During the past decade or more, there has been a rapid evolution of mental health services and treatment technologies, shifting psychiatric epidemiology, changes in public behavioral health policy and increased understanding in medicine regarding approaches to clinical work that focus on patient-centeredness. These contemporary issues need to be articulated in a comprehensive format. The American Association of Community Psychiatrists (AACP), a professional organization internationally recognized as holding the greatest concentration of expertise in the field, has launched a methodical process to create a competency certification in community psychiatry. As a reference for a certification examination, that effort will benefit enormously from a comprehensive handbook on the subject.

This book presents the basic theoretical and historical concepts and it describes current perspectives and data, focusing on good practices in community psychiatry in Greece and in other parts of Europe. Concepts such as the biopsychosocial model, psychiatric reform, psychosocial rehabilitation and the recovery model, as well as new case management models are approached from a critical, anthropocentric perspective. The current socioeconomic crisis in Europe brings with it new realities in mental health systems. New forms of social suffering are forcing the psychiatric community to re-examine what is considered normal. In order to respond to the complexity of the newly emerging needs, social and community psychiatry has been compelled to broaden the objectives of intervention and research alike, developing new and dynamic relations with complementary scientific fields such as social anthropology, psychoanalysis and microeconomics. The present work is the result of collaboration between professionals from across these different fields.

This is the first truly interdisciplinary book that examines how professionals work together within community mental health. It takes into account the key concepts of community mental health and combines them with current technology to develop an effective formula that redefines the community mental health practice.

Physicians who choose to serve in public-sector mental healthcare settings and physicians-in-training assigned to public-sector mental health clinics may not be fully prepared for the many roles of the public and community psychiatrist. Public and Community Psychiatry is a concise guide for the resident and early-career psychiatrist called upon to serve in the roles of public-sector clinician, team member, advocate, administrator, and academician. Each chapter includes a concise description of these various roles and responsibilities and offers engaging examples of the public psychiatrist at work, as well as case-based problems typical of those faced by the public psychiatrist. Each chapter also features works of art and literature, usually from the public domain, in order to incorporate the core strengths of medical humanities into the dialogue of public-sector mental healthcare. This book aims to provide a level of support to psychiatrists that fosters their desire, individually and collectively, to serve the poor and the marginalized with grit and determination, and to broadly consider their potential to improve not only their patients' well-being, but also these patients' incorporation into their respective communities.