The Approved Mental Health Professional Practice Handbook

Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs) are specialist professionals authorised to make ethically complex and difficult decisions on behalf of people with severe mental health difficulties. In this complex and challenging role, AMHPs must possess and deploy a range of skills, knowledge and values.

This invaluable handbook considers these challenges and provides in depth guidance on all key aspects of the role, including:

• Working with mental health law.
• Risks and challenges in a Mental Health Act assessment.
• Staying safe as an AMHP.
• Resilience as a trainee and practitioner.

Packed with helpful features such as illustrations, chapter summaries, discussion questions and further reading lists, this clear and concise book will be invaluable to students on AMHP and Best Interests Assessor programs, as well as for professionals in the field.

About the Authors

Kevin Stone is the Social Work CPD Programme Manager at the University of the West of England. He is a qualified and practicing social worker and AMHP within the south-west region of the United Kingdom and has been a social worker since 2003. He currently teaches law and practice on the AMHP programme at the University of the West of England.

Dr Sarah Vicary is Associate Head of School at The Open University. Sarah is a qualified registered social worker and has worked primarily in mental health services including as a frontline practitioner, an Approved Social Worker, manager of a multidisciplinary mental health crisis service and a senior manager for inner city emergency mental health services. Sarah was for nine years a Mental Health Act Commissioner.

Tim Spencer-Lane is a lawyer who specialises in mental health, mental capacity and social care law. He is also a senior lecturer at Kingston University where he teaches on the best interests assessor and adult safeguarding courses and a long-standing Associate Lecturer at The Open University where he teaches on Social Work Law.