Adolescents and Substance Use: the Handbook for Professionals, highly commended at the British Medical Association annual book awards

 

Adolescents and Substance Use: the Handbook for Professionals was highly commended at the British Medical Association annual book awards on the 22nd of September 2014 in London to which 670 books were submitted for consideration.

L to R:  Caitriona Kearns, Bobby Smyth, Philip James and Ann Campbell

Ann Campbell, a Systemic Family Psychotherapist and current Chairperson of the Family Therapy Association of Ireland, co-authored the book with three colleagues.
The BMA book reviewer comments:
“The book has been well-written and is an excellent resource to not only those from a psychiatry/child mental health background (CAMHS) but is actually a really good resource for all those working with adolescents; including paediatricians/paediatric nurses/A&E doctors. The book achieves what it sets out to deliver and has very clear learning objectives. Overall I will be recommending this book to my colleagues.”
This team working with young people with substance misuse problems was aware that there was no single book available that could answer other professionals’ questions about the broad topic. Some academic books exist which are very specialised and so do not meet the needs of the practitioner working with adolescents who does not need to be a substance misuse specialist. In the summer of 2011 the four colleagues began the journey of trying to meet this need. A proposal for such a book was submitted to an international publisher as it was intended that the book would have international appeal.
In spring 2012 the proposal was accepted and over the following year the book was written and a final draft handed to the publisher in Spring 2013. The book was published in late 2013 by Radcliffe Publishing, London.
The lead author Philip James is a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Adolescent Substance Misuse and says of the endeavour “It is really satisfying to have our work commended by the British Medical Association and confirms its quality and our belief that such a text was needed”. The other authors are Caitriona Kearns, Ann Campbell and Bobby Smyth. Caitriona is General Manager and Registrar of the Institute of Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy and General Manager of Village Counselling Service in Killinarden in Tallaght, Ann Campbell is a Systemic Family Psychotherapist and is current Chairperson of the Family Therapy Association of Ireland; Bobby Smyth is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Clinical Associate Professor with the Department of Public Health and Primary Care in Trinity College Dublin.