Emergencies in Mental Health Practice Evaluation and Management

This practical resource helps clinicians evaluate and manage a wide range of mental health emergencies. The focus is on acute clinical situations in which there is imminent risk of serious harm or death to self or others. Authors examine how to distinguish emergencies from nonemergencies, and review the basics of crisis intervention and emergency interviewing. Guidelines are presented for intervening with suicidal patients, potentially violent patients, and vulnerable victims of violence, as well as patients facing life-and-death medical decisions, with careful attention to risk management and forensic issues. Also addressed are such emergency-related conditions as self-mutilation, alcohol- and drug-related crises, adverse reactions to psychotropic medication, and psychological symptoms of medical conditions. Finally, the book considers the effects of emergency intervention on clinicians and offers suggestions for managing stress.

Phillip M. Kleespies, PhD, ABPP, VA Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Ma .