Deconstructing Psychopathology

This practical and accessible critique of the institutions, practices and presuppositions that underlie the study of `psychopathology' will be invaluable for students and practitioners who are working to understand mental health and distress.

The authors - who come from backgrounds in clinical psychology, psychiatric social work, psychoanalysis, psychology teaching and action research - challenge the traditions of the field. They analyze the notion of `psychopathology' as a conventional term in psychology and psychiatry through the language and institutions that hold it in place; and explore the implications of deconstructive ideas for the theories and practices that sustain clinical treatments; and offer an alternative way of seeing `psychopathology', with accounts of critical professional work and good practice.

Deconstructing Psychopathology is invaluable reading for students, academics and practitioners across a range of disciplines who are working to understand mental health and distress, including

clinical and counselling psychology, psychiatry, psychiatric social work, counselling and psychotherapy.