What do I say next? Everyday Mental Health Conversations in Primary Care

A significant problem experienced by some GPs and many trainees and other primary care health professionals is the challenge of completing a useful and safe consultation with patients with mental health problems within the constraints of a standard-length appointment. These challenges may arise from a lack of specific expertise in this area, poor training in the relevant skills and, perhaps, the attitude that there is not much that the primary care practitioner can do to help.

This new book focuses on enhancing the repertoire of communication skills available for mental health consultation, providing a range of tools and techniques drawn from accepted models, including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), transactional analysis (TA), motivational interviewing and acceptance commitment therapy (ACT), illustrating how to apply these within a typical 10- to 12-minute primary care consultation.

Key features:

• enhances the repertoire of communication and consultation skills for primary care practitioners working in mental health consultations


• summaries and quick take-home points aid rapid reference in the time-constrained consultation setting whether in person or virtual


• offers worked-through model consultations with a variety of patients, showing how to apply the tools and techniques described


• demonstrates how such consultations can be completed safely and effectively within a normal consultation time frame

Essential reading for all primary care practitioners in training and in practice, the book equips readers with the confidence and knowledge to provide excellent mental health care for their patients.

?This is a brilliant book. It has an amazing collection of information and skills. This book helps us with the ?What do I say next?? as often in primary care we sometimes don?t know. The book covers what we need to know about primary care mental health and distress. Importantly it comes at this from a clear primary care perspective rather than ?psychiatry lite?. It shares many skills that help us get our patients back into ?the river of life? which many of them are capable of achieving. As humans we all have the worst day(s) of our life and when our patients present with distress this is likely a detour from their usual and better days. This book will help you deal with those situations and assist us in the process of navigation back into their regular lives lived in the service of their values. A must have book for all primary care clinicians.?  - Bruce Arroll, Professor of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Auckland, New Zealand