The field commonly known as "infant mental health" integrates current research from developmental psychology, genetics and neuroscience to form a model of prevention, intervention and treatment well beyond infancy. This book presents the core concepts of this vibrant field and applies them to common childhood problems, from attention deficits to anxiety and sleep disorders. Readers will find a friendly guide that distills this developmental science into key ideas and clinical scenarios that practitioners can make sense of and use in their day-to-day work. Part I offers an overview of the major areas of research and theory, providing a pragmatic knowledge base to comfortably integrate the principles of this expansive field in clinical practise. It reviews the newest science, exploring the way relationships change the brain, breakthrough attachment theory, epigenetics, the polyvagal theory of emotional development, the role of stress response systems, and many other illuminating concepts. Part II then guides the reader through the remarkable applications of these concepts in clinical work. Chapters address how to take a textured early developmental history, navigate the complexity of postpartum depression, address the impact of trauma and loss on children's emotional and behavioural problems, treat sleep problems through an infant mental health lens, and synthesise tools from the science of the developing mind in the treatment of specific problems of regulation of emotion, behaviour and attention. Fundamental knowledge of the science of early brain development is deeply relevant to mental health care throughout a client's lifespan. In an era when new research is illuminating so much, mental health practitioners have much to gain by learning this leading-edge discipline's essential applications. This book makes those applications and their robust benefits in work with clients, readily available to any professional.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people had to cope with isolation due to lockdown policies that forced them to engage in fewer social activities. People were confined to the small space of their dwellings and felt constrained and socially isolated and deprived of meaningful social interaction and affection, which caused stress and anxiety. Several initiatives were put in place to help diminish the effects of isolation, such as those involving literature either through writing or reading. Managing Pandemic Isolation With Literature as Therapy explains the positive medical and psychological effects of literature and writing during a pandemic at a time when isolation prevented people from engaging with others socially. Covering topics such as clinical psychology, brain neurology, and stress, this reference work is ideal for psychologists, medical professionals, policymakers, government officials, researchers, scholars, academicians, practitioners, instructors, and students.

Despite its ubiquity, revenge is a surprisingly understudied subject. We're all familiar with the urge for payback, but where does that urge come from? Why is it so hard to give up? And why can some people only satisfy it through extreme and brutal acts? This book addresses these questions, and by developing the concept of radical revenge it gives some meaning to what might otherwise appear to be senseless acts of violence. The author explores some of the most egregious examples of radical revenge in contemporary society, including mass shootings, internet trolling, revenge porn, and contemporary populist politics. Drawing on psychoanalytic ideas about shame, envy and thin-skinned narcissism, she discusses why some people feel compelled to engage in these sorts of destructive acts of radical revenge. She looks too at examples such as the work of Artemisia Gentileschi and David Holthouse, to show that in exceptional cases, revenge can be an act of creativity rather than destruction.