Person-Centred Psychopathology : A Positive Psychology of Mental Health

The person-centred approach offers a positive psychological vision of psychopathology.

The crux of the person-centred approach is the meta-theoretical assumption that people have an inherent tendency toward growth, development, and integrated and optimal functioning, but that these do not happen automatically.

For people to actualize their inherent optimal nature they require the right social environment.

Without the right social environment the inherent tendency towards growth can become thwarted and usurped leading instead to psychological distress, and dysfunction.

In this book, leading person centred theorists and practitioners from Europe and the United States present their work on facilitating personal growth and positive change in people who are experiencing psychological distress and dysfunction.Contributions cover person-centred thinking on antisocial personality, autism and Asperger's, childhood abuse, maternal depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, psychosis, and people with special needs, as well as theoretical contributions on critical psychology, human nature, existential thinking, the use of assessment and diagnosis, clinical psychology and reflective practice, the role of research, and practical issues related to working within psychiatric settings and the NHS. This book is an essential resource for all who wish to understand person-centred theory and apply its principles to mental health issues and their own professional practice.