Books published by Open University Press

Hugh McLaughlin is Professor of Social Work and Head of Faculty Research Degrees at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. He has written and edited a range of books on social work practice and research.Barbra Teater taught on Social Work courses at the University of Bath and University of Bristol, UK, before assuming her current position as Professor of Social Work, MSW Program Director at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York, USA. She is the bestselling author of An Introduction to Social Work Theories and Practice 2nd edition (2014) and Contemporary Social Work Practice (2014).Providing a user-friendly introduction to Social Work research, this textbook will demystify the most important concepts and show why it is important to embrace evidence-informed practice (EIP). In the face of complex and demanding work, it is crucial not to focus solely on the concept of evidence-based practice but to make use of all the evidence at your disposal and allow this evidence to inform your decisions. This book champions the integration of service user and carer knowledge, along with practitioners' wisdom and the best research evidence to make a difference for service users.Containing helpful examples of how to apply EIP to practice encounters, as well as a range of further reading and activities to help you to critically reflect on your experience, this book explores how EIP can be used to enhance your effectiveness as a Social Work practitioner, professional and social scientist.Chapters in this textbook explore themes and skills you will need to consider and develop in your practice, including:. Identifying, assessing, and critiquing difference types of 'evidence' . Understanding what constitutes research knowledge. Ethical issues in practice and research. Implementation of evidence-informed practice and evaluating your practice. Interprofessional practice and creating evidence-informed culturesWritten by experts in the field, this text is essential reading for all Social Work students and qualified practitioners.***This book forms part of the Social Work Skills in Practice series. The series focuses on key social work skills required for working with children and adult service users, families and carers. The books offer both theoretical and evidence-informed knowledge, alongside the application of skills relevant for day-to-day social work practice. They are an invaluable resource for pre-qualifying students, newly-qualified social workers, academics teaching and researching in the field, as well as social work practitioners, including practice educators, pursuing continuous professional development.***'This book is an excellent introduction to the subject for social work students and social workers. It sets out in a very accessible style the ways in which social workers can develop understanding of key features of, and practical ways to make use of, Evidence-Informed Practice, within a real appreciation of the social work role and its values. I would advise all social work students and social workers to read it.'Professor Brian Littlechild PhD, Research Lead, Department of Nursing and Social Work, University of Hertfordshire, UK

Written by award-winning coach Kim Morgan, this book is aimed at new coaches working in a freelance or self-employed role. It is also a valuable resource for anyone involved in coaching, including trainers of coaches. The Coach's Survival Guide is an easy to use, accessible book, grounded in practice and experience and including case studies drawn from real-life practice. It is rooted in the real world, normalizing the insecurities felt by many coaches and acknowledging the realities of building a coaching business, while addressing the everyday issues that can hinder a coach's performance or confidence.Kim covers issues such as:. Dealing with Impostor Syndrome. Establishing credibility. Contracting and boundaries. Coaching dilemmas. Building your coaching business . Self-care for coachesThis new book is intended to be a survival guide so that coaches can access instant support for dilemmas that occur in their coaching practice. "Reading this book was like spending time with a close friend; a combination of warmth, wit and illumination." Professor Damian Hughes, Professor of Organisational Psychology and Change"This book is an essential companion to anyone setting out as a professional coach. It provides knowledge, expertise and, perhaps most importantly, comfort for all the challenges that new coaches face." Tom Preston, C.E.O. The Preston Associates"At last, here is a book that acknowledges the very real challenges involved in building a coaching business - and provides a blueprint for success!"John Perry, Coach and Principal Teaching Fellow, the University of Southampton, UK"This is a hugely practical and accessible support guide to help you address the challenges you will face in developing your coaching practice, from setting up your practice, generating clients and managing yourself in the coaching relationship."John Leary-Joyce, Exec Chair AoEC International, author Fertile Void

Dr Alistair Ross is a University of Oxford academic whose previous work has been described by Ruby Wax as 'very, very smart'. This new introductory book strikes an easy balance between theory and practice. It takes the reader from the field's Freudian roots to its contemporary applications, skills and insights.Over the last 30 years, important new theoretical ideas, skills and clinical practices have emerged in counselling and psychotherapy. While key Freudian concepts like transference, counter-transference and the influence of the past on the present remain vital to psychodynamic work, research drawn from infant development, neuroscience, the role of the sacred, and intersubjective approaches to relationships has changed the way therapists understand and work with clients. Either in its own right or as part of an integrative approach, psychodynamic counselling and psychotherapy have an important role to play in developments to come.The book's features include:. A re-discovery of the importance and relevance of Freud for present-day therapeutic relationships.. An encounter with the breadth and depth of our understanding about, and experience of, the unconscious.. An introduction to research that has evolved after Freud, revealing new ways of applying his ideas.. A contemporary perspective on traditional counselling and psychotherapy skills, illustrated by vignettes and personal insights from Alistair Ross's professional practice.. An encouragement to develop new skills for relating at depth with our clients' past, present and future, motivated by revealing how life-changing therapy can be.This book is a must-read for trainee and practising (psychodynamic or integrative) therapists who want an overview of new thinking and practice or might benefit from greater insight into psychodynamic practice, applying Freud's theoretical world to improving the lives of real people today.'It is good to see Alistair, a valued student of mine and now an equally valued colleague, taking up the torch for psychodynamic counselling and psychotherapy for a new generation. He has written a book that collates much of the valuable writing to date and at the same time adds new dimensions that should not be overlooked.'Michael Jacobs, Visiting Professor, University of Leeds and Bournemouth University, UK

