Despite years of research, debate and changes in mental health policy, there is still a lack of consensus as to what recovery from psychosis actually means, how it should be measured and how it may ultimately be achieved. In Recovering from a First Episode of Psychosis: An Integrated Approach to Early Intervention, it is argued that recovery from a first episode of psychosis (FEP) is comprised of three core elements: symptomatic, social and personal. Moreover, all three types of recovery need to be the target of early intervention for psychosis programmes (EIP) which provide evidence-based, integrated, bio-psychosocial interventions delivered in the context of a value base offering hope, empowerment and a youth-focused approach.Over the 12 chapters in the book, the authors, all experienced clinicians and researchers from multi-professional backgrounds, demonstrate that long-term recovery needs to replace short term remission as the key target of early psychosis services and that, to achieve this, we need a change in the way we deliver EIP: one that takes account of the different stages of psychosis and the 'bespoke' targeting of integrated medical, psychological and social treatments during the 'critical period'.Illustrated with a wealth of clinical examples, this book will be of great interest to clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses and other associated mental health professionals.

Foreword: From psychosis to politics Foreword: A carer's experience 1. The first episode of psychosis and how EIP services have evolved to optimise adaptation and recovery 2. Adapting, adjusting and recovering from a first episode of psychosis: the need for integration 3. Biological and medical approaches to symptomatic recovery and adaptation 4. Psychosocial approaches to symptomatic recovery and adaptation 5. Social recovery in first episode psychosis 6. Treatment approaches to social recovery in first episode psychosis 7. Optimising personal recovery and promoting psychological adaptation following first episode psychosis 8. When psychological adaptation and recovery go wrong 9. Identifying and managing suicidality following a first episode of psychosis 10. Working with comorbidity and diagnostic uncertainty 11. Family adaptation and recovery following FEP 12. Integrating and operationalising symptomatic, social and personal recovery: managing EIP and pathways of care Conclusion Appendix 1 Appendix 2