Mental Health Care Resource Book: Concepts and PRAXIS for Social Workers and Mental Health Professionals

This book takes a strengths-based approach to focus on different aspects of mental health. It summarizes the complex intertwining of illness and culture in the context of rising cases of mental disorders in the post-pandemic world. The book contains three sections, each incorporating essential skills and praxis. The book’s first section examines the fundamental and conceptual underpinnings of mental health, well-being, and wellness from an eclectic lens to present an overview of mental health from the biopsychosocial perspective. The second section demonstrates using and transforming theoretical principles and perspectives into practice-based skills through detailed narrations and illustrations. It also showcases how to apply these skills in real-world settings. The third and final section combines field-based narratives that reflect multifaceted challenges and efforts toward treating mental disorders and promoting positive mental health, including success stories in diverse settings.This section highlights the importance of praxis in mental health. The book is a valuable resource for scholars and professionals in various fields, such as social work, psychology, sociology, social psychiatry, gender studies, and anyone interested in learning more about mental health and well-being.

Meenu Anand teaches at the Department of Social Work, University of Delhi, with extensive professional experience and exposure to gender and mental health. Dr. Anand has been actively involved in working on issues related to gender, mental health, and education for more than twenty-five years. She has led several national and international projects on multifaceted developmental issues during her specialized work experience with various grassroots NGOs. Dr. Meenu Anand also specializes as a trainer and conducts various capacity-building and gender sensitization workshops for school and University teachers, bureaucrats, journalists, police personnel, NGO functionaries, and several other stakeholders. She has been instrumental in the development of curriculum at the postgraduate level on gender for Women’s Studies and Development Centre, University of Delhi, and has a vast publication in the form of books as well as research papers in national and international journals that seek to highlight issues related to gender, mental health, and social work within interdisciplinary frameworks. She is passionate about working and researching gender and mental health. Her latest book is ’Gender and Mental Health: Combining Theory and Practice’ published by Springer Nature, Singapore, in 2020.