Matt Field is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Liverpool. While an undergraduate student at Swansea University, his experience of research investigating depressed mood and alcohol craving motivated him to pursue a career in research. He went on to study conditioning processes in tobacco addiction for his PhD, which he received from the University of Sussex in 2001. Following a three-year spell at the University of Southampton, he moved to the University of Liverpool in 2004. He leads the addiction research group, teaches abnormal and clinical psychology to undergraduate and postgraduate students, and does far too much University administration. He is on the Editorial boards of the journals Addiction, Drug and Alcohol Dependence and Psychopharmacology, has published more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals (some of them are even quite good!), and this is his first book. He lives with his wife and three cats in Formby.Sam Cartwright-Hatton is a clinical child psychologist who specializes in anxiety disorders and parenting processes.  She started out with an undergraduate degree at the University of Liverpool, and then a PhD at the University of Oxford.  This PhD was on anxiety disorders in adults and despite having almost no existing knowledge of or interest in clinical psychology, by the end of it, she was hooked.  At the end of the PhD, to the exasperation of her parents, who thought she might never leave university, she moved to Manchester to train as a clinical psychologist.  Since then, she has specialized in researching and treating anxiety in young children.  She has written around fifty publications, and this is her fourth book.  In 2011, she left rainy Manchester for sunny Brighton, where she continues her research at the University of Sussex and lives with her husband and little girl.

• Chapter 1: The Big Issues in classification, diagnosis, and research into psychological disordersWhat is Abnormal?How are Psychological Disorders Classified?What are the Problems with the Diagnostic Approach?How do we Conduct Research into Psychological Disorders?What are the Main Approaches to Understanding Psychological Disorders?Chapter 2: How are psychological disorders treated?Medication versus Psychological ApproachesResearching and Evaluating Treatments for Psychological DisordersThe Range and Scope of the Psychologist’s WorkHow CBT WorksThe Ethics of Psychological TherapyChapter 3: Childhood disordersAnxiety Disorders of ChildhoodChildhood DepressionChildhood Behaviour ProblemsChapter 4: SchizophreniaWhat is schizophrenia?How does schizophrenia develop?Brain and cognitive mechanisms in schizophreniaHow is schizophrenia treated?Chapter 5: Mood disordersWhat are depression and mania?How do mood disorders develop?Brain and cognitive mechanisms in mood disordersHow are mood disorders treated?Chapter 6: Generalized anxiety disorderWhat is generalized anxiety disorder?How does GAD develop?Brain and cognitive mechanisms in GADHow is GAD treated?Chapter 7: Specific phobiasWhat is a specific phobia?How do we acquire phobias?Do we think ourselves into being scared?How are specific phobias treated?Chapter 8: Panic disorder and social anxiety disorderHow are panic disorder and social anxiety disorder diagnosed and how do they differ from each other?Can we explain panic disorder?Can we explain social anxiety disorder?How are panic disorder and social anxiety disorder treated?Chapter 9: Substance use disordersWhat is substance use disorder?How does substance use disorder develop?Brain and cognitive mechanisms in SUDHow are substance use disorders treated?Chapter 10: Eating disordersWhat are eating disorders?How do eating disorders develop?Brain and cognitive mechanisms in eating disordersHow are eating disorders treated?Chapter 11: Personality disordersWhat are personality disorders?How do personality disorders develop?Brain and cognitive mechanisms in personality disordersHow are personality disorders managed and treated?

An excellent guide to how mental health problems are understood and treated; accessible, wide-ranging, and full of fascinating information on this important topic.