Rob Poole is a Consultant Psychiatrist, North East Wales NHS Trust, Flintshire and Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Cardiff. He is also an Honorary Clinical Lecturer, Division of Psychiatry at the University of Liverpool, UK. Robert Higgo is a Consultant Psychiatrist, Liverpool Assertive Outreach Team, Merseycare NHS Trust, Liverpool, UK.

• Introduction; Part I. Underlying Principles: 1. Starting points; 2. A triangle of forces; 3. Treatment objectives; 4. Strategic treatment; Part II. The Context and Location of Treatment: 5. Teams; 6. Team work; 7. Inpatient treatment in the era of community psychiatry; 8. Compulsion and locked doors; 9. Not at home, not in hospital; 10. Models of care; Part III. Problems in Treatment: 11. Engagement; 12. Compliance and concordance; 13. Treatment resistance; 14. Complicated problems; 15. Managing risk; 16. Staying well; Part IV. Coping: 17. Coping with dilemmas; 18. Coping with change; References; Index.

'The book Clinical Skills in Psychiatric Treatment is a refreshing read. Rather than being full of statistics and treatment algorithms, it is reflective of decades of front-line clinical experience. It contains the authors' personal opinions on a wide variety of long-standing and accepted treatment interventions. Its primary focus in on working with patients to help them achieve recovery. … To my delight, this book, although effectively challenging some of my practice patterns also reinforced some of my own professional beliefs. Some may dismiss the ideas presented in this book as radical, but they would be missing an opportunity to truly consider how to approach each patient in an individualised manner.' Psychiatric Services