Understanding Mental Health and Counselling (Published in association with The Open University)

Understanding Mental Health and Counselling provides a critical introduction to key debates about how problems of mental health are understood, and to the core approaches taken to working with counselling and psychotherapy clients. In drawing out the differences and intersections between professional and social understandings of mental health and counselling theory and practice, the book fosters critical thinking about effective and ethical work with mental health service users and therapy clients.

With chapters by noted academic writers and service-user researchers, and content enlivened by activities, first-person accounts and case material, the book provides a key resource for both counselling and psychotherapy trainees and those interested in the broader field of mental health.

Naomi Moller trained as a counselling psychologist in the United States. She is a chartered psychologist, a BACP registered counsellor, and a Professor of Psychology and Psychotherapy at The Open University. Naomi has worked with clients for about 25 years, mostly with adults in longer-term therapy. She is an integrative practitioner with humanistic values and relating at the core but draws on other understandings (attachment, psychodynamic) and techniques (emotion-focused therapy).

Andreas Vossler is Director of the Foundation Degree in Counselling and Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the Open University. He is also a systemic trained couple and family psychotherapist. His current research activities focus on therapeutic work with couples and families, infidelity, Internet infidelity, and counselling and psychotherapy. Andreas is co-editor of the Counselling and Psychotherapy Research Handbook (2014) and Understanding Counselling and Psychotherapy (2010; both Sage). He has authored three textbooks and published 17 book chapters and 19 articles in peer-reviewed papers on topics related to counselling and psychotherapy (family therapy, infidelity, online counselling, health psychology, psychiatry) and research methods. Andreas is on the editorial board of Counselling Psychology Quarterly and Forum Community-Psychology.