The first edition of this book has been reviewed previouslyReference Clifford1 and many of the same points apply to this second editionReference Poole and Higgo2. This is a collection of ‘pro tips’ by highly experienced clinicians on a range of topics frequently encountered in clinical practice – not just how to talk to patients and their families but also classifying psychopathology, common conundrums faced by clinicians, how to assess risk and manage relationships with fellow professionals, as well as broader issues such as cultural contexts.
This is not just a book for trainees – who will find its practical, informed ‘how-to’ guides the best way to learn their professional craft – but also for experienced clinicians like myself who will learn better ways to improve their professional practice or other mental health professionals who are expected to perform psychiatric-style assessments, such as seeing patients in emergency departments or after self-harm.
Not everyone will agree with all the contents – the authors share my preference for paper notes but I find that trainees are more enamoured of electronic note systems; in my adult ADHD clinic I find it natural that many patients present with an expectation of treatment – however, I doubt that there are any other such concentrated sources of gold-nugget clinical wisdom that are also critical and informative of limitations of psychiatric practice.
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