Developing Professional Practice in the Early Years encourages the reader to critically consider key aspects of early childhood education and care. The book is a valuable and accessible tool for those on professional pathways to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) or Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) or those engaged in Early Childhood Studies programmes or similar degree programmes courses relating to early years practice. This book will also be of interest to those engaged in continuous professional development (CPD) programmes. The book recognises the important contribution that early years education and care can make to children's future outcomes. It can be read in-depth or dipped into when need arises. Each chapter will help the reader to engage with challenging concepts and ideas which underpin early childhood policy and practice. Strong practical elements to the book aim to support the application of learning to high quality practice with young children.The generic term 'early childhood professional' is used throughout the book to encompass the diversity of roles within early childhood practice. The book aims to support the reader to critically consider the complexity of 'being professional' in contemporary early childhood practice by providing a strong theoretical and practice-based framework of the role and context of the early childhood professional.Key features of the book include:. Reflective tasks to support critical thinking about key aspects of professional practice. Case studies to enable the reader to learn from stories and situations about real professionals and their practice. Positive Practice Impact (PPI) boxes to provide specific examples of good professional practice in early childhood.Each chapter of this essential text concludes by signposting further reading - book chapters, journal articles, websites - to build greater depth of knowledge and extend the reader's understanding of early childhood theory and practice.

This book introduces trainee secondary school teachers to a range of key professional issues, knowledge to underpin their course.

This book exemplifies, illustrates, evaluates, analyses and critiques the characteristics and practice of the SENCO role at an academic level suitable to the new National Award.

Recovery is a key concept throughout mental health, but its meaning is elusive and hard to grasp in day to day practice. This textbook is an accessible and practical guide to recovery in mental health, demystifying the concept and helping students and practitioners to develop a personal awareness of what recovery is and what it means at an individual level.The book presents recovery as being intimately connected to our values and who we are as people. The chapters build upon what we understand recovery to be and apply these ideas to various areas of practice, such as communication, being self-aware, reflective practice, clinical supervision and how we engage with service users, families and the multi-disciplinary team. Explanations are given of the most popularly used recovery concepts and approaches such as the Tidal model, Repper and Perkins’ Psychosocial model, and the WRAP and Path models, and their use in daily practice. The book features:•  Practice-based examples and real-life case scenarios to illustrate how recovery varies from client to client•  Exercises to encourage you to reflect and come up with your own personal approach•  Consideration of ethical and professional dilemmas in practice•   A view of recovery that takes into account political and resourcing issues•   Explanation and discussion of key concepts in recoveryThis is an excellent resource for all students and practitioners in mental health nursing."An exciting and essential read for professionals to understand the nature of recovery. Explicit but comprehensive, this book is for nurses and other professionals in mental health. The book takes us from the origins of recovery through to practical advice and scenarios that place the service user at the core.  This encapsulates the true meaning of recovery and how we can implement and facilitate these approaches within contemporary healthcare. The book acknowledges politics and how the political arena can influence and shape services"May Baker, Senior Lecturer in Mental Health, Liverpool John Moores University, UK

• Why do some pupils experience maths learning difficulties? • How can you determine whether there is a specific learning difficulty such as dyscalculia, dyspraxia or dyslexia?• What teaching strategies can help overcome maths anxiety and specific maths learning difficulties? Without doubt maths is one of the most important subjects taught in schools and yet it is the one subject that can strike fear and dread in children from the very start of their education. In this book Judy Hornigold explores potential causes of maths learning difficulties and particularly the specific difficulties that learners with dyscalculia, dyslexia and/or dyspraxia experience.  It considers how general maths anxiety impedes mathematical development and then examines whether this, or a more fundamental and specific difficulty with maths such as dyscalculia, is the real root of difficulties.The book then looks in detail at a wide range of strategies to help overcome general maths anxiety and more specific learning difficulties. It addresses four distinct areas - core number, reasoning, memory and visual spatial awareness - as the main areas of difficulty for learners with dyscalculia (core number and reasoning), dyslexia (memory) and dyspraxia (visual spatial awareness).

Michael Jacobs is a pioneer in the development of psychodynamic counselling. While his writing is praised for its lucidity in explaining difficult concepts, and it is well illustrated with case examples from his own work, he has rarely said much about his own history as a psychodynamic psychotherapist and counsellor. In this personal account, concerned mainly with both his professional life as a therapist, writer and teacher and with the developments of counselling generally in Britain, in which he has played a major part, Jacobs presents his own past. It is one that surprisingly for so experienced a therapist, started with no formal training, but which has gone on to be an influence on the training of hundreds of counsellors and therapists. Jacobs traces the development of BACP and UKCP and his part in the formation of both organizations, the development of training in counselling in Britain, much of which with regard to psychodynamic counselling was pioneered by him, and finally his writing and teaching career. The book concludes with a critique of the present state of counselling and psychotherapy in Britain today.“A delight to read! Everyone benefits from a lovely memoir like this: students, experienced colleagues, and the author himself. Michael has built a deserved reputation as an outstanding authority and innovator in the counselling field, in practice as well as in training. His restlessness and his challenging nature are still needed as the sense of crisis in depth and relational therapy work intensifies. The account of his experiences, whether entirely fortuitous and haphazard or fuelled by an individuating sense of vocation, will stimulate thought, feeling and a profound questioning of where our field is heading.”Professor Andrew Samuels, Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, UK“This is the moving and revelatory account of the personal and professional evolution of one of Britain’s most prominent pioneering counsellors.  In telling his own story, Michael Jacobs also illuminates the development of the counselling movement during the past fifty years and younger readers will discover much to inform and surprise them. This deceptively passionate book inspires and challenges on almost every beautifully written page.”Brian Thorne, Emeritus Professor of Counselling, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK; Co-founder, The Norwich Centre for Personal, Professional and Spiritual Development“Michael Jacobs’s new memoir kept me wide-awake for most of the night, because I simply could not put this book down!  Written with consummate story-telling skills, Jacobs has created an inspiring and enthralling portrait of his remarkable career in the fields of psychotherapy and counselling.  A true pioneer of mental health in Great Britain, Jacobs has much to teach us all, and I recommend this new volume most heartily!”Professor Brett Kahr, Institute of Medical Psychology, London, and Senior Clinical Research Fellow in Psychotherapy and Mental Health at the Centre for Child Mental Health, London, UK 

A comprehensive core student text which combines theoretical foundations of mental health nursing with practical skills and interventions.

No single discipline can provide a full account of how and why health care is the way it is. This book provides you with a series of conceptual frameworks which help to unravel the apparent complexity that confronts the inexperienced observer. It demonstrates the need for contributions from medicine, sociology, economics, history and epidemiology.

This comprehensive package offers a unique way of relating theory to practice, making it an essential learning resource for all CFP and nursing students.

Contains steps involved in leaving an anorexic/bulimic lifestyle behind. This book is suitable for those who want to do something practical about anorexia nervosa/bulimia.

Helps readers identify what is important about their project, how their research relates to previous work and how it may be used to bring about change at individual, community, national or even international levels. This work presents a strategy that focuses on the notion of the 'project' as an organising framework.

This book shows how to best support EAL learners in primary school socially, cognitively and linguistically.

Edited book for midwives on normalizing challenging childbirth.

Book gives a fresh perspective on how healthcare professionals can use coaching to improve patient relations and health outcomes.

Covers the practical therapeutic skills needed by mental health nursing students.

Practical resource for professionals engaged with planning, implementing and evaluating multi-professional teamwork and practice.

A collection that gives important insight into the issues and questions that have become central to understandings of women, violence and resistance. It focuses on the connections between research and the development of strategies for change by providing examples of policy-relevant feminist research, rooted in both academe and activism.

Describes the many settings in which counselling is used with offenders, victims of crime, and criminal justice professionals under stress. This book reviews the political pressures which have both limited and encouraged the growth of counselling in criminal justice settings.

Should school governors be seen as active citizens or state volunteers? Can educational reforms and changes in the status of school governing bodies be seen as part of a wider political process? This book draws on research evidence and theories from sociology, political science, gender studies and organizational analysis to answer these questions.

Considering the challenges facing primary schools as they move towards a new century and a new millennium, this work celebrates the work of primary schools and notes their unique qualities and achievements. It provides guidance for those involved in primary school management and is suitable for staff in primary schools.

Explores the subject of racial identity and encourages readers to think about racial issues and to explore their own racial identity. This book believes that self-awareness is an essential element of competency as a therapist, and challenges white therapists to be aware of what it means to be white, and how this influences the therapy process.

Explores the ethnography of truancy in its educational, political, legal, economic and ideological contexts. This text attempts to discover how absences may be construed, what absentees from school actually do, and who is responsible for them.

This book provides an alternative means of discussing the development and significance of managers and management in universities and colleges.

In a mix of personal experience, theoretical debate and case study material, this book articulates the tension which often exists between theory and practice, good intentions and hard reality; and it offers concrete suggestions about how such tensions can be and have been reconciled successfully in a number of higher education institutions.

If most older people want to remain in their own homes, then why does residential care persist? The authors set out to answer this pressing question. They offer readers a comprehensive review of the history of residential care, its provision, practice and an analysis of its future role.