are not our fault. Indeed, as Johnstone shows, we are not to blame. But nor will the rapid spread of diagnostic labels provide an answer. There are better ways forward. This book is about choice. It is about demystifying one of the most influential myths of our age and giving people the information to make up their own minds. It opens up hope and new ways forward for anyone who has been given a diagnostic label.