The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) provides a legal framework for acting on behalf of individuals who lack the capacity to make decisions for themselves. The Mental Capacity Casebook showcases numerous real-life case studies in accordance to this Act. Through the exploration of various mental capacity assessments, this book highlights the psychological needs of the individuals who are supported and protected by the MCA. Dr. Tracey Ryan-Morgan, a Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist, is the first to bridge the gap between the individual’s psychological requirements and the legal framework surrounding them. Not only does this book present true, often complex, mental capacity assessments, it does so with legitimate corresponding commentaries. Each case outlines the presented problem along with its background, social context, psychological matters, the overriding opinion and concluding learning points. This book provides a unique standpoint, offering insight into the complexities of the Act and practical guidance on how to conduct assessments. It serves as essential reading for those looking for guidance whilst making complex capacity decisions, such as Clinical Neuropsychologists, Social Workers, and Legal Professionals.

A Casebook of Mental Capacity in US Legislation: Assessment and Legal Commentary employs an applied and accessible approach to the assessment of mental capacity. Through the use of rich vignettes and case examples, the text provides legal commentary to illustrate state laws and ethical principles from varied decision-making capacities in distinct settings to fortify its assessment. The text begins by providing a background about decision-making capacity as a construct. It also provides practical guidance on capacity assessment germane to a broad range of clinical settings, including geropsychology, health psychology, and neuropsychology. It moves on to reviewing decision-making rights that make up capacity, and provides ethical guidelines while drawing the practitioner’s attention to the common pitfalls. The case presentations and legal commentary underline key areas such as the capacity to consent to medical treatment, make welfare decisions, enter into a sexual relationship, make financial decisions, create or revoke a will, litigate and contract, and stand trial. It also includes a chapter focusing on integrating culture and diversity in capacity evaluations with the aim of increasing the practitioner’s competence. This casebook will be useful for clinical psychologists in practice, researchers and students seeking to understand how to perform capacity assessments, as well as other related healthcare professionals. It is further aimed at legal professionals to utilize as a reference that details how individual types of capacity are defined and assessed.

Forensic mental health assessment (FMHA) continues to develop and expand as a specialization. Since the publication of the First Edition of Forensic Mental Health Assessment: A Casebook over a decade ago, there have been a number of significant changes in the applicable law, ethics, science, and practice that have shaped the conceptual and empirical underpinnings of FMHA. The Second Edition of Forensic Mental Health Assessment is thoroughly updated in light of the developments and changes in the field, while still keeping the unique structure of presenting cases, detailed reports, and specific teaching points on a wide range of topics. Unlike anything else in the literature, it provides genuine (although disguised) case material, so trainees as well as legal and mental health professionals can review how high-quality forensic evaluation reports are written; it features contributions from leading experts in forensic psychology and psychiatry, providing samples of work in their particular areas of specialization; and it discusses case material in the larger context of broad foundational principles and specific teaching points, making it a valuable resource for teaching, training, and continuing education. Now featuring 50 real-world cases, this new edition covers topics including criminal responsibility, sexual offending risk evaluation, federal sentencing, capital sentencing, capacity to consent to treatment, personal injury, harassment and discrimination, guardianship, juvenile commitment, transfer and decertification, response style, expert testimony, evaluations in a military context, and many more. It will be invaluable for anyone involved in assessments for the courts, including psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and attorneys, as well as for FMHA courses.

DSM-5® Casebook and Treatment Guide for Child Mental Health updates the previous companion to DSM-IV-TR with new cases and advances from DSM-5 and evidence-based assessment and treatment in child and adolescent mental health. The book presents 29 cases written by experts in the field to provide readers with realistic examples of the types of patients that clinicians encounter in practice. Each case is accompanied by two commentaries from leading clinicians (including child and adolescent psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, developmental behavioral pediatricians and nurses), who provide their perspective on diagnostic formulation and treatment recommendations, focusing either on psychotherapy or psychopharmacology. Experts draw from a combination of evidence-based assessment and interventions, biopsychosocial approaches, a systems perspective, and commonsense thinking. Thus each chapter provides an opportunity to see how field leaders would approach the diagnosis and treatment of a child or adolescent. The collaboration among the case authors and commentators yields an approach that is flexible and expansive enough to be of help to clinicians of varied disciplines working in child and adolescent mental health. Down-to-earth and engaging, DSM-5® Casebook and Treatment Guide for Child Mental Health is a rich repository of clinical wisdom that seasoned practitioners, clinicians early in training, and child and adolescent psychiatrists studying for their board exams will find extremely useful.

"If you are interested in finding a text that creatively describes common clinical issues, this is your book! Distinguished pop-culture-in-counseling authors and educators, Schwitzer and Rubin, collaborate on this vast compilation of material to present step by step directions using often poignant vignettes within a DSM counseling paradigm. A must- read for all counselors, psychotherapists and popular culture enthusiasts!"--Thelma Duffey, Editor, The Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, University of Texas at San Antonio.

This book demonstrates how to address practical and ethical challenges when assessing older adults with neurocognitive disorders, like dementia. Expanding on the ABA/APA's Assessment of Older Adults with Diminished Capacity: A Handbook for Psychologists, it explores the tension between ensuring a client's autonomy while protecting them from harm, particularly when decision-making capacity or daily living skills are impaired. Chapters cover a range of complex issues in careful detail, including financial exploitation, undue influence, sexual consent, and medical aid in dying.

This practical, how-to handbook provides essential resources to help clinicians and other professionals assess mental capacity in key decisions. The book illustrates the basics of capacity assessments before discussing a variety of complex issues of which professionals will need to be aware. Offering expertise from a multi-disciplinary perspective, the book provides hands-on coverage of mental capacity law (concentrating on England and Wales). This book is accompanied by online resources including semi-structured interviews and a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) questionnaire which can be downloaded and used for clinical cases, as well as further examples, information and tips. Please visit www.assessingcapacity.com. Chapters are written by a variety of different professionals with extensive experience in the assessment of mental capacity. Coverage includes: Explanations of mental capacity law and how to put it into practice across a range of settings, services and populations A "how to" approach for administering assessments of mental capacity both for professionals who are new to the area and for more experienced professionals Information on practical aspects of assessing mental capacity for commonly occurring decisions and for more specialist and complex decisions Consideration of the best interests process and Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS). With easily accessible information, case studies, examples from case law and internationally relevant discussions on ethical issues, this is the perfect companion to help busy professionals understand complex concepts relating to mental capacity.