Motherhood and Mental Illness : A Relational Treatment Approach

This book addresses a current deficit in mental health resources and treatment and is designed to be an accessible, practical guide into the types and manifests of disorders and the diagnosis, treatment and management of maternal mental illness. It gives a solid understanding of the nature and complexity of maternal mental illness and offers clear guidance on how to provide treatment for successful recovery. Then, using a relational approach, the book offers useful therapeutic interventions grounded in clinical experience and research, which are elucidated with case examples. Covering the most common presentations and the confounders (alcohol, single parenting, drug abuse, self-medication) this is a guide of how to plan treatment, common mistakes that can occur, myths that prevail, and ethical dilemmas.

The book will be suitable for psychotherapists and counsellors of any modality as well as any healthcare professionals who have frontline contact with women.