Overcoming Mental Health Crisis - by Megan Wilkinson-Tough & Laura Baxendale Paperback

Book Synopsis

Millions of people experience a mental health crisis every year but often feel alone, overwhelmed and confused; this book will help sufferers and their supporters during and after crisis to understand why it happened, how to make it better, and how to stay well in the future.

Mental health crises are times of intense emotions and changes in the experience of reality that can happen to anyone. These higher-risk periods require tailored psychological resources to help people understand, cope and recover from an experience that can be confusing, traumatic and high-risk.

Despite the relatively common nature of mental health crises, no evidence-based self-help book is available for people to use during and after crisis. This book uses the techniques of Comprehend Cope Connect and highlights the autobiographical reasons that crises develop, the individual pattern of experiential avoidance that fuels the crisis, and the strengths and values that can be harnessed for recovery. It also curates skills and knowledge from a range of third-wave cognitive behavioural therapies (CFT, DBT, ACT) that are most relevant and useable when cognitive resources are depleted by crisis. This approach is transdiagnostic, trauma-informed and culturally adapted to ensure it is accessible and applicable to the widest audience.

About the Author

Dr Megan Wilkinson-Tough is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council, UK and chartered by the British Psychological Society. She is a member of the BPS Division of Clinical Psychology, the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies and the International Society of Schema Therapy. Megan has over 15 years of qualified experience working in the NHS, specialising in acute, severe and complex mental health needs. She is the Head of Psychology in a large 9-ward inpatient mental health service in the South-West of England and across her career has worked on 12 acute mental health wards treating people experiencing a mental health crisis. She won Leader of the Year 2024 in her Mental Health Trust Annual Awards.

Dr Laura Baxendale is a Principal Clinical Psychologist and is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council, UK. Laura has worked in acute mental health services within the NHS for over 15 years in various roles. Since qualifying in 2015, Laura has worked across 6 different inpatient wards. She is co-lead for a large inpatient mental health service in the South-West of England. Laura currently delivers training to staff teams on supporting individuals to make sense of their mental health crisis and has developed and delivers training on working in a trauma-informed way in an acute setting